Ford Oem F3uz1543722a Back Door-weatherstrip on 2040-parts.com

Town/country fuel price gap closes

THE PETROL PUMP postcode lottery, meaning rural drivers lose out to town motorists on price, appears to be coming to an end. The gap between prices in country districts compared with urban areas has closed from around 5p a litre to as low as 2p, according to the AA. This dip in rural prices has contributed to a general nationwