Special matte paint finishes are a favorite among carmakers, especially the higher-end ones like Lamborghini, who’ve done multiple cars with matte paint , BMW did the Frozen Gray M3 special edition, and even Smart, who did a special edition called the fortwo edition greystyle . Those matte finishes, however, are expensive, and generally off-limits to those who can’t afford to get an entirely new paint job or the inflated special editions. Now, however, 3M released a clever new film that allows anyone to give their car a matte finish or accents (like “ghosted” stripes or designs, for example.) It’s called VentureShield Matte Film, and even a full car wrap ends up being much less than a new paint job. 3M noncommittally says after professional installation (which you do want,) something like a stripe or spoiler job would cost you around $200, and a single panel (roof, hood, trunk, etc) would run $400-$600. A full front wrap (hood, fenders, bumper,) would run up to $1500 or so. I imagine a full body wrap would be quite expensive after all, depending on the size of your car. The prices will vary, of course, depending on the installer, so make sure to call around before you commit to anything. Right now, there’s just one film for this application, meaning if you have a blue car, now you’ll have a matte blue car or accents. Hopefully in the near future they’ll offer a tinted film that lets you apply a lighter or darker shade to the matte (blue car, dark blue matte stripes, for example.) Check out a couple more images below: Related posts: Baja 1000: Ford F-150 EcoBoost Race Truck Finishes in 38 Hours 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo and Murcielago Ad Personam Scion tC Release Series 6.0 Details View post: Envious of Sleek Matte Paint Finishes? Gawk No More

The new 2012 BMW 6 Series Coupe goes on sale this fall and prior to the official launch, BMW continues to test several prototypes around Munich area. The new 6er Coupe debuted in a concept form last year at the Paris Motor Show and it was shortly followed by the 6 Series Convertible. The F12 6 Series showcases the new design language at BMW, as seen in the new 5 Series and other upcoming models. The production model of the 6 Series Coupe goes through minimal changes compared to the Concept version, a set of new wheels and different mirrors. BMW 6 Series Coupe is the first vehicle from the Munich-based automaker to get full LED treatment; driving lights, indication lights, brake lights and rear-lights. It has the same length as the current 6 Series, but sits on a wider track and has been lowered to enhance its sportiness character. Looks-wise, the 6 Series concept appears stronger, more sculpted, and more fluid designed that the current model. Flame surfacing is out and the car features more hardened lines running across its side. The front-end design reflect both the sophistication and aggressiveness that went into this design. The kidney-grille are unique across the lineup with glass inserts along the top ridge. The long bonnet and shorter overhangs are what perfectly describe a 6 Series model, and BMW enhanced these traits even more in the latest model. Also notable are the swollen front fenders, after which a sharp, chiseled upper body emerges. Pricing has not yet been announced, but we expect it to be near the $90,000 mark in the US. [Source: Secretnewcars ] Originally posted here:  Spy Photos: 2012 BMW 6 Series Coupe almost revealed

Autoblog.nl brings us new live photos of the BMW 1M in the beautiful, stunning Alpine White. The new M Coupe was displayed at the 2011 Brussel Auto Show where BMW decided to showcase the 1M in a different color than the Orange Valencia seen in Detroit and official photos. As mentioned before, BMW offers the 1M in three colors, Alpine White, Valencia Orange and Sapphire Black. The car will go on sale this May with first units arriving in the U.S. after May 16th, 2011. Unofficial sources mentioned to us that the U.S. market could see somewhere near 600 units. The 1M made its debut on Monday at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show and based on the traffic and buzz generated, it is already a big hit for the BMW and its M Division. Base price in the US was set to $47,010. Two packages are available for the 1M, the Convenience Package with Anti-theft alarm system, Comfort Access, Park Distance Control (rear only) and Navigation System, and the Premium Package with Auto-dimming interior and exterior mirrors, Auto-dimming rear view mirror, power front seats with driver seat memory, ambiance lighting, lumbar support, BMW Assist with Bluetooth, iPod and USB adapter. Other options include power folding mirrors, heated front seats, or retractable headlight washers. Enjoy the photo gallery! Here is the original: BMW 1M in Alpine White from Brussel Auto Show

Kia’s presence at the auto show in Detroit was limited to the KV7 minivan concept, but they are just taking a breather after nearly their entire lineup has been redesigned in a short period of time. In close sync with platform mates at Hyundai, new models like the Soul, Forte compact, Sorento crossover and mid-size Optima sedan have been released. Kia’s current subcompact offering is the aging Rio, which lacks the necessary style and technology to compete in the face of fresh competition. The subcompact market in the United States is set to be more diverse than ever before, with entries like the European-sourced Ford Fiesta and Fiat 500 as well as the new Sonic from Chevrolet. In fact we think it could be a good idea for Kia to start all over with a new nameplate for the Rio, much like Chevrolet did with the Aveo nameplate. It appears the brand will be sticking with it however. To give us a taste of what to expect from the next-generation car, Kia has released some renderings that illustrate the car’s new design. The production Rio is set to make its first appearance at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Initial impressions from these renderings look good, especially around back. We’ll have to see actual photos to know more. What is clear though is that the new cars from Kia have of a focus on sporty design compared to Hyundai, and we think that positioning serves the company well. Related posts: Rolls-Royce Releases an iPhone App for the Ghost Hyundai Teases 2012 Azera Lamborghini Releases Another Teaser Pic of the Jota Continued here:  Kia Releases New Sketches of Next-Generation Rio

WXYZ reports that a 7 Series belonging to BMW of North America have been stolen in Detroit during the opening days.  Detroit Police are searching for a BMW after it was stolen near the Westin Book Cadillac. The 7 Series, as other BMWs, were used to haul around executives and important figures within the BMW world, and it has New Jersey plates and is dark gray in color. According to WXYZ, it was stolen along Michigan Avenue, across the street from the luxury hotel. For this year’s auto show, the automaker has brought nineteen official cars to be used during the auto show. “The cars were being loaded into a car carrier to head back to New Jersey Wednesday night. Police say a hotel valet brought the BMW out of the garage and handed it over to the transporter. However, the handler stepped away for a second and witnesses say that’s when two car thieves jumped in and took off.” – WXYZ Luckily the 7er comes equipped with BMW Assist and its GPS tracking device, so police believe they will eventually locate it. [Source: WXYZ via Jalopnik ] More: 7 Series Stolen From BMW At Detroit Auto Show

BMW releases a new video from their booth at the 2011 Detroit International Auto Show. Yesterday’s video focused on the new BMW 6 Series Convertible, but today, it’s all about the 1 Series facelift and especially the new 1 Series M Coupe. The 2011 Detroit Auto Show was the host of four world premieres for BMW. One, the new BMW 6 Series Convertible, second, the highly-awaited BMW 1 Series M Coupe, third and forth, the facelifted 1 Series Coupe and Convertible. All of these vehicles go on sale in the US this Spring. Read the original here:  Video: NAIAS 2011. BMW 1 Series Family

The press days at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show are over and tomorrow, the first international show of the year opens its door to the general public. As a parting gift, we compiled a gallery of photos showing some of the most interesting vehicles we have seen at the show, with the main focus on BMW’s premium competitors: Audi and Mercedes. Along with the two German automakers, we have included Porsche and its 918 “wonder car” that created impressive hype before, during and after the show. Other vehicles included in the gallery are the new Bentley Continental GT and Mulsanne, Ferrari 458 Italia, Maserati, Porsche Cayman R, Jaguar, Range Rover Evoque and others. Enjoy the photos! Read more from the original source:  2011 NAIAS: Ultimate Photo Gallery

As the biggest market outside Germany, the US plays an important role in BMW’s future planning and strategy. In 2010, the automotive market in North America has relatively recovered from the economic crisis and BMW expects the US to become in the coming years one of the largest markets for luxury cars. While China could soon pass the United States in terms of sales, the US market will always remain very important for BMW Group. According to German website FAZ , quoted by our BimmerToday , in order to keep up with the increased demand, BMW is considering to add a 3 and 5 Series production lines to its Spartanburg plant in South Carolina. The information apparently came from Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Group sales and marketing who mentioned to FAZ that “Spartanburg plant still has enough capacity to allow the production of additional models”. At the moment, the Spartanburg plant produces only X-models, the X3, X5 and X6 Sports Activity Coupe, but an X4 model is rumored to appear in the next few years. In the past, the plant used to produce the E36 3 Series and E85/E86 Z4 models. Moving some of its future F30 3 Series production to the U.S. will allow BMW to remain price competitive in a market where Audi has been challenging them in the past years. In addition to lower production costs, avoiding currency volatility is another advantage. Volkswagen, Mercedes and Audi are also considering a production directly in North America or some have already begun. BMW has just completed an investment of 1 billion dollars in the United States. The majority of this investment was for the expansion of our production facilities in Spartanburg for the new BMW X3. “This extra capacity is needed— especially here— because the US remains our largest market outside of Germany”, said Ian Robertson in his opening speech at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. The next generation 3 Series goes on sale in 2012 and will first debut in a sedan variant. Coupe and Convertible models will follow later that year. Here is the original: BMW is considering production of its 3 and 5 series at the U.S. plant in Spartanburg

