BMW M Car Sales Increase by More than 14 Percent in 2010

Sales of BMW's M car series continue to sprout as the Bavarian company's performance division concluded the 2010 business year with a 14.2 percent increase to 16,967 units, despite the phase out of the V10-powered M5 and M6 models.

The M brand's most popular model remained the M3 with 5,729 units of the coupe, 2,544 units of the Convertible and 1,843 Saloons. Worldwide sales of the newly introduced all-wheel drive X5 M and X6 M totaled 2,778 and 3,082 respectively.

The USA was once again the most important single market in 2010 for the performance brand with overall BMW M car sales up by more than 6 percent to 6,821 units. As before, the number two sales region was the German domestic market with sales of 1,716 cars, followed by Britain and Northern Ireland with 1,264 units.

BMW M's division saw its most dynamic growth in China where sales rose by 355 percent to 1,088 units, making the country the fourth-strongest market for the brand. Significant gains were also registered in Brazil (+ 237 percent) and Russia (+ 104 percent).

The German company said that it also recorded a 1 percent increase in sales of the M Sport packages, with 138,800 units in 2010. The main market for M Sport packages was Britain and Northern Ireland, followed by Germany and the USA. The was also a significant jump in the demand for the firm's Individual program, with 24,155 options being ordered in 2010, an increase of 47 percent over 2009.

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G-Power’s BMW M5 HURRICANE GS is the World's Fastest LPG-Powered Car

After the standard BMW M5 and M6 Hurricane editions, BMW tuning specialists G-Power has now released a more eco-friendly iteration of the same package, in the form of the LPG-powered Hurricane M5 GS.

The German firm's engineers performed several modification to the M5 and M6 Hurricane's 5.0-liter bi-supercharged V10 engine which now comes with one fully sequential five-cylinder LPG system per cylinder bank. G-Power says the benefits of LPG fuel are both economical and ecological in nature, as LPG is not only around 50 percent less expensive per liter than petrol, it also reduces CO2 emissions by about 15 percent.

As an added bonus, the V10 is slightly more powerful than its gasoline counterpart producing 660-horsepower (+25HP) and 650Nm of peak torque at 5,500 rpm.

The M5 Hurricane GS can go from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in only 4.6 seconds and reach the 200 km/h (124 mph) mark in 11.4 seconds, while topping out at 333 km/h (207 mph), which, according to the tuning firm, makes it the world’s fastest LPG-powered car.

For improved stability and handling, the sports saloon has been fitted with a G-Power RS coil-over sport suspension, high performance braking system and lighter, 20-inch Silverstone Clubsport alloys, clad in 255/35 front and 285/30 rear tires.

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BMW 1-Series M Coupe Allegedly Laps the Nürburgring in 8:12" Making it Faster than E46 M3

The BMW 1-Series M Coupe is pretty fast on paper. Reaching the 60 mph (96 km/h) mark in just 4.7 seconds is no small feat, but nowadays, it seems that performance cars need to have a respectable “Ring” time under there belt to command respect. Now, a forum member of the 1Addicts fan site who calls himself "SteveD" claims that the Ring time for the 335-horsepower strong M model is 8 minutes and 12 seconds.

If true (and according to the Nürburgring lap times list posted on Wikipedia), this means the entry-level M model is 10 seconds faster than the E46 M3, on par with the E86 Z4 M Coupe, but 7 seconds slower than the E92 M3 .

Of course, just because something is posted on a forum, doesn’t necessarily make it true. However, it seems that “SteveD” is none other than Steve Davies, a UK journalist who writes for Skiddmark. When asked where did he received the info, "SteveD" wrote “directly from BMW when we filmed the car”.

And indeed, Skiddmark does feature a piece about the 1-Series M Coupe and it contains the information posted on 1addicts. Still, we’re going to take this one with a grain of salt until we have the official confirmation.

You can see how the 1 Series M Coupe's alleged 'Ring lap time compares with other models from BMW and other makers in the list below.

By Csaba Daradics

Nurburgring Lap Times as Posted on Wikipedia:

• E46 M3 CSL - 7:50

• E90/E92 M3 - 8:05

• E63 M6 - 8:09

• 1 series M coupe - 8:12

• Z4 M-Coupe - 8:12

• E60 M5 - 8:13

• Alpina B3 Biturbo - 8:14

• Z4 M-Roadster - 8:15

• Alpina Roadster S (Z4) - 8:15

• E46 M3 - 8:22

• 335i E92 Coupe - 8:26

Other Models Compared:

• 911 Carrera S PDK (997.5) - 7:50

• Audi R8 4.2 - 8:04

• Cayman S - 8:04 (by Walter Röhrl)

• Audi RS4 - 8:09

• Audi TT-RS - 8:09

• BMW 1 series M coupe - 8:12

• Aston Martin V8 Vantage - 8:13

• Mercedes C63 AMG PP - 8:13

• Corvette C6 - 8:15

• Cayman S - 8:16 (Sport Auto)

• Porsche Boxter S (987.5) - 8:18

• Lexus IS-F - 8:18

• 2010 VW Golf R - 8:23

• Audi S5 (2007) - 8:26

• Audi TT-S (2008) - 8:29

Source: Skiddmark , Via: 1Addicts

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Find of the Day: 1988 E28 BMW M5 for $18,987

We drooled all over the E28 535i, but now we're in pain. Behold this pristine example of a 1988 E28 BMW M5, up for sale by Autohaus for US $18,987 - that would be €13.338 at today's exchange rates.

In Europe, the E28 BMW M5 was launched in 1985 and was equipped with a 3.5-liter 24-valve 6-cylinder engine with six separate throttle butterflies,delivering 286 hp and 251 lb-ft (340Nm) of torque. However, this here example is a U.S.-spec model, meaning it comes with the less powerful S38B35 straight-six due to stricter emission regulations. It was rated at 256HP and 243 lb-ft (330 Nm).

Still, it was a bit quicker and cost less than the M6 of the era (which used the same engine) accelerating from standstill to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 6.7 seconds. It also had slightly different headlights, bumpers and tires than the Euro model.

Only one exterior color was available (black), while the standard equipment list included amenities such as a full leather interior, power-adjusted seats, cruise control, ABS, 16-inch wheels with 225/50 Pirelli tires and an AM/FM cassette stereo.

According to the BMW M registry, only 1,340 units made it to American shores with an MSRP price of US $47,500 in 1988.

The car being sold here is said to have been driven a mere 51,400 miles. Aside from the tan leather heated seats, it has air conditioning, power moon roof/windows and brand new Bridgestone Potenza tires. Also, the factory sound system has been replaced by a Sony unit, with 10 disk CD changer.

By Csaba Daradics

Link: Autohaus , Via: Autotrader

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