Chris Bangle, former Director of Design at BMW, gives a funny and insightful presentation at the TEDxMunich. Bangle shares his design passion, challenges as car designer, the highly-acclaimed BMW GINA concept and how it triggered the MIT project PiNk!
The presentation took place at the BMW Welt in Munich and once again, it brings Bangle back to the spotlight of design and makes some of us missing him even more.
After leaving the company in February 2009, Chris Bangle turned to some of his long-time passions: lecture sessions at prestigious schools, fundraiser events as a guest speaker or cultivating his passion for wines.
Those of you interested in design, you will certainly find the video below to be quite interesting.
Last month, we reported that Paul Walker of “Fast and Furious”, a franchise that appeals to true racing fans, entered this year’s RedLine Time Attack race series with this — a stripped-to-the-bone, caged BMW M3.
He joined Paul Dentice and Richard Taylor on the AE Performance team. In the past, Walker made appearances at West coast Time Attack events in a variety of cars including a R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R and a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, but this year he’s driving an E92 BMW M3 in the Street tire class.
In a showdown, Walker took on a 650 horsepower MINI Cooper S. While Walker’s M3 competes in the Street class, the MINI runs in the Unlimited class. According to AE Performance, the MINI runs a 10 second quarter mile.
Enjoy the video and the performance from a Hollywood actor that can really drive!
Marketing majors, advertising gurus, video producers and directors…please make room for the leader in the online marketing campaigns: MINI.
In their latest viral video, MINI shows one more time how online communities can be conquered and how viral content spreads. Using their recent gimmick, a racing challenge against the Porsche 911, MINI releases a new video that turns out to be a hilarious Rocky IV spoof.
For those of you that might have missed the story of MINI vs. Porsche, here is a quick recap.
MINI USA CEO Jim McDowell, wanted Porsche USA president Detlev von Platen to meet him at Road Atlanta on June 21st with the drivers of their choice.
A few days later, Porsche has officially turned down the “offer”. MINI has not given up and McDowell counterattacked, but Porsche went silent.
But with genius video, we certainly expect Porsche to give some sort of official response.
M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3 Series, and sold with coupé, sedan and convertible body styles.
Based on the 1986 model year E30 3-Series, the first M3 was introduced with a 2.3 L I4 engine.
The E36 M3 debuted in February, 1992 and hit the dealers’ showrooms in November that year; it was the first M3 powered by a six-cylinder engine, displacing 2990 cc and developing 282 hp. Initially available as a coupé only, BMW introduced M3 convertible/cabriolet and saloon/sedan versions in 1994.
The E46 M3, first introduced in October, 2000, appeared worldwide with the new 3.2 L S54 M-tuned engine. At the time of the car’s introduction, this engine had the highest specific output naturally aspirated engine ever made by BMW, producing 333 horsepower and 365 Nm (269 lb-ft).
The BMW E46 M3 CSL (coupe sports lightweight) was a limited edition version of the M3, with only 1,400 cars being produced for its 2004 model year run.
The fourth generation BMW M3 was announced on the 2007 Geneva Auto Show with the BMW M3 concept. Just as the previous M3 generations all introduced a completely new engine, the fourth generation M3 did the same: the BMW S65 engine was introduced. This S65B40 is a naturally aspirated, high revving 4-liter V8 (based on the S85B50 5-liter V10 that powers the E60/E61 M5 and the E63/E64 M6 to date), delivering 414 horsepower at 8,300 rpm, with peak torque at 400 Nm (300 lb-ft) at 3,900 rpm, which represents a power increase of 22% over the E46 M3.
Now, with the M3’s 25th anniversary just around the corner, BMW releases a series of commemorative videos showing all the M3 generations in all their glory.
Our sources indicate that the BMW M3 GTS will be launched during the 25th anniversary event, followed by some laps around the famous Nurburgring.
Internet forums are most of the time passionate communities where one could seek advice, support, humor and…even services.
Out of the bunch, the automotive forums are usually a great resource for finding information on those looking for a new or used car, searching for tips and tricks on how to take a Dodge Neon straight to Fast and Furious, or simply a place where everyone can vent, bash or brag.
Drilling even further, BMW forums fit the above bill, but….they bring that fanboyism flavor that we all experience sometimes.
There have been countless times when we went on rambling to our friends how great this M3 is, or why should they take the 335i before that VW-like Audi A4, and plenty of times, we showed off our BMW knowledge by throwing words out there like LSD, DCT, DKG, LCI, RFT and any other possible three-letter combination. Don’t ask what these abbreviations mean, we’re lost also, BUT we like how they sound.
Watching the video below certainly put a smile on our face and while we fall under the online magazine format, we sometimes deviate from our path and identify with some things mentioned in the skit.
How many of you see each other in that video? Hands up….
orinformation from those who know a subject best. They can also, as comically demonstrated in this vid, be great places for non-enthusiast newbies to get incomprehensible advice and a tongue keyboard lashing to boot.
As created using Xtranormal text-to-movie, the guy on the left has a friend who’s a single mother of two and she needs needs reliable transportation. He’s come to the forum looking for recommendations. The first suggestion he gets from the guy on the right: a Lotus Elise. It only gets better from there. Click passed the jump to watch an animated exchange that we’re guessing you’ve witnessed – or participated in – at least once.
