Posts Tagged ‘BMW’

This is a interesting overview by Automotive News regarding BMW’s efforts to ease the tax burden for their customers.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.–BMW AG hopes to get out from under the gas-guzzler taxes that are tacked on to the sticker prices of some of its high-performance models in the United States.

Jim O’Donnell, president of BMW of North America, says the company is studying fuel-efficiency improvements that could eliminate the gas-guzzler taxes on its vehicles as early as the launch of the redesigns in the next few years.

The 2010 550i GT incurs a $1,000 gas-guzzler fee, for example. The 650i convertible faces a $1,300 tax. And buyers of the 2010 750i pay $1,000, on top of a base price of about $82,000.

“We’d like to get away from it across the entire line,” O’Donnell told Automotive News after a presentation at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars here. “It’s something we don’t want to be labeled with. I think we can get there with small improvements.”

The graduated gas-guzzler tax is prompted by a model’s failure to achieve the minimum fuel efficiency of 22.5 mpg.

BMW’s smaller competitor, Infiniti, moved its new-generation M56 sedan out of gas-guzzler status this year. It did so despite increasing horsepower from the previous-generation M sedan, which competes directly against the BMW 5 series.

But BMW is protective of its image as a maker of luxury, sporty cars, and it is not clear just how far the automaker might go to sidestep the tax.

BMW’s racy M5 gets just 11 mph city/17 highway and incurs a $3,000 tax. But that five-liter, V-10-powered sports car is at the heart of BMW’s image.

Yet BMW is taking surprising steps with its product line. O’Donnell noted that the company will debut a small electric car, currently called the Megacity Vehicle, in China in 2013.

The company has not said where else the electric car will be sold.

About Pynergy Petroleum Company

Pynergy Petroleum Company was founded in August 1999 when it acquired three Conoco Branded retail locations in the Denver, CO area.  Since then, Pynergy has been devoted to providing high quality fuels, lubricants, diesel exhaust fluid, equipment and service to the automotive, heavy duty and industrial markets.  Please visit us at www.pynergypetroleum.com

This is a great article by Nelson Ireson on MotorAuthority.com…..a fun application for you iPhone owners out there.  Plus the good news is that you do not have to own a BMW for this program to work, and its free!

Car makers and accessory companies have been all over promoting their brands via the iPhone, and some–particularly the aftermarket makers–have even found ways to enhance the driving experience, like Viper’s SmartStart remote start app. Others, like the new BMW M Power Meter application, take a more indirect approach.

Leveraging the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer functions, the BMW M Power Meter Application can measure speed, forward and lateral acceleration, speed over distance, and acceleration to a specific speed, like, for instance, 60 mph. This makes the M Power app fairly full-featured for a performance driving app, though it does come up a bit short of commercial apps like Dynolicious, TrackDay, and gMeter.

Considering it’s free and it generates a readout based solely on the iPhone’s relative motion, it’s a win-win for BMW drivers and enthusiasts of all brands: there’s no need to actually own a BMW to use it. Of course, you do have to put up with the blue-and-white Bavarian logo, if that’s an issue.

It’s also rife with the legal-requisite safety warnings, but with the pretty graphics and the ability to use both metric and standard units, it’s actually a useful app, and the price is certainly right. If you really get into it, you can even skin the app, though you’ll have to register at BMW’s M Power Meter site to get the key to unlock them.

Learn more about the M Power App at the official site below.

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/mseries/x5m/2009/g_meter.html

About Pynergy Petroleum Company

Pynergy Petroleum Company was founded in August 1999 when it acquired three Conoco Branded retail locations in the Denver, CO area.  Since then, Pynergy has been devoted to providing high quality fuels, lubricants, diesel exhaust fluid, equipment and service to the automotive, heavy duty and industrial markets.  Please visit us at www.pynergypetroleum.com

Interesting article by Nate Martinez at Motor Trend Magazine regarding BMW’s next chapter in their EfficientDynamics program.

http://www.motortrend.com/auto_shows/detroit/2010/0912_first_look_bmw_concept_activee/index.html

Below is a video that shows several pictures of this vehicle.

About Pynergy Petroleum Company

Pynergy Petroleum Company was founded in August 1999 when it acquired three Conoco Branded retail locations in the Denver, CO area.  Since then, Pynergy has been devoted to providing high quality fuels, lubricants, diesel exhaust fluid, equipment and service to the automotive, heavy duty and industrial markets.  Please visit us at www.pynergypetroleum.com