BMW 2012 3 series

Here are some incredible predictions how the new 3 will look. Personally if the new 3 looks anywhere near this pictures, it'll definitely be another hot seller! The new looks certainly have some strong resemblence to the latest GT 5. The current car visually looks obsolete compare to the designs above. Never underestimate the power of design!

6 months of battle scars - kerb rash

After 6 months of sheer pleasure ownership, here are some minor rants. Despite being a VERY careful driver, I have to admit, the road conditions in KL is pretty ****ed up! Even with features like park assist and tilting wing mirror, there's still blind spots that BMW still needs to improve. Perhaps a parking camera would be the last resort. Like it or not this tiny scratches actually hurt the most. Once it's there your eyes won't miss them. I called up a touch up shop and they want RM240 for the bumper scratch and another rm140 for the rim repair! Hmmmm.... damn if you don't, damn if you do. Will post pics once I have this imperfections sorted out.
Sheer Pleasure just turned to Sheer Pain!

2009 bmw LCI Idrive video

This video is easy to understand what idrive does for the driver. It can be tough to convince someone who has never use the idrive how much more engaging it adds to the driving experience. Here's a sample of what the idrive does: 

matt black - the new black

I have to say it's a rather strange irony. We all want our cars to look glossy and we spent thousands to keep it that way. But lately there's been a big shift to unglam the cars. To make it more street. All this fast and furious themes are making it's way to Bimmerdom. I'm still old school I guess. But heck it's your money and you do what the hell you want with it!

2010 Facelift BMW 1 Series - New specs and engines

Looks like the 3 series, the 1er is next for a facelift. This is fresh from the BMW site. For 2010 BMW has decided to release a few subtle and not so subtle changes to the 1-Series

In the engine department, two new entry-level models are being added to the lineup.

BMW 120i Coupe
2.0-litre four-cylinder with BMW High Precision Injection (direct gasoline injection)
125 kW/170 hp @ 6,700 rpm
210 Newton-metres/155 lb-ft @ 4,250 rpm
0 - 100 km/h in 7.8 seconds
224 km/h or 149 mph top speed.
Average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle is 6.6 litres/ 100 kilometres, the CO2 emission rating is 153 grams per kilometre.

BMW 118d Coupe
2.0 litre with aluminium crankcase, turbocharging and common-rail fuel injection.
105 kW/143 hp @ 4,000 rpm
300 Newton-metres/221 lb-ft between 1,750 and 2,500 rpm.
0 - 100 km/h in 9.0 seconds
210 km/h or 130 mph top speed.
Average fuel consumption according to the EU standard of 4.5 litres/100 kilometres (equal to 62.8 mpg imp) and a CO2 emission rating of 119 grams per kilometre.


EfficientDynamics
Both new variants of the BMW 1 Series Coupé come as standard with a wide range of BMW EfficientDynamics technologies such as Brake Energy Regeneration, an Auto Start Stop function, a gearshift point indicator and ancillary units with on-demand management and control.


BMW 1 Series Lifestyle and Sport Editions

The new Lifestyle and Sport Edition Models add further class and style. The Edition Models excel in particular through particularly attractive, high-quality and carefully matched features and equipment, and are available on all engine variants of the three-door and five-door.

The Lifestyle Edition exudes stylish extravagance both on the exterior and in the interior of the BMW 1er, highlighted by body paintwork in exclusive Marrakesh Brown Metallic including additional components in body colour and chrome-plated tailpipes as well as exclusive light-alloy rims in five-spoke design. All models come with 17-inch wheels.

On the five-door the exterior is rounded off by the car’s special finish on the window shaft covers and side window surrounds in Shadow Line, on the three-door in Chrome Line. Chrome entry trim proudly bearing the name “BMW Edition“, a leather sports steering wheel with multifunction buttons, and roof lining in anthracite colour provide a particular touch of modern elegance within the interior.

The exclusivity of the Lifestyle Edition is highlighted to an even higher level of perfection by the interior colour scheme matched to the colour of the paintwork. Features include interior trim in high-gloss Marrakesh Brown as well as door panels and seat upholstery in Magma Brown. And as an alternative to Network cloth upholstery there is also the choice of Pearlpoint upholstery with Magma Brown cloth / leather.

