• top gear

    Top Gear Pits BMW M3 Vs. Lexus IS-F, We Translate Stig's Morse Code

    If you had a chance to see last night's episode of Top Gear you'd have seen the four-door BMW M3 take to the track against the Lexus IS-F. You'd also see Stig take the IS-F for a power lap, again while listening to the sounds of Morse code. The inability to understand what Stiggie was saying / hearing due to all those dots and dashes was buggin' us, so we enlisted the help of one of America's preeminent practitioners of the code of dits and dahs — who also happens to be an avid Jalopnik reader (although he likes bikes more than cars for some reason. Jeesh, hasn't he heard the old maxim about "two wheels bad, four wheels good?" Whatever, we won't hold it against him). He's helpfully translated the two short bursts of circles and lines. Hit the jump for the full video as well as the translation. More »

    8:40 PM on Mon Dec 1 2008
    By Ray Wert
    8,902 views, 75 comments

    Most discussed kors: .... --- .-- / ..-. ..- -.-. -.- .. -. --. / .-- . .. .-. -.. more »

  • rally

    The Pedal Pushers Show Us That Hell Projects Aren't Just For The Boys: Pullover Rally 2008

    The whole car-freak thing seems like an all-XY-chromosome deal sometimes, but it's just not so; here's an all-women car club that roars across the East Bay landscape in a fleet of temperamental spirited Italian, French, and German vintage cars (plus a couple of Detroit products), blasting a few stereotypes in the process. The Pedal Pushers had an Oakland-to-Port Costa rally a couple weeks back, and TheEastBayKid was there with his '76 BMW 2002 and camera to get some shots for us. Jump away for the rest of the gallery!


    5:00 PM on Wed Nov 26 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    1,873 views, 25 comments

    Most discussed CeRuLeaNBLu: Pic 2: That's one hot Fulvia! And that sounds vaguely unwholesome. more »

  • offbeat news

    Ashlee Simpson Gives Child Lame Hipster Name, Initials "B.M.W."

    For some reason, Jessica Simpson's less attractive and less talented sister Ashlee is famous, and being famous apparently automatically brings mental disability. Ashlee and husband Pete Wentz have ushered in their first son and named it, wait for it, Bronx Mowgli Wentz. Initials, BMW. Yes, Mowgli, like the kid from Jungle Book. Why not just name the kid "Beat me up and take my lunch money" or "Child of vapid nobodies." We weep for society. [People]

    2:01 PM on Fri Nov 21 2008
    By Ben Wojdyla
    9,355 views, 103 comments

    Most discussed Mazda Eric has his own radio show: Couldn't they just go for Ben Martin Wentz or something not insane? more »

  • BMW Concept 7 Series ActiveHybrid

    2009 BMW 7-Series, ActiveHybrid Hit LA Show Floor

    BMW rolled out the red carpet for the debut of the new 2009 BMW 7-Series and BMW Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid, both driving across the carpet under power of BMW's twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8. The difference is while the 2009 7-Series moved with the force of 400 HP and 450 lb-ft of torque, the 7-Series ActiveHybid had an additional 20 HP and 155 lb-ft of torque on tap thanks to the addition of an electric motor. The former will go on sale early next year while the latter is but a concept, though one we believe is close to the design of a future BMW hybrid. Press releases and live photos below.

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    Feature

    4:00 PM on Wed Nov 19 2008
    By Matt Hardigree
    1,315 views, 14 comments

    Most discussed wrx-tyrannosaurusWrx: Is the target consumer for the 7 series really looking for a hybrid? Wouldn't it make more sense to stick more »

  • BMW Concept 7 Series ActiveHybrid

    BMW Concept 7 Series ActiveHybrid Adds Power, Efficiency

    Ahead of its official reveal at the LA Auto Show, the official details on the BMW Concept 7 Series ActiveHybrid have finally been released after months of us sitting on the edges of our seats, waiting with bated breath. The ActiveHybrid (as opposed to the other name considered, "LazyHybrid") is a "preview of potential" for things to come from BMW and shows off a mild hybrid operating from a motor integrated transmission, which was jointly developed with Chrysler and General Motors. The motor "assists" a 400 HP, 450 lb-ft, 4.4 liter V8 with its own 20 HP and 155 lb-ft of torque providing oil barons with cognitive dissonance the feel-good benefit of 15% better fuel economy. Complete details in an uncompromisingly self satisfied press release below.

