Another Alleged Sudden Acceleration Incident from South Korea, this Time Featuring a BMW

After an alleged sudden unintended acceleration crash involving a latest generation Hyundai Sonata YF in South Korea spread like wildfire across the news, the local media discovered a supposedly similar incident concerning a BMW model.

And like the Hyundai accident, the terrifying BMW crash was also filmed from a dashboard mounted camera.

The video shows the car gaining up speed with the driver swerving through traffic on the highway to avoid crashing for about 20 seconds but in the end, he smashes into another vehicle that had slowed down due to traffic. This event took place in South Korea on November 5, 2011.

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8-Year Old Boy Plays in Mom's New BMW, Ends Up Crashing a House

Parents should always be aware of the fact that boys will be boys, meaning one should avoid leaving an 8-year old kid alone in a car with the keys on the ignition because he just might want to try out the view from the driver's seat, which is what happened today in a neighborhood in Boston.

The unnamed 8-year old boy from Dorchester was left unsupervised in his mom's new BMW 328i sedan, which was parked on a driveway on Mascot Street.

The youngster was waiting for his mother to drive him to school but apparently, he felt the need to hop into the front seat, turn on the engine, place the car in gear and stomp on the gas pedal.

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BMW and Chrysler Issue Separate Recalls on 2012 3-Series, Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan

In today's recall roundup, BMW and the Chrysler Group have announced two new safety recall campaigns concerning the 2012 3-Series and the Town and Country and Dodge Caravan people carriers on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

We will begin with the Bavarian automaker that issued a recall of approximately 7,600 3-Series models built from October 19, 2011, through March 18, 2012, over an issue with the front seat head restraints.

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Hartge Gives the BMW 116i Hatchback a Power Boost

BMW Group tuning specialist Hartge has presented a new engine kit for the entry-level 116i hatchback, which in stock form, sports a 1.6-liter four-cylinder petrol with TwinPower Turbo and direct injection technology delivering 134hp (136PS) at 4,400 rpm and 220Nm (162 lb-ft) from 1,350 to 4,300 rpm.

Hartge's remapped ECU helps nudge the turbocharged unit's peak output to 169 horsepower (171PS) at 4,400 and torque to 265Nm (195 lb-ft) at 2,000 rpm.

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Spied: Next BMW 3-Series Coupe Snagged in Italy

Evidently, BMW was over in Italy this past week to try out the replacement for its 3-Series Coupe, also known with its internal codename F32. An Italian reader of Autoblog.it stumbled upon a camouflaged prototype while it was filling up at a gas station in the town of Arzachena in Sardinia.

The video is not clear enough to see which variant of the F32 this is, but the large alloy wheels point to a top model in terms of performance.

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BMW Brings M Performance Parts for New 3-Series and 5-Series Sedans to the USA

Like all carmakers or any other company for that matter, BMW would like to be the one that customers go to when it comes to aftermarket products. While the Bavarian automaker has been offering Performance Parts for years, we will now come to know the components under the M Performance Parts brand name.

Today, BMW announced the availability of a new lineup of M Performance Parts for the latest 2012 3-Series and 2011-2012 5-Series sedans in the U.S. market. The range comprises chassis, aerodynamic, cockpit and powertrain components.

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BMW and Hyundai Reportedly in Talks to Develop a New Engine Family

Automakers try to achieve economy of scales through alliances, and that holds true for even the most successful brands these days.

The BMW Group, which only recently expanded its cooperation with the PSA Peugeot Citroen Group to include hybrid components and Toyota Motor Corp. to begin a collaborative effort in the development of next-generation lithium-ion battery cells, is now said to be in talks with South Korea's Hyundai Motors.

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New BMW X1 Compact Crossover Priced from £24,660 in the UK, Available Exclusively with Diesels

The facelifted BMW X1 will go on sale in Britain this July priced from £24,660 for the X1 sDrive18d. The Bavarian company's Audi Q3 rival features minor exterior styling tweaks combined with a subtlety-refined cabin, a new flagship diesel model and two new trims, Sport and xLine.

Proving the popularity of oil-burners in the UK, the X1 will be offered exclusively with diesel engines topped by the new X1 xDrive25d, which is only available in four-wheel drive.

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Eight Global Automakers Including GM, Ford, BMW and the VW Group to Display Universal Fast Charger

The ascent of electric vehicles has posed the question of how they will be charged as each automaker had developed its own technique, but that is the equivalent of having different fuel ports on gasoline-powered models.

One of the answers to this question comes from eight major automakers from the United States and Germany that have agreed upon a common fast-charging technology for use on electric vehicles in Europe and the United States.

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BMW Confirms Facelifted 7-Series, will Launch this July, May get Tri-Turbo Diesel

BMW has evidently completed the development of its refreshed 7-Series limousine as the Bavarian company's CEO Norbert Reithofer revealed that the 2013 model will arrive at dealerships in July during a conference call on Thursday.

The BMW boss did not provide further information on the car, though our spy shots suggest that the styling tweaks on the 2013 7-Series will be limited to the redesigned bumpers, LED headlamps, the front kidney grilles and the alloy wheel designs, along with new trims and better materials inside.