The exterior and interior features are also carefully matched to one another on the Sport Edition Model, giving the BMW 1 Series particularly dynamic and powerful character. The Edition Models come as standard with the M Sports Packageincluding the M Aerodynamics Package, a sports suspension set-up as well as 17-inch light-alloy wheels in dual-spoke design. The BMW 130i and BMW 123d feature 18-inch light-alloy wheels in Ferric Grey paintwork available as an option also on the other model variants. Exclusive Blackline rear lights, exterior features in body colour, Shadow Line on the window shaft covers and side window surrounds, foglamps and chrome-plated tailpipes on the exhaust round off the striking look of the exterior.

The sporting and exclusive flair of the interior is highlighted by chrome-plated entry trim bearing the name “BMW Edition“, stainless-steel pedals, an M footrest, an M sports steering wheel, an M gearshift lever complete with its gaiter made of soft nappa leather, interior trim in Aluminium Glacier Silver and roof lining in anthracite colour. As yet a further highlight the BMW 1 Series Sport Edition comes with sports seats for the driver and front passenger in a combination of cloth and Sensatec featuring blue ornamental stitching around the seat bottoms and headrests. And to provide the final touch the footmats are adorned by blue piping.

In conjunction with one of the navigation systems available as an option the BMW 1 Series proudly boasts the new generation of BMW iDrive electronic vehicle management. Entering the 2010 model year, the BMW 1 Series furthermore comes as an option with a new version of the Business navigation system, its new control concept allowing even easier and more precise control through iDrive featuring direct choice and favourite buttons.

The new Control Display with 800 x 480 pixel image resolution ensures detailed presentation of maps in two dimensions or in a perspective view, complete with integrated arrow graphics. Storage of navigation data installed within the car serves to provide even faster access to the system. And last but not least, the audio unit included within the new control system comes complete with a CD player.

Next Generation 1 series - could it look like this?

Auto Zeitung renders the next 1 series.

The initial photo render looks pretty good compared to the current clumsy and fat hatch. The stubby front look seems similiar to the latest 7er launched recently.

The strong line that begins from the rear headlamps and widens as it gets past the front doors on the actual car the line goes to the front and cuts of the headlights like a lid the design trait is classic BMW, evident on the 2002 it is a modern interpretation of the classic bathtub or boat look line.

The scupture at the base of the side flanks is a variation on todays boat like design line - although less rounded on the next generation of 1er this interpretation takes the lead from the X1 and begins from the roof , flowing around the rear hoffmeister quarter light , allowing the rear wheel arch and sharply cut into the flanks ending at the front of the front wheel arch.

BMW now that they look upon the 1er Sporthatch feel that they neglected the chance to produce a Golf GTi Rival with the current car , instead of using the same engines and specifications as the current 5dr.

BMW LCI performance Kit video

M3 Racecar ALMS video

New facelift BMW Z4 - Rm411,000

Was invited to the Z4 launch last night at the Pavilion. The official launch pictures on the BMW sites looked bloody gorgeous. In a way, among many who including myself did turn up, was looking forward to seeing the new shape. The pre-face lift z4 looked too ugly for my liking. The shark like nose and the odd side shapes was just too much.

The launch at Pavilion looked grand but I actually wished it was held at a venue that was conducive to at the very least a test drive. Well that didn't materialise. The excuse was there wasn't enough cars to be used as test. I suppose cars at that price shouldn't come easy.

The launch wasn't anything to shout about. Some guy came up and spoke about the car but the bad AV sound system just reduced him to ambient noise.

Finally after waiting for half an hour, they undid the veil. The car looked pretty gorgeous. The original "out of proportion angles" were corrected into a very smart looking roadster. The front looks pretty damn aggressive. It should give a run for the Boxster anyday. Do enjoy the pics. Cheerio.

lCI 1st service - Only 5 k on the mileage!

After driving nearly 3 months, the service indicator lighted up. The mileage on the car read 5565km. It came as a pleasant surprise because in almost all the forums car owners were saying the 1st service was suppose to be when the car reached the 10k mark. I did called up the service guys and he told me to wait till the service light come on. Without really explaining too much he said the car's computer will tell the owner when. Seems like the car's computer decides when the car should go in. No one has really explain how the engine management calculates when it's time for a change. Well maybe that's a BMW's secret. An engine computer that can calculate when the engine oil's lifespan is up? 

