BMW

Targeting the Toyota Rav4 and the Honda CR-V, the BMW X1 will be a compact SUV offering RWD and xDrive AWD configurations. The X1 will debut in Europe this fall with a choice of four engines - one petrol and three diesels in both RWD and AWD configurations. The most efficient of the range, the RWD sDrive18d, achieves a fuel economy of up to 45.2mpg (5.2L/100km) while still being able to hit a top speed of 124mph. The BMW X1 will go on sale in the U.S. in 2011, with (what most speculate) 2 new engine variants.

Engine specs:

xDrive28i 3.0L petrol engine (standard)

• 258 hp (190kW) and 228lb-ft (310Nm) of torque
• 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds
• Top speed of 127mph
• Fuel economy of 25mpg (9.4L/100km)

BMW just announced they have a new voice control system that will be available on new cars in September 2009. The BMW Voice Control System lets you control features in your car such as your phone, climate control, navigation and sound systems, all with your spoken commands.

To activate the voice control system, simply press a key on the steering wheel, and tell the system what to do. It can recognize up to 500 preset terms, (depending on your BMW's features). Your commands are picked up by the hands-free microphone and each time you give a command, the system emits a tone to let you know it has been understood.

Up to forty telephone numbers can be saved and it has a text-to-speech function that can read aloud e-mails, SMS messages and the names of radio stations. But not only that, BMW is the first European car maker to offer voice recognition that can find individual music titles. The system monitors and interprets your voice commands regarding the type of music, the name of the artist, an album or an individual title. The system then gives you a choice of audio files saved on the hard disc in a title list – and as of spring 2010, the system will cover files on a music player connected to the car.

The new voice control system will be available on cars sold in Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States in September 2009.

Using new T1-518 ASA centrifugal supercharger, G-Power uses a "soft" charging of 4.4psi for a continual boost for the BMW. By doing this, G-Power claims that it can constantly provide around 20% more torque to the M3.

The new supercharger will push the BMW M3 to 500hp, a top speed of 200+ mph and achieve a speed of 124mph in 13.5 seconds.

Other features G-Power has included include:

• Custom wheels
• Michelin sport tire
• New continuously height-adjustable, G-Power coil-over suspension system with nine settings
• New sports rear muffler
• Carbon-fiber panels
• Aluminum pedals and tailor made leather seats.

Currently, G-Power has not released any information regarding a price for the supercharger or the entire package. You can get more pics of the setup here.

The first thing you'll notice about the new BMW 5-series GT is that its body shape is a mixture of a crossover, hatchback and wagon styles. This creates a very unique and eye catching body. In the dash, you will have access to BMW's iDrive system, matched to a 10.2in display. You'll also have a USB port, 80GB hard drive, DVD player and a heads-up-display. Thanks to the design of the 5-series GT, you receive a nice amount of storage. With the back seats completely folded down, you have access to 1,700L of storage space.

BMW will offer 3 different powertrain options. The 530d GT comes with a 245hp (180kW) 3.0L six-cylinder, turbodiesel engine with 398lb-ft (540Nm). The 535i version will feature a 306hp (225kW) straight-six, twin-turbocharged, petrol engine with 295lb-ft (400Nm) of torque. And the 550i performance model will come equipped with a turbocharged 4.4L petrol V8 pushing 407hp (300kW) with 442lb-ft (600Nm) of torque.Read more