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New Mega Gallery of BMW's Facelifted 2013 X1 Crossover with 100 Photos

If you are in the mood to observe the refreshed 2013 BMW X1 from all sorts of angles both inside and out, then you are in luck as the Bavarian firm dropped a huge gallery with 100 photos of its compact proposal in the premium crossover segment.

The facelift comes after some two-and-a-half years and more than 275,000 worldwide sales of the compact X model that is built at BMW plant's in Leipzig, Germany and in Tiexi, China.

For the first time, the X1 will be available in the U.S. with prices starting from $31,545 for the rear-wheel drive X1 sDrive28i, while the all-wheel drive X1 xDrive28i and X1 xDrive35i cost $33,245 and $39,345 respectively (including $895 destination and handling). BMW said that the X1 will arrive in U.S. dealerships this fall.

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All electric BMW I photographed on the 163, another good reason to always have a camera handy

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/1series/activee/2011/showroom/index.html

BMW Group Unveils its London 2012 Olympic Games Car, Motorcycle and Bicycle Fleet

As the official automotive partner of this summer's 2012 London Olympic Games, the BMW Group will provide organizers with a fleet of more than 3,000 cars and bikes that will be used for a variety of purposes from pulling boats out of the water to transporting judges, event directors and Games officials.

Today, the German company became more specific about its Olympic Games fleet that consists of low-emission, diesel, hybrid and electric cars, motorcycles and bicycles.

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BMW M5 E60 V10 is No Match for New M5 F10 V8 Turbo

There's something exotically special about a V10-powered saloon like the previous generation BMW M5 (E60), but even though its successor has two less cylinders, it more than compensates for the loss with the addition of a pair of turbochargers when it comes to speed.

As always, the numbers don't lie: the E60 M5's 5.0-liter naturally-aspirated V10 churns out 500hp (507PS) and a peak torque of 520Nm (428 lb-ft), while the newer F10 M5's 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, 552hp (560PS) from 6,000 to 7,000rpm and a maximum torque of 680Nm (502 lb-ft) from 1,500 rpm to 5,750rpm.

To get a taste of how these figures translate on the road, members of the M5Board forums took the two generations of the M5 to an airstrip for a speed challenge. Enjoy the videos after the break.

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BMW Debuts i8 Spyder and Announces "eDrive" Designation for "i" EVs and Hybrids in Beijing

The open-top, two-seater version of the innovative BMW i8 plug-in hybrid made its world premiere today at the China Auto Show in Beijing. At this point, the i8 Concept Spyder is just a concept, but a production version is most probably in the works.

Despite being slightly shorter and losing two seats compared to the i8 Coupe, the Spyder mirrors its closed-roof sibling in its design, lightweight carbonfiber construction and plug-in hybrid powertrain.

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Ernst Henne’s Supercharged BMW R37

I don't recall where I found this image. Amazing bike though

Spied: New BMW M135i Three-Door Hatch Flexes its Turbo'd Straight-Six on the Nürburgring

After presenting the M135i Concept sports hatch at last month's Geneva Motor Show, BMW is now concentrating on finishing the development of the production model that will arrive in European showrooms either at the end of this year or in early 2013.

If you exclude the patches of swirly camouflage on the car's profile and the lack of the M Performance brand's traditional tricolor stripes on the sides, nothing else has changed over the prototype model.

The production M135i is based on the soon to be revealed three-door hatchback body-style of the latest 1-Series adding an assortment of M aero parts such as the front bumper, side skirts amd a different rear bumper that accommodates an integrated diffuser and dark chrome-trimmed exhausts pipes.

Other parts worth mentioning include the mirror caps in Ferric Grey and side window surrounds in gloss black plus the new 18-inch alloy wheels.

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Life-Size Replica of the BMW i8 Concept Made out of Lego Blocks

The BMW Group and LEGO, the famous interlocking brick brand from Denmark, are no strangers as the two companies have cooperated many times in the past.

Once again, BMW was one of the main sponsors of this year's LEGO Kids Fest that took place at the automaker's home town of Munich from April 12 to 15.

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BMW to Resume Special Tours of Munich in Vintage and Classic Cars

With spring weather comes the opening of BMW's Museum tours that offer participants the opportunity to explore the city of Munich and the Bavarian automaker's facilities in a selection of vintage and classic cars.

BMW's sightseeing tours begin on April 22 and last until October 2012. Each tour is carried out in either vintage models from the 1930s, such as the BMW 326 Convertible and BMW 335 Convertible, or 1950s classics like the BMW 502, and last for about three hours.

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BMW M Boss Confirms AWD for M135i, Says Company is Considering M Performance 7-Series

The crew over at Car&Driver magazine recently sat down for a chat with the president of BMW’s M division, Friedrich Nitschke, who had some very interesting things to say about the sub-brand's future products.

While Nitschke made it clear that the upcoming M135i that was displayed in concept trim at the Geneva Motor Show this March won't be coming to the United States, he confirmed that the six-cylinder turbocharged hatch will be offered in the rest of the world with optional all-wheel drive as well as a choice of manual and automatic transmissions.

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