New BMW M3 and M4 engine secrets laid bare

BMW's M division has lifted the veil of secrecy on the inline six-cylinder engine bound for its upcoming M3 sedan and new-to-the-range M4 coupe and convertible, revealing a potent twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter direct injection gasoline unit that produces an official 424 hp at 7,500 rpm and what officials describe as "significantly more than 369 lb-ft" of torque. The newly developed engine, known under the internal codename S55 B30, shares its 84.0 mm bore and 89.6 mm stroke with BMW's standard turbocharged 3.0-liter in-line six-cylinder direct-injection gasoline mill, the M55 used across the German car maker's lineup, endowing the aluminum block unit with an overall swept volume of 2,979 cc. This represents a sizeable 990 cc reduction on the engine BMW's M division's new unit replaces, the S65.

Rolls Royce sponsors Bloodhound 1000mph World Speed Record attempt

The last time we had news about a sponsor for the Bloodhound 1000mph World Record attempt aproject, it was all about a carbon off-set company sponsoring the project with off-set credits so the speed record project could claim to be carbon neutral. This time, it’s something of proper value to the project. Rolls Royce – the plane people, not the car people – are supplying their EJ200 jet engine from the Eurofighter Typhoon – and technical support – which will be bolted in Bloodhound to get it up to 350mph before a rocket engine takes over and thrusts it on past 1000mph.

Crossovers fuel April sales at BMW, Mini

Sales of crossovers fueled BMW and Mini in April, with Mini posting its best U.S. sales month ever. Mini's April sales of 6,446 units were up 67.7 percent from a year ago.