Archive for the ‘3-Series’ Category

At the Frankfurt auto show, German automaker BMW has confirmed that the next-generation BMW 3-Series will offer a four-cylinder engine. But it’s still two and a half years away.

The twin-turbocharged four-cylinder would likely be offered alongside its much-loved in-line six-cylinder engines, as well as a diesel, as BMW already offers in the 335d.

BMW of North America CEO Jim O’Donnell told Automotive News that a four-cylinder model will be added to the 3-Series lineup by spring 2012, in hopes to meet U.S. fuel economy guidelines seeking a five-percent annual improvement leading up to a 35.5-mpg national standard in 2016.

The move will at...

Generational biases are nearly impossible to overcome when it comes to cars and image, and what types of cars are hot or not. At least until recently, much of the Baby Boomer generation, which has held most of the new-car buying power, has been decidedly anti-wagon.

My generation, the young side of Gen X plus Gen Y, has liked wagons all along; I can't remember a time when my peers considered them uncool. Whether or not it goes back to the knee-jerk resistance to the Plymouth Voyager minivans and Ford Explorer SUVs that our parents' generation gravitated toward, we really love our sport wagons.

If you're looking for a wagon—especially a...

Most of the United States now require that you insure your vehicle before you can register it. Enforcement, however, varies considerably. As we learned recently, in New York state, you can be arrested for driving an uninsured vehicle if you incur a moving violation in it that would otherwise net you just a traffic ticket.

But it's a lot tougher elsewhere. In the UK, cars without insurance are seized by the police.

As the BBC tells us, "Drivers have two weeks to obtain the documents and reclaim their vehicles or they will be permanently confiscated. High value cars are supposed to be auctioned off, with the money pumped back into policing."

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