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

BMW Concept X1 (2008) unveiled: first official photos and video

By Ben Whitworth First Official Pictures 01 October 2008 00:31 This is the new BMW X1. Okay, BMW calls it the Concept X1 – it will be wheeled out tomorrow at the opening day of the Paris motor show – but 99 percent of what you see here will be arriving in production form in the UK in autumn 2009. Expect prices to kick off around £20,000 as the X1 tries to capitalise on its lack of direct rivals – Audi’s Q3 is still two years away.

Maybach, or not Maybach? That is the question.

Maybach - off to Gaydon? Actually, whether to keep Maybach on the Daimler life support system is a question that has taxed the brains of many a Mercedes exec,  almost since the Maybach brand got its revival under Mercedes and turned in to a cross between a stretched old S-Class, a Playstation and a glitterball. Because despite the efforts of Mercedes to position the Maybach above the S-Class – and in to competition with Rolls Royce and Bentley – the Maybach has somehow conspired to be less desirable than the S-Class.

Driven: BMW i8

When BMW unveiled the Vision EfficientDynamics concept at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, we wrote: "for our money, it's the first time a major carmaker has really attempted to communicate ‘green' technology in an aesthetic sense." Fast-forward five years and we've swapped the show halls of the IAA for a beauty spot on the north-west coast of Scotland. And, while the car's name has changed to i8, our sentiment towards this genre- and era-defining car remains. Admittedly the production car's design execution hasn't received the universal praise of its concept forebears, but, on a remote outpost of the British Isles, a Protonic Blue i8 couldn't look more exotic.