Even though just a rumor at this point, we have learned that BMWNA is looking into offering a decals kit for the upcoming 1 Series M Coupe . The kit is in fact a more modern version of the traditional 3.0 CSL-style paint scheme seen on BMW’s racing cars in the past. A similar idea was introduced a few weeks back by Jon Sibal who created a rendering of the 1M with the racing paint job, an image that spread around the web and even made us consider it for our 1M. According to our source, the kit could be installed at any BMW dealerships and will be sold as an option for the 1M. Pricing and other details have not been shared with us at the moment. As we approach the starting of production, March 2011, we expect to learn more. BMW of North America is currently revising the packages and options on the 1M. The 1M made its debut on Monday at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show and based on the traffic and buzz generated, it is already a big hit for the BMW and its M Division. The “baby-M” will debut in the United States on May 16th and has a base price of $47,010, including the destination fee. The 1M will be offered only in three colors, Alpine White, Black Sapphire and Valencia Orange. Inside, BMW only offers the Black Boston leather with orange stitching. Two packages are available for the 1M, the Convenience Package with Anti-theft alarm system, Comfort Access, Park Distance Control (rear only) and Navigation System, and the Premium Package with Auto-dimming interior and exterior mirrors, Auto-dimming rear view mirror, power front seats with driver seat memory, ambiance lighting, lumbar support, BMW Assist with Bluetooth, iPod and USB adapter. Other options include power folding mirrors, heated front seats, or retractable headlight washers. Stay tuned for more details on the kit! Read the original here: Rumor: BMWNA to offer a 3.0 CSL-like decals kit for the new 1 Series M Coupe

Erik Goplen, BMW X3 Exterior Designer, joins BMW’s Chief of Design Adrian Van Hooydonk in describing the exterior design of the new X3. The American designer, working as a creative director for DesignworksUSA, also designed the BMW E46 3 Series Coupe, one of the most popular and highly appreciated 3 Series to date. His passion for cars can be seen throughout the video and the new X3 certainly gets a more personal feel under his pen. The new X3 launched late last year and BMW has high hopes for compact SAV in the United States. According to our sources, sales have been starting to reach the desired levels and the build-to-order program offered by BMW is beginning to take off. The three minutes video will take you behind the scenes of the new X3, but to learn even more about the design language, feel free to revisit our exclusive interview with Goplen . Excerpt from:  Video: BMW X3 Design Explained by Adrian Van Hooydonk and Erik Goplen

BMW rumor mills continues to churn and latest and greatest rumor mentions the BMW X3 diesel and 7 Series diesel being approved for the U.S. market. According to a source, the two vehicles have been approved for production and will enter the U.S. market by the end of this year. No details around the engine offerings have been released to us, but based on a speculative, yet educated guess, we expect to see the same powerplant as found in the X5 xDrive35d and the 335d. The 3.0 liter turbocharged engine is the only diesel approved by U.S. EPA therefore the engine turns into the prime candidate for future diesel models in the U.S. The X3 xDrive35d is expected to deliver even better performance than the X5d, with faster 0 to 60 mph times and also fuel consumption. The 735d will be placed as an entry-level 7er, next to our top pick 740i. The new X3 is shaping up to be one of BMW’s biggest bets for 2011 in the North American market and based on the successful sales of the X5 diesel, the decision to expand the line-up is more than reasonable. At the same time, we suspect the 7 Series diesel to be more of a marketing response to the S-class diesel offered by Mercedes-Benz in the United States, a great move to attract luxury vehicles buyers who are looking at more eco-friendly and fuel efficient models. The 335d and X5d’s twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline six produces 265 horsepower and 425 foot pounds of torque. The powerful clean diesel engine is exclusively mated to a six-speed Steptronic automatic transmission. The official mileage estimates for the BMW 335d are 23 city / 36 highway MPG, while the X5 35d is rated by the EPA at 19mpg city and 25 highway. Pricing and production dates have not been communicated to us. We are working on confirming these news, but for now, we would like to keep them at a rumor level. Original post:  Rumor: BMW X3 Diesel and 7 Series Diesel coming to the U.S.

