Standard Mr. Walleye Boat Decals (pair) on 2040-parts.com

Mercedes E-class (2015) gets new nine-speed transmission

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 31 July 2014 12:45 If you thought car transmissions were racing to challenge mountain bikes, wait until you see the new 2015 model year Mercedes E-class. Daimler today confirmed the revised E-class will get the company’s nine-speed automatic transmission on the E350 Bluetec diesel. The Mercedes 9G-Tronic gearbox has an epically long top gear, all the better to reduce fuel consumption and emissions for E-class owners.

Schumacher & Rosberg: A pregnant pause

Michael & Nico compete to help a pregnant damsel in distress. Those crazy Germans, they do like to josh with us. Since Mercedes now has an all German team we wonder if they’re trying a bit too hard to prove there’s a human face to the team, and it’s not all just Teutonic and robotic (and not, as yet, stunningly successful).

BMW ‘i' subbrand aims for 2013 launch

BMW has confirmed that the new subbrand through which it intends to market a range of advanced stand-alone hybrid, range-extended and plug-in electric models will be called BMW “i.” Created to develop, produce and market what BMW's head of marketing, Ian Robertson, describes as “innovative solutions to premium mobility,” the brand will be supported by a company established by BMW called i Ventures, through which the German carmaker plans to grow its range of mobility services. The i3 and the i8 will be the initial models and are planned for introduction in 2013. “These cars have been designed specifically for their respective alternative drive systems,” said Klaus Draeger, head of BMW's R&D operations.