BMW X3 Buyers will be able to see their Vehicles Being Built through an Online Video Portal

BMW wants to turn an ordinary sale into an emotional experience that drives brand loyalty and retention by offerings U.S. buyers of the 2011MY X3 a unique access to the creation of their crossover through an online video portal that will show them footage of their customized X3 being produced at the company’s plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“Customization is essential to the new BMW X3. With more than 10 million distinct configurations available, we wanted to get customers excited about the birth of their unique vehicle,” said Trudy Hardy, Manager, BMW Marketing Communications and Consumer Events, BMW of North America. “This production footage of the BMW X3 vehicles from our Spartanburg plant enhances the overall customer experience that is part of the BMW brand.”

BMW makes use of a total of seven cameras which track the X3 through the various stages of final assembly. The company added that the videos do not have an expiration date and can also be downloaded and shared.

To watch or download the footage, customers will have to create a My BMW account on bmwusa.com website and entering their X3 order number or VIN. The BMW X3 Customer Video Portal program kicks off today, January 20th.

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New Rumors Surface about 4-Cylinder Turbocharged BMW Engine, this time for Z4 Roadster

Last time we reported about BMW's long-rumored family of turbocharged 4-cylinder engines, it was in the summer of 2010. Meanwhile, the German manufacturer hasn't revealed anything on the matter, giving the whole affair an almost mythical status.

However, a new rumor has surfaced, with Automobile Magazine tweeting that the entry level BMW Z4 will soon get a new, 4-cylinder force inducted engine, as a replacement for the naturally aspirated inline-six.

The exact tweet was “BMW new 4-cyl coming this year in Z4 roadster. Replaces nat asp 6, so at least 200 hp” and, seeing that average fuel consumption regulations and emissions standards are getting stricter by the day, it sounds like a logical move for BMW.

The Bavarian company sure knows how to build a fine turbocharged engine and there are many models in its line-up that could benefit from a more frugal, and equally if not more powerful four-pots. The 1-Series and 3-Series are just two that come to mind right, although we’re pretty sure that X3 owners wouldn’t mind better fuel economy as well.

Clearly, the question here is not “why”, but rather “when”, and at the rate things are going, we’d say let's meet up again this summer and we’ll hopefully have some more official info for you.

READ MORE - New Rumors Surface about 4-Cylinder Turbocharged BMW Engine, this time for Z4 Roadster

U-SPY: Carscoop Reader Snags a Fleet of BMW Prototypes in Austria

The BMW Group is quite busy these days as the Bavarian automaker is developing a raft of new models, ranging from the upcoming Megacity electric-vehicle and the MINI Coupe and Roadster, to the next generation of the 3-Series and the production version of the Vision ED concept sports car.

Carscoop reader Andras from Hungary was vacationing in Obertauern, Austria when he spotted this convoy of BMWs comprising of both masked prototypes and normal production cars, including a sedan in full body cladding. Check out Andras' photos and story after the jump.

Andras Deak's Scoop:

"I am currently in Obertauern, Austria for my holidays and discovered a small parking place dedicated to BMW. I walked there to check the cars and took some pictures.

There were 4 "cooling boxes" for cars. At the parking area I recognized a heavily camouflaged next-gen BMW 3-Series (possibly a hybrid version), the brand new X3 with some light camouflage (also possible hybrid version) and several 5-Series... Note that all the cars were plugged into something which looked like an electric charger to me.. Maybe a plug-in hybrid?

The interior of the next-gen 3-Series looks like all the new BMWs these days. It looked like a small 7-Series from the inside. The navigation screen is huge. I could see several fingerprints on the screen (maybe touchscreen?), but also an iDrive controller..."

Köszönöm for the pictures Andras!

READ MORE - U-SPY: Carscoop Reader Snags a Fleet of BMW Prototypes in Austria

VIDEO: BMW Teaches us a Lesson about Winter and Summer Tires

When we shared with you a list with winter driving tips in our previous post -see here- we stressed the importance of using winter tires. The reason? Summer tires will lose most of their elasticity at 7 degrees Celsius (44.6 F) and it only gets worse as temperatures drop further. Grip will be almost non-existent and having four-wheel drive doesn’t help either. If you still have doubts, follow the break to check out a video from BMW showing the new X3 with summer tires rendered useless in the snowy Austrian Alps.

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2011 BMW X3 gets M Sports Package and New Inline-Six Petrol and Diesel Engines

The lightly refreshed Coupe and Convertible versions of the 1-Series aren't the only new BMW models unveiled today as the Bavarian automaker also announced the introduction of an M Sports Package and two new engines for the latest X3 crossover, which was first shown in July.

Beginning from Spring 2011, buyers of the new X3 will be able to order an M Sports package that adds some sporty aesthetic touches inside and out, and revised suspension tuning. In detail, the kit consists of an aerodynamics package with unique front and rear bumpers, side skirts and a roof spoiler. Other exterior amenities include the high-gloss shadow line trim for the side window surrounds and roof rails, chrome tailpipes and 19-inch or optionally, 20-inch alloy wheels. As an exclusive option in conjunction with the M Sports package, buyers can opt for a Carbon Black metallic paintwork.

