Bmw M5 E60 Matte Black Lots Of Mods on 2040-cars

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BMW considering North American engine plant?

BMW may be set to expand its US operations with a new engine plant, Bloomberg reports. The Bavarian automaker already has its Spartanburg, SC factory which builds the company's X3, X5 and X6 crossovers. According to the story, Mexico is also under consideration for the BMW engine factory, with the report claiming a final decision will be made in 2014.
"Establishing local motor manufacturing abroad is more complex than assembling cars, but it's a logical step for them to eventually start making engines in markets where they're expanding vehicle production," Juergen Pieper, an analyst for Bankhaus Metzler tells Bloomberg. Building engines in the US or Mexico would save BMW from having to ship engines for some of its most popular models across the Atlantic.
BMW, for its part, hasn't said anything concrete. Spokesman Mathias Schmidt is quoted in the story saying, "As part of our long-term growth strategy, we're frequently looking at different countries for possible locations of future production facilities. No decisions have been made yet, though, for an additional plant."

NHTSA releases updated Takata airbag recalled cars list, but it still has errors

Unfortunately, the government's list still contains errors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued an updated list of vehicle models that it's urging owners to repair under the mushrooming Takata airbag inflator recall. The latest version adds vehicles from new automakers like Subaru and Ford that are missing from the original announcement, and it also removes erroneous entries from General Motors, leaving only the 2005 Saab 9-2X (a reskinned Subaru WRX), and the 2003-2005 Pontiac Vibe, a joint project with Toyota.

BMW celebrates 30 years of M5 with 600-hp super sedan

It's been 30 years since BMW rolled out the first M5, and while displacement and cylinder count may have fluctuated over those past three decades, output has only increased. The first-generation E28 M5 packed a 3.5-liter inline-six with 252 horsepower and 243 lb-ft of torque. The second-gen E34 model that followed added an extra 100 cc (and later 200 more) to produce 310 hp and 266 lb-ft. The E39 followed with a 4.9-liter V8 churning out 394 hp and 369 lb-ft, replaced by the award-winning 5.0-liter V10 in the E60 with its 500 hp and 380 lb-ft before BMW rolled out the latest model with a 4.4-liter V8, its twin turbos making up for the two dropped cylinders and 600 cc of displacement to produce 560 hp and 502 lb-ft of torque. But even that's being left in the dust by the new special edition you see here.
The 30th Anniversary Edition BMW M5 packs that same 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, but cranks the output up to a nice, round 600 horsepower and a solid 516 lb-ft of torque to go with it. That makes it more powerful, not only than any M5 that's come before it, but also any of its rivals. The Jaguar XFR-S and Audi RS6 Avant (the latter only available as a wagon and not in North America) both lag behind this ultimate of Ultimate Driving Machines; only the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG trumps it on torque (but not on power), with 531 lb-ft in stock form and 590 in the S-Model.
As a result, the 0-60 time drops from a quoted 4.2 seconds in the stock M5 to a scant 3.7 in the 30th Anniversary edition (just one tick behind that twistier E63 S). The special M5 also comes with the Competition Package as standard, as well as a dedicated control module for the Active M Differential, a special Frozen Dark Silver matte finish, 20-inch alloys and black chrome badges. Special badges abound inside as well, where you'll also find black leather and Alcantara upholstery and aluminum trim. There'll even be a dedicated one-day course offered to owners at The Thermal Club in Palm Springs, CA, to further sweeten the deal.