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Posts Tagged ‘M3’

VIDEO> BMW M3: Come Ride With Me!

BMW M3 Film from 3seriesblogcom on Vimeo.

I came across this inspiring video from 3seriesblogcom, featuring the new E90 BMW M3 Coupe and thought I’d share. The new M3 is the first to get a 4.0 liter V8 engine, which kicks out an amazing 414 horses and 295 ft-lbs of torque, taking you from 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds. Oh, and daaammmn if you won’t look good doing it.

There’s a lot more I could say about this car, but let’s be honest – I’d drive that girl anywhere she wanted. Except my home…..where my lady would be…… waiting to kick the ever-loving @#$! out of me. Well, as long as I got to drive the M3, it’d be worth the beating…I guess. (Actually, knowing my gal, she’d probably forgive me if I just handed over the keys, hot girl or no hot girl.)

So check out the sick ride this video takes you on and dream of the day that you get to pick-up your luscious lady from the airport and take her for a ride… in… your… M3… *cough*cough*

Enjoy!

:: Travis Hodges


CARSPOTTING> AC Schnitzer E34 BMW 5 Series

For some people, a car may be just a way to get from one place to the next. However, for guys like Adam Luong, it’s all about how you look on the way. If you were driving around town in this 1995 E34 5 Series, you can understand how a guy could feel that way.

It’s a rarity to see a 16 year old car in as pristine condition as this. Since my encounters with most 5 series bimmers leave much to be desired, it's always a pleasure to discover one that has been built right - call it a pleasant surprise. This specimen is so clean that, to the untrained eye, it appears almost to have just rolled off the Bavarian assembly line yesterday.

You may recall that, back in the 1990s, the BMW 5 Series was the top mid-sized sedan in its class - a class with very little competition. It was a must have for dads all across suburbia. Well, little has changed since then except that the 5 series has grown up to become a more elegant machine jam packed with enough gizmos and gadgetry to make a technologically inclined person go into mental overload. I could go on and 0n about my take on how the technological interface in modern BMWs dilutes the driving experience, that's not what we're here for. Today, it's all about Adam Luong and his little piece of 5 Series heaven.

It was actually Antonio who first spotted this fine specimen at the Wek'fest in San Francisco. When he saw it again at the Bimmerfest in Pasadena, he told me about it and caught my full attention when he said that it was the cleanest E34 he'd ever seen. With a guy like Antonio saying that, I just had to see for myself. When I saw the car in person, I just had to agree.   Read more...

GALLERY> Older BMWs at the Bimmerfest!

If you've read the previous story I published about the 2010 Bimmerfest at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, then you already know that this event was HUGE. I mean, I knew the Bimmerfest was a pretty big event... but I just don't think I was mentally prepared for how huge this event actually was. There were so many BMWs from so many states, it was really hard to concentrate on all the details of all the cars at the event! While some of the showgoers tended to stick to the newer BMWs at the show, I definitely spent more time admiring the older, classic BMWs... after all, I live in Southern California - this means I can't even drive a mile without seeing at least five newer BMWs.   Read more...

COVERAGE> Bimmerfest Takes Over Pasadena!

While other members of the MotorMavens Crew were out getting attacked by windstorms in Las Vegas, those of us who decided to stay in Southern California for the weekend attended the 2010 Bimmerfest. I'll admit... with a background in Japanese cars, this was the very first Bimmerfest I've ever attended. Before I go any further, I think I need to take a moment to congratulate (and give ultimate props to) Bimmerfest founder Jon Shafer.

The amount of BMWs (and their owners) that attended the event was just RIDICULOUS! No, seriously... ridiculous! When I exited off the 210 freeway, I (and my 5 series BMW touring) immediately joined the fray of BMWs making their way to the Rose Bowl, which was made famous by holiday football games and slow moving floats parading through Pasadena city streets. Creeping through traffic at a snail's pace, I followed the long line of cars with license plates from New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, and New Mexico... chuckling to myself, thinking "I wonder how many of these guys think I'm here to put my car in the show? I'm just here to shoot coverage of the event and do a little carspotting!"

Truth be told, even though I've been to BMW Welt in Munich, experienced the Autobahn, and stayed overnight at Hotel Am Tiergarten/Pistenklause (the small hotel/restaurant owned by BMW ringtaxi driver Sabine Schmitz's family) that sits inside the Nurburgring... even though my trip to Deutschland actually inspired me to buy a 5 series BMW wagon, I still don't see myself as a "BMW guy."   Read more...