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    Feature

    12:30 PM on Wed Nov 19 2008
    By Ben Wojdyla
    630 views, 15 comments

    Most discussed nick2ny: Nice work BMW, coming out with ED for people with ED! more »

  • 2009 bmw 7-series

    2009 BMW 7-Series, Now With 400 HP Twin-Turbo V8

    The next generation 7-Series has officially arrived, though if you've been paying attention you've already seen the 2009 BMW 7-series and therefore know that the design team has gone to great effort to correct the car's awkward-looking posterior. A new twin-turbocharged, direct-injection 4.4-liter V8 manages 400 HP and 450 lb-ft of torque, which should make the chauffeur happy. If you find yourself behind the wheel there's a plethora of technology to keep you from killing yourself including Active Cruise Control, Active Blind Spot Detection, BMW Night Vision and cameras on the side and rear of the luxo-yacht. The new 7-series is also the first BMW with a multi-link double-wishbone front suspension. It's something to think about on the way to the appointment with your increasingly distressed stock broker.

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    Feature

    10:30 AM on Wed Nov 19 2008
    By Matt Hardigree
    1,222 views, 30 comments

    Most discussed layabout: If only they could make it look as elegant as the E38. more »

  • baby rolls

    First Look: Rolls Royce RR4 Interior

    The boys from KGP have just gotten us the first shots of the interior of the new entry-level Baby Rolls, or RR4. The shots show a car with typical Rolls Royce style, but at a more-Financiapocalypse-like price of between $200,000 and $250,000. This makes sense as the Rolls Royce RR4 is set to be slated between parent company BMW's 2009 BMW 7-series and the top-of-the-line Rolls Royce Phantom, with parts from the former and the style of the latter. The new exterior photos also give us a more clear picture of the curvier shape and sleeker profile of the new Rolls Royce. Just use your imagination to add the gigantic chrome grille. More details in the spy report below the jump.

    More »
    Spy Photos

    3:01 PM on Mon Nov 17 2008
    By Matt Hardigree
    2,810 views, 23 comments

    Most discussed flyingstitch: Looks like a chunkier Volvo S80. Which isn't so bad, just not very Rolls-like. more »

  • down on the street

    1984 BMW 733i

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. I've been neglecting the big BMWs for most of this series, so it's time to follow up the the '86 735i with another E23 from the cocaine-and-S&L-money-mad mid-1980s. Remember the Savings And Loan Crisis? Wild West loans on worthless assets and egregious fraud following in the wake of deregulation of a once-staid sector of the financial system, ultimately costing 160 billion bucks in taxpayer money? Wait, that sounds familiar, except for the bargain price tag… anyway, here's the kind of car that a low-level S&L scamster would have bought with the proceeds of his first "dead horses for dead cows" loan.
    More »

    9:00 AM on Fri Nov 14 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    1,408 views, 39 comments

    Most discussed baldy_pm uses Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock: "another E23 from the cocaine-and-S&L-money-mad mid-1980s" Makes you wonder what vehicles will be associated with today's financial mess... more »

  • Make It Stop Make It Stop Make It Stop

    World's Most Hideous Nissan Maxima Found In Kuwait

    Remember when we went to war in Iraq because of the threat of weapons of mass destruction and used Kuwait as a staging area? Apparently, this was all just an effort by Kuwait to disguise this truly dangerous and frightening fifth-generation Nissan Maxima. With a 7-series/3-series hybrid nose, scissor doors and Supra wing this Maxima is somehow the worst of all worlds. It's so ugly we don't even think it could find a home at SEMA. Though we've seen many of these mods before, there is something especially hideous about seeing them all together. The collapsing hood, like the petals of a Venus Flytrap, is setup to trap unsuspecting onlookers. Oh, and it's for sale. Happy bidding.

    [Flickr via Carscoop]

    10:40 AM on Mon Nov 10 2008
    By Matt Hardigree
    8,784 views, 79 comments

    Most discussed elwood: The worst part is all the money the owner sunk into it to create this monstrosity. If the owner more »

  • down on the street

    1972 BMW 2002

    Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. BMW 2002s are plentiful on the island (we've seen a beater '72, a '73 2002Tii, and a massive-bumpered slushbox '75 so far), though technically this one isn't on the island. I've ventured over to Bay Farm Island (which was once literally an island but is now attached to the mainland at the Oakland Airport, just as the island part of Alameda was once a peninsula), which is part of Alameda but lacks sufficient garage-less housing to make for happy DOTS hunting. However, it's still possible to find interesting machinery where Jack London once went oyster pirating, and I've found this clean round-taillight 2002 there.
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    9:00 AM on Thu Nov 6 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    2,083 views, 54 comments

    Most discussed layabout: That 2002 looks very cool,espacially in white. more »