Back in January, a story in the New York Times dispelled the ’spinning propeller’ myth of the BMW roundel. As our own Hugo Becker wrote at the time, the the origins of the blue and white checker in the BMW roundel has nothing to do with a propeller.
At the time, we went on explaining where the logo started and how it evolved over time.
“Instead it has everything to do with the national colors of Bavaria, which is, of course, incorporated in the name of the company. One only has to look at the logo used by the company BMW emerged from, Rapp Motor Works, to understand.”
Today, BMW releases an official video explaining the origin of the roundel and sets the record straight and clears any misconceptions.
Today, BMW and artist Jeff Koons unveiled the latest and 17th BMW Art Car. The legendary art car created by Jeff Koons will race where the first rolling pieces of art by legendary artists raced – at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on 12th and 13th June 2010.
Koons’ canvas is a BMW M3 GT2, which was homologated to compete at this year’s running of the world’s most famous endurance race.
Traveling back and forth to Germany many times since the 2nd February announcement that Koons would create the 17th BMW Art Car, the artist has worked with the BMW engineering and design teams to conduct in-depth explorations of materials and application options that will prove crucial to optimizing both the aesthetic and aerodynamic attributes of the race car. Working with actual 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) models of the BMW M3 GT2, Koons was able to simulate the application of the graphic to the car’s surfaces and evaluate it from all angles.
Under Koons’ direct guidance and supervision, his BMW Art Car was produced in association with a team of BMW engineers and designers at Schmid Design, near Munich. The challenge to create the BMW Art Car had to do with using a light material and a design that would not interfere with the race car’s aerodynamics and weight. Timing was also an issue, as there was only a two month window between the first design sketches and the Paris world premiere. This is why digital print on car wrapping vinyl was used covered by a double clear-coating to bring out the colour.
To apply hundreds of dynamic lines of Koons’ design onto the car, CAD designs were translated from 3D into 2D for the printing process and then painstakingly applied to the entire car as well as onto individual spare parts. Koons design incorporates many bright contrasting colours to communicate the aesthetics of power. The concept design was transformed into hard edged lines of colour. Graphics of debris were added to the rear sides and back of the car to simulate the power of the car. Furthermore, two graphic rings on the rear of the car represent supersonic acceleration.
The BMW M3 GT2 Art Car will compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s oldest endurance race in all of sports car racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France.
BMW’s impressive win at the 2010 Nurburgring 24-hour race continues to emanate waves of emotions among BMW fans and not only. Today, through an amazing video titled “24 Hours in 19500 frames”, we have the opportunity to experience some of these emotions as lived by the BMW teams engaged in the race, through their pilots, mechanics, team managers and everyone involved in this epic race.
Shot with a Canon 5D MKII, the video delivers one of the best filmaking experiences we have seen, from every details captured, to the angles, close-up images, the music and the light, the video can certainly serve as a reference for those of us interested in filmography. The video was produced by by Tim and Nick Hahne of Stereoscreen.de, a production company based in Duisburg.
BMW Motorsport has made a triumphant return and won the 2010 24-hour race at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Five years since the manufacturer’s last victory, the no. 25 BMW M3 GT2 claimed BMW’s 19th victory at this endurance classic on Sunday. The winning car, with Jörg Müller , Augusto Farfus , Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy at the wheel, crossed the finish line first after 154 laps of the 25.378-kilometer circuit.
3D is in these days and more and more movies or video commercials are jumping on this bandwagon, so it came as no surprise to us when a BMW’s Joy campaign showed up in a 3D Projection. The video message is featured on a commercial complex in the suburb of Singapore.
It is unclear at the moment if this is a BMW sanctioned marketing gig or simply an ad agency taking it a step further. Looking at the faces of the people in this video, the 3D effect appears to be quite credible and real, and thanks to the incorporated shadow, an very impressive spectacle emerged.
The video plays well with the 3D effects, which also includes a small tribute to the birthday boy Pacman, as well as classic BMW billboards. The buzzwords “Joy is BMW” and of course “EfficientDynamics” are present as well, one of BMW’s trademark signatures in the past year.
So whether we embrace it or not, the “Joy” continues and it is being driven not only by the impressive BMW engineering, but also by video technology.
Following their impressive win in the Nurburgring 24-hours, BMW Motorsport releases footage from the spectacular race. Using allusion to the Peter Jackson’s famous trilogy, Lord of the Rings.
Last week, Audi dominated qualifying and Porsche looked set to make history, but in the end it was BMW that scored the win after 154 laps in the 38th annual Nürburgring 24 Hours. The Bavarian manufacturer’s return to the famed 15.5-mile Nordschleife circuit was rewarded with an unexpected victory in the twice-around-the-clock German classic.
The No. 25 BMW Team Schnitzer M3 GT2 of Jorg Müller, Augusto Farfus, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy had its share of minor setbacks, including an overnight radiator change and late-race gearbox concerns, but managed to take the win, five years after the Charly Lamm-led team’s last triumph at the famed German circuit.
See the historical moment through BMW’s eyes in the video below.