COVERAGE> Drifting at Houston’s Import Reactor

For those of you who aren't familiar with Import Reactor, it is a multi-faceted automotive event that takes place in Houston, TX during Anime Matsuri - one of the biggest anime conventions in the country! It consists of three parts - a special dyno day and tuning session, a drift day, and then a show that spans the entire weekend. The atmosphere is unbelievably unique - it's definitely an experience! I was at the event all weekend covering it for MotorMavens!

One of the great things about this event was that it brought together the drift enthusiasts and the show scene here in Texas. The guys at Import Reactor had the brilliant idea to allow car show teams to sponsor a driver. Each team had a driver whose entry they paid, while the driver ran their sticker on his car. It was great to the drifters bringing their cars to the event, only to be greeted by 20+ members of the team that sponsored them - cheering them on the entire time!   Read more...

WEBMINING> The Golden Years of DTM

I was just surfing around on Facebook right now and found this Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) video, posted by a guy named Samuel Oune. I had the privilege to attend a DTM race at Nurburgring last summer… but as exciting and fun as it was, it was nothing like this! Just look at the Mercedes Benzes flying through the air!!! A W E S O M E.

Aside from me, who wants a Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3 16valve and an E30 M3 now?!

:: Antonio Alvendia


DRIVER SEAT> 25 Hours in an E36 M3 at Thunderhill

I don’t know how we did it, but we somehow managed to talk Robbie Montinola and the Track Concierge Racing crew into running our sticker on their E36 BMW M3 for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill enduro that’s taking place right now!

In between laps, pit stops, and a little incident they just had with their header cracking, Robbie and the crew have been managing to provide us with some live updates through the MotorMavens Twitter page and on the MotorMavens Tumblr page. Stay tuned through your browsers or cellphones for up to date info on the race, from their perspective!

Meanwhile, here’s the official press release, after the jump.

::Jose Gonzalez

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COVERAGE> IDS Finals at Nurburgring

This is the time of year when people begin to pull coats and cloaks a bit tighter in anticipation of the weather to come. As a personal homage to this gradual increase of outer garments, I decided to fly to Germany and cloak myself with a little tire ash. Acknowledging the inevitable end of reasonable weather in Deutschland, the International Drift Series (IDS) brought the fight back to the Nurburgring for the conclusion of their season - although,   Read more...

CARSPOTTING> Tyler McQuarrie’s E90 BMW M3

On the morning after the 2009 Formula D Finale, most of the people who were at Irwindale the night before were either still in bed resting from the exhausting event or packing their bags and heading back to the airport. While normal, smart people stayed in bed to sleep in that Sunday... I exchanged a volley of text messages with a hungover Tyler McQuarrie, who still had a pounding headache from all the alcohol pounding that took place at the "FD Official Hotel" the night before, as he and Forsberg and Hampshaa and everyone else in the lobby celebrated their Formula D wins from the night before. Right after I congratulated Tyler on reaching the podium, I assured him that I didn't give two sh!ts about his pounding headache... and he should drink some coffee because we had plans to shoot photos of his newly done up E90 BMW M3 sedan! (LOL, I didn't really say that. He's super cool, and wouldn't flake anyway.) Cheerful despite his hangover, Tyler manned up and drove his car out to meet up with me and the MotorMavens Seattle fam at our meeting spot, which luckily wasn't too far from the hotel where he was staying.

I know what some readers may be thinking... this car looks super basic. It doesn't have a crazy aftermarket aero kit or anything... but I think that's one of the reasons why I was drawn to it when I first saw it. Although I'm huge fan of aggressive BN Sports or Goodline aero kits for cars used on the racetrack, I tend to prefer the understated cleanliness and class of OEM bodywork and "factory option" parts when it comes to daily driven street cars. Apparently, Tyler has the same opinion when it comes to daily driven cars, as his M3 looks clean, classy, basic, and understated... that is, until you hear the powerful rumble of his exhaust.   Read more...

CENTER STAGE> Vorsteiner E92 M3 vs Ventross IS-F

The BMW E92 M3 and the Lexus IS-F are both shining examples of sports-minded luxury cars. They both project an image of luxury and refinement, combined with engine response and handling suitable for the racetrack. Not too long ago, I did a shoot with an E92 M3 and an IS-F that were both outfitted with a plethora of aftermarket parts from a luxury sports brand called Vorsteiner. When I was first introduced to the team over at Vorsteiner, it was to photograph their Porsche V-GT project for Modified Luxury and Exotics Magazine back in 2007.   Read more...