Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

London is parking charge capital of the world

We already know London is home to more multimillionaires than any other city in the world, but given the cost of living in our capital, this is hardly surprising. And now, to further highlight London’s increasingly extravagant status, it turns out it’s the most expensive place in the world to park your car as well. On Bing: see pictures of car parks in London UK car parks now accepting conkers as payment.

Mercedes-Benz introduces nine-speed automatic gearbox

Mercedes-Benz has quietly slipped a new nine-speed automatic into its lineup as standard equipment on the European market E350 BlueTec. The new in-house produced unit, known internally under the name 9G-Tronic, has long been slated for selected Mercedes-Benz models. However, its existence was officially denied until the weekend, when Mercedes-Benz's German language website configurator went live with various updates for the E-class lineup -- including an entry signaling the 9G-Tronic is now available on the standard rear-wheel drive E350 BlueTec in place of the older seven-speed.

BMW and Merc to join forces

By Georg Kacher Motor Industry 08 February 2008 13:03 CAR Online today reveals the extent to which BMW and Mercedes are plotting to cooperate on future models. In a wide-ranging plan, the two German premium marques could join forces to take on the might of Audi, with its backing and economies of scale of the whole Volkswagen group and, increasingly, Porsche. BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer and his counterpart at Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, are coming to the conclusion that the two brands – for so long, fierce rivals – should work together rather than fight against each other.