In a way I was glad the light came up. In many of the forums there were heated debates of how often or when to change the engine oil, ranges from as short as every 5k mark to as long as 20,000 mark. I too was worried if I had the bad oil with all the shredded metal swimming amongst the pistons and the bearings for too long it may make damage the engine.

The next day I called up Auto Bavaria to book a time. To my dismay, the next available date to send my car in was about 12 days time. Hmmm in 12 days time could there be more damage to the engine? Not satisfied I followed up with another call to their other service centres and the result was not much different. I read somewhere that BMW service centres regardless of which dealers they are with will service any BMW cars. I called up Ingress and enquired if they do service cars not purchased from them and they agreed without any conditions. The best thing was I could send in the car the very next day.

The entire experience was pretty painless. I send in the car in the morning around 9.30. The service guy in charge called Razak was professional. Took my remote key and all my details was downloaded to his computer. No need to key in anything. My name, address, mileage, problems all came out in the report card. After the paper work he sat in the car for a test and I unloaded a fair amount of complains - mostly creaks and pops. He wasn't really surprised and best of all he even know what to do with the noise.

Left the car in the service centre and he promised to get back to me in the afternoon. While waiting for a cab, I helped myself to a great breakfast served at the service centre. Not bad I would say. The Sheer pleasure tagline came back to me with a smile.

Aproximately 6 hours later, Razak called to tell me the car's ready. I got there and to my surprise the car's washed up and also the creaking noise on the door sills were gone. He even printed out a report from the engine management system. No worries and all's well and ready to go.

 

LCI vs Pre facelift - Front & Back images

This a quick comparison between the old 2007 Msports e90 (top) and new facelift 2009 msports e90 (bottom). I will follow up later on the smaller details like idrive, add ons that comes with the LCI. Enjoy...

Speed at your peril

I did a run to see how the car performed at different speeds over the weekend. I was curious to see how the car felt at different speeds and whether the run flat tires, the aero package and the sports suspension really added more or less to the fun factor. 

The highway I picked was fairly new. Just opened a few months back and only half an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur. It was quite deserted, had some long straights and almost without any speed traps. 

90kph - the car feels way too slow. Almost at a crawl.

120kph - the car is now running illegal. It still feels slow and too subdued.

140kph - the car starts to feel alive. Feels like 110kph driving on a Proton Saga. The music volume turns up in tandem with the speed as well. So if you're listening to some fast n furious tracks it'll spur you to go faster. 

160kph  - perfect cruising speed. The aero spoilers are doing a great job. The car feels very planted. The suspension does a good job in leveling out the road bumps. If only the speed limit was 160, then driving on our highways would be really sweet.

180kph - the car begins to feel crisper, tauter and louder at well. Your senses comes alive. You feel every bump, imperfection the road has to offer. Suddenly you start to wake up, the adrenalin gets going and your heart beats doubly fast.

190kph - the car starts to rock a bit. The suspension travel feels more urgent. The bumps, more violent. Only the brave push on.

200kph - the car welcomes you to a new level of handling. This is where I dont feel as at ease with the car.  The confidence of pushing the car beyond 200kph vanishes. The suspension shakes, the handling  feels floaty and wind noise comes at you in big doses. The road gets shorter very quickly. 

At 210kph I decided to end the adventure. It no longer felt fun or exciting. Rather it felt it's too big a risk to push further. After the run I felt somewhat unsatisfied with the objective of evaluating the performance. 

The highway or any highway is no place to push how fast the car can go. It's not even a good way to test the 325's top speed. In fact it's a very dangerous way to speed test your car. The highways are unsafe to run. Like many motorist we always take the roads for granted. There are so many factors to check and look at when you are speeding, the surface grain, the bumps, the crosswind factors.

One example I like to illustrate was the moment when I was going at 190kph I hit a tiny slope on the road surface and the car lifted off the road for a few mili seconds (if you are driving below 160kph you probably wont feel it). That was quite a scary moment during the run. So in lesser cars with not so good tyres and suspension, you can imagine what can happen!

So all in all, the car was perfect in handling. At above speeds beyond 200kph, I would think it's not a fair way to test the performance of the BMW.  If you want to test the car, do it on a track, it's much safer, at least there are no surprises on the road surface and best of all your mates can watch and time you from a safe distant.

So if you are reading this, enjoy the drive but ALWAYS stay safe...