Inside, there are sports seats with exclusive Pearlpoint fabric/leather upholstery, an M leather-trimmed steering wheel with multifunction buttons including a Cruise Control button, door sills with the M logo and an M footrest.

The roof lining in anthracite, brushed aluminium interior trim, an M shift lever (only for the X3 xDrive 20d with manual transmission) and a stainless steel insert in the loading sill, round off the interior upgrades.

Performance improvements are limited to the sports suspension calibration across the range and on the X3 xDrive35i, a Sports automatic transmission, steering wheel shift paddles and variable sports steering, including Servotronic.

The M Sports package will be available for all engine versions of the new X3.

In addition to the sport kit, BMW also announced the presentation of two new powerplants for the European market X3. These are the 3.0-liter naturally aspirated inline-six petrol with 258HP and 310 Nm (228 lb-ft) for the X3 xDrive28i (the North American xDrive28i is powered by a 240HP unit), and 3.0-liter straight-six turbo diesel with 258HP and 560 Nm (413 lb-ft) of peak torque.

The petrol model completes the standard sprint in 6.9 seconds and hits a top speed of 230 km/h (143 mph). Its average fuel consumption is 9.0 lt/100 km (26.1 mpg US) in the EU test cycle with CO2 emissions of 210 g/km.

The new X3 xDrive30d goes from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.2 seconds en route to a top speed of 230 km/h (143 mph), while returning 6.0 lt/100 km (39.2 mpg US) and 159 g/km.

Both engine variants of the X3 will go on sale in Europe next Spring.

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New BMW X3 xDrive18d achieves a combined 38mpg

Sometimes less, is more. Want a vehicle with low fuel consumption? Then how about going for one with a smaller displacement engine? All you have to do is ask yourself if you really need an SUV with close to 300HP - that's you we're talking about soccer mom, colleague kid and law-abiding dad who never, ever go over 65mph... A very good example of 'less is more', is BMW's new entry-level X3, the xDrive18d which is powered by a 2.0-liter diesel producing 143HP and a more than adequate 350Nm or 258 lb-ft of torque at just 1,750 rpm.

In conjunction with BMW's EfficientDynamics systems, the X3 xDrive18d returns an average fuel consumption of just 6.2 lt/100km which is equal to 38mpg US and 45.6mpg UK, and a CO2 rating of 165 gr/km. Not bad at all.

The downside is that the entry-level X3 won't blow your mind with its performance stats - it needs 10.3 seconds to reach 100km/h (62mph) from standstill while the speedometer's needle stops at 195 km/h or 121mph. But then again, it all depends if you really need-slash-want the extra power and improved performance figures.

Like all engine variants the new BMW X3 xDrive18d also comes as standard with BMW's xDrive all-wheel-drive system. As with most diesel-powered cars of the sort, the X3 xDrive18d is not destined to make a career in the States. European sales of BMW's new version of the X3 will commence this month.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com

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2011 BMW X3

The all-new 2011 BMW X3 will be among the most economical and fuel-efficient mid-sized SUV’s when it arrives in the UK in late November. The entry-level 2.0 litre 181bhp manual X3 xDrive20d will offer combined fuel economy figure of 50.4mpg and CO2 emissions of 149g/km, 147g/km with automatic transmission. The X3 eclipses the Audi Q5 2.0 TDI 170 by 4.8mpg and 14g/km.

The new SUV is bigger than the outgoing model. The 2011 X3 is now measuring at 4,648mm, more than 75mm longer, width decreases by 4mm at 1,855mm and height rises by 14mm at 1,675mm. The wheelbase is also bigger by 15mm to 2,810mm, enough to increase by boot by 70 litres, to 550 litres.

As well as the 181bhp 2.0 litre, 4 cylinder diesel in the xDrive20d, BMW will add a 3.0 litre 302bhp, turbocharged straight six petrol dubbed xDrive35i, rivalling directly with the Land Rover Freelander 3.2i T6, Audi Q5 3.2 FSI Quattro and Volvo XC60 3.0 litre T6. The xDrive35i will emit 204g/km and will return around 32.1mpg combined and will be mated to a ZF 8-speed automatic transmission.

The diesel will come with the choice of either a 6 speed manual or an optional ZF-engineered 8 speed automatic. Both gearboxes offer a standard stop-start function and operate with the brake energy recuperation system.

More X3 variants are in the pipeline; a 254bhp 3.0 litre xDrive28i petrol and a 201bhp xDrive23d twin-turbocharged, 4 cylinder diesel. These engines are due in Summer 2011. A FWD is available, however, no rear-wheel-drive is planned for the UK, although BMW is still considering launching the model in North America.

Production of the new X3 will take place at BMW’s Spartanburg facility in North America alongside the X5 and X6. Prices in the UK start from £30,490 and for that, you get 17” alloy wheels, x6 airbags, stop/start, cruise control, front & rear fog lights, DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) w/ hill-start assist & hill-descent control, heated windscreen, gear-shift efficiency indicator, tyre pressure warning system, front & rear parking sensors, automatic rain & windscreen sensor, leather interior w/ 60:40 split folding rear seats, roof-rails, automatic climate control, ambient lighting, auto-dimming rear-view mirror and multi-function leather steering wheel as standard.

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