It's a challenge for anyone to keep up with the constantly changing roster of cars on dealership lots. For car lovers it's an even tougher task, because beyond knowing that a certain model exists, you need to know where it fits in the automotive firmament. That's why we've gathered every new model due by the first half of 2012 and categorized them, not alphabetically or by some government-defined size class, but by their relevance to buyers, enthusiasts, and the companies that build them. Some cars thrust automakers into new segments, while others drive just like last year's model. Some cars protect the sanctity of the manual transmission, while others advance performance with the latest technology. Some cars address rising fuel-economy standards, while others disguise obscene speed in stealthy sheetmetal. Here are the 85 new arrivals shaping the automotive world for 2012.
No doubt about it, the 1-series M coupe is just as good as Jason Cammisa claimed it was in our first drive report in our August 2011 issue, and it is clearly going to enter the history books as one of the most exciting performance cars to debut in 2011. We're well familiar with this N54-series twin-turbo in-line six-cylinder engine, having driven it in both the 3-series and the Z4 roadster, but never before has it been installed in a car with such a keenly tuned chassis. Throttle response, brake pedal modulation, brake performance, clutch pedal take-up, gearshift action, steering precision and feel: all I can say is yum, yum, yum, and double yum again. No surprise on those fronts, since much of the chassis is taken straight from the BMW M3.
Isn't it amazing how we all remember exactly where we were when John Lennon got shot? When the whole east coast got shaken with an earthquake and then stirred with a hurricane? And when Volkswagen replaced the EA113 with the EA888?
With the worst of the financial meltdown supposedly past us and buyers cautiously examining luxury cars again, we're looking for the future of living large. To recapture the spirit, we're embarking on a driving adventure from Los Angeles to Las Vegas with twelve cylinders and two turbochargers of BMW power. But instead of doubling down on the V-12 760Li, we split our hand and moved six of our allotted twelve cylinders to a two-wheeled BMW.
BMW's first plug-in hybrid vehicle will focus not just in saving the earth, but also on satisfying its driver's need for speed. Like the Chevrolet Volt, the BMW i8 concept combines a traditional gasoline engine with an electric drivetrain. According to BMW, the i8 can be as fuel-efficient as the best hybrid cars, while still delivering sports car-like performance.
Here's something that will make your brain hurt: BMW isn't in business to produce cars. Shocking, right? Like every company, its primary goal is to make a profit, and making cars is just a means to making money. This is what we call capitalism.
BMW has finally given us our first official, undisguised look at its futuristic, all-electric city car. For now the i3 is still labeled a concept, but this car is much more complete than the MegaCity concept that preceded it. The four-passenger i3 concept is perhaps the most advanced take on electric cars yet, and draws on BMW's experience with a fleet of 600 Mini E and 1000 BMW ActiveE electric cars. Unlike those cars, however, which were traditional cars converted to electric drive, the i3 was developed from the ground up to accommodate electric propulsion.
I can muster no complaints about this turbocharged in-line six-cylinder engine and its seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. We've all driven various BMWs with this powertrain, and I'm always particularly struck by the transmission's performance. Crisp, fast, upshifts and explosive acceleration are yours with a simple mash of the accelerator pedal.
When the BMW X3 was first launched, way back in 2004, it was somewhat of a bargain basement BMW, and it suffered a few flaws. The first was an obviously cost-cut interior and the second was a seriously harsh ride. Although the X3 was thematically similar to the pioneering X5, it was very much a step down not only in price but also in execution.
Toe-to-toe at last
We've been waiting a long time for this meeting. The predecessors to the two cars you see here debuted back in the booming late 1990s, but were as different as Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton, or Friends and Seinfeld. The bulldog-faced Z3 oozed machismo, performance, and back-to-basics simplicity. James Bond drove one. The SLK, in contrast, had a steel folding hard top, came in colors like copper and electric green, and had recirculating-ball steering. Your wife wanted one.
Every car lover deserves a chance behind the wheel of a BMW M3. The press has been infatuated with the M3 since it debuted, and all the praise is justified. BMW never should have ditched the Ultimate Driving Machine tagline -- that's what you'll be thinking as you run the 4.0-liter V-8 up to its 8400-rpm redline. And if you need to verify that the engine is up to operating temperature before blowing past 8000 rpm, it's as easy as looking at the tachometer. The M3 artificially lowers the maximum engine speed until it's completely warmed up. Little things like this exemplify BMW's commitment to performance cars.
For the first time since its inception in 1984, the BMW M5 is arriving with turbochargers. The move might seem like heresy for a brand known for high-revving engines, but recall that M Division has already applied forced induction to the 1 Series M Coupe, X5 M, and X6 M. Switching to a smaller, more advanced powertrain means the new M5 can deliver 30-percent better fuel economy than its predecessor, while boasting 10 percent more power and 30 percent more torque.
Sports cars have never been BMW's true forte. The 507, the 503, the Z1, and the Z8 were all unloved loss-makers that attained cult status only (long) after production had ended. And then there's the Z3, which started as a purists' model until the marketing guys called for fatter margins, morphing it into the overweight, retractable-hardtop Z4. Where, one wonders, is the BMW competitor to the Porsche Boxster and the Audi TT? Perhaps not that far away. There's no decision yet, but when we tap the Bavarian grapevine, we find tantalizing hints of a BMW sports car revival.
This vehicle is virtually identical to our Four Seasons 535i, except it has xDrive all-wheel drive, the presence of which is quite difficult to detect in normal, dry-road driving. All things being equal, Iâd probably prefer my 5-series to have all-wheel drive, but the truth is, I spent a very snowy weekend in our rear-wheel-drive 535i this winter, driving through six inches of fresh slushy white stuff in the Chicagoland area, and that car was unstoppable, because it was equipped with excellent snow tires. Adding xDrive to your 535i subtracts one mpg from both the city and highway fuel economy figures, making them 19/29 rather than 20/30 mpg; and it adds $2300 to the base price. The weight penalty is pretty marginal, though; the 535i xDrive weighs 4233 lb versus the rear-wheel-drive 535iâs 4090 lb.