G-Power is back with another nutsy project, but this time with a flavor of “green”. The European tuner combined their supercharger packages with LPG (natural-gas) instead of gasoline. Beside the eco-friendly benefits, LPG is also known to cost about half per liter than gasoline and reduces CO2 by 15 percent. Thanks to the SK II bi-supercharger system, the E60 M5 by G-Power reaches 660 hp and 650Nm of torque with a top speed of 200 mph (333 km/h). The G-Power M5 also sprints to 62 mph (100 km/h) in only 4.6 seconds. More details in the press release below. Press Release: G-POWER is known first and foremost for spectacular supercars, enormous power hikes and world speed records. What is less well-known, however, is the fact that environmental protection and resource conservation also enjoy a high priority in all G-POWER developments. The power increases achieved by G-POWER are not paid for by an exorbitant rise in fuel consumption, but by maximization of the specific efficiency of the modified driveline. In its December 2008 issue, German magazine “Auto Bild sportscars” calculated an average fuel consumption of 18.3 l/100 km for the G-POWER M6 HURRICANE equipped with a 635 hp bi-supercharger system. In the January 2009 issue, the series production BMW M6 was found to have a fuel consumption of 18.1 l/100 km. This equates to an added fuel consumption of around 1% paired with a power increase of around 25%! The whole package becomes even more environmentally friendly when the increased output is delivered courtesy of LPG instead of petrol. The conversion, however, is not that straightforward, even for series production high-revving engines. The even bigger challenge comes when the engine in question is also supercharged via two ASA radial compressors. By lucky coincidence, G-POWER is not only a supercharging specialist, but also one that happens to have particular expertise with BMW V10 power units. It is not without reason that G-POWER is the only company worldwide to offer an aftermarket supercharger system for the BMW V10 engine. The outcome is the G-POWER M5 HURRICANE GS equipped with one fully sequential five-cylinder LPG system per cylinder bank. The benefits of LPG as a fuel are both economical and ecological in nature – not only is LPG around...

The 2011 Detroit Auto Show is about to wrap up its press days and after two days filled with a lot of content, photos and videos, we would like to offer you a comprehensive photo gallery of all the BMW models displayed at the Cobo Center. Among the usual suspects, Z4, 5 Series, 5GT or X3, BMW brought out two world premieres: the BMW 1 Series M Coupe and 6 Series Convertible. Both cars stole the show at the BMW stand, with slightly more visitors and journalists interested in the new 1M, an orange painted “baby-M” that without a doubt will turn heads on the road. 6 Series stood out with its elegant design and classic convertible lines, a fine premium automobile that will sit at the top of the BMW line-up. Enjoy the photos and stay tuned for more news from Detroit! The rest is here: 2011 NAIAS: Ultimate BMW Photo Gallery

According to Autoblog , via Automobile Magazine and via a live tweet (yes, we know, lots of “sources”), BMW is planning to bring a four-cylinder engine to the Z4 family in the North American market. The Twitter rumor reported by Automobile Magazine mentions BMW ditching the naturally aspirated 3.0-liter inline-six in the base Z4 roadster in favor of a turbocharged four-cylinder powerplant. If the rumor turns out true, the Z4 sDrive30i will be featuring the first four-cylinder engine available in the United States. BMW has been contemplating with the idea of offering a four-cylinder powerplant in the US, but expectations were that the unit will be found in the X1 or future 1 Series models. The engine in the Z4 will output at least 200 horsepower and 220 lb-ft of torque. Clearly details are slim at the moment, thanks to the 140-characters limit imposed by Twitter, but we expect to learn more through an official article published by the respectable magazine. Big news, yes, but it doesn’t come as much of a surprise since BMW has long flirted with the idea of using turbocharged four-pot mills in its base models like the Z4 sDrive30i and even the 328i. Read the original:  Detroit Rumor: BMW Z4 to get a four-cylinder engine in the US

Detroit – BMW held a design workshop for the 6 Series convertible on Tuesday morning. The process started with an explanation of why a soft top was selected over a metal folding top. In talking to Adrian van Hooydonk in the customer lounge prior to the event, he explained that the customers of the 6er have multiple cars, basically one for every occasion, that the need for a hard roof was not necessary. The fabric top was made esthetically possible thanks to the ‘fins’, the buttress supports on either side of the roof, that allowed it to be a ‘fast’ shape. The soft top then can follow the same shape as the coupe. The top is constructed of multiple layers of fabric and is said to be quite quiet in operation. There is also a classical elegance to the top being constructed of fabric. The 6er has a purposeful resemblance to the 7 and 5 Series. Adrian van Hooydonk explained that the car has been lengthened and widen from the previous 6. This has allowed for a more optimal rear seat back angle and sightly more commodious accommodations. There are two lines that sweep from the front of the car back. One at the shoulder line and one that runs from the chrome jewelry in the fender back through the door handles and onto the rear fenders (and is visually reminiscent of the line on the 7 Series). As we reported yesterday (and Adrian von Hooydonk reiterated in the workshop), the front fenders are injection molded plastic, the door skins are aluminium, and the rear fenders are steel. Three disparate materials that have different responses to the process of shaping them. Adrian von Hooydonk emphasized that the designers worked with those properties and designed and exploited the capabilities of the material to the benefit the design. The projected customer for the 6er is looking for sporty elegance and BMW considers the 6er to be the ‘top of the range’. In explaining how elegance was projected in the design with the minimal amount of lines, Adrian von Hooydonk said, “. . . lines are graphics, sculpture uses fewer lines, everything else is light and shadow” And the surfaces of the 6er are definitely sculpted. The shadow of the line that runs through the door handles is manipulated from front to rear. It casts a deeper shadow along the...