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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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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Watch a 9-Year-Old Boy Drift a BMW E30 Racer

We don’t know if Stavros Grillis from the Greek island of Kos is the youngest drifter in the world, but he's surely one of the youngest and he'll no doubt impress you with his driving skills if you take into consideration his age, since we're talking about a child that's only 9 and-a-half years old…

With the help and support of his father, the talented youngster has been practicing drifting since he was seven. One can only imagine how good he will get to be once he grows up if he continues at this rate.

Head over the break to watch Stavros in action in the videos that follow.

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Scoop: BMW Shows us How the Next Generation of the 3-Series Convertible's Hard Top Works

With spring upon us and the temperatures slowly rising in the northern hemisphere, BMW's engineers have no problem opening the top of the next 3-Series Convertible, which like the coupe, you may or may not be forced to call the 4-Series.

Luckily for us, one of our spies was in the right place at the right time to snag more than a dozen photos of BMW's testers opening and closing the electrically operated, three-piece hardtop, which neatly tucks away in the trunk at the touch of a button.

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New BMW 3-Series Long-Wheelbase Model Heads to the Beijing Auto Show

At the upcoming Auto China Show 2012 in Beijing, BMW will present the world premiere of its long-wheelbase 3-Series sedan, tailored to the needs of Chinese customers who appear to have a thing about extra leg space in the rear passenger area.

The new 3-Series LWB rides on an extended 2,920mm (114.9 inches) wheelbase, which is 110mm (4.3 inches) longer than that of the regular model that is also offered in China, increasing the car's length to 4,734mm (186.4 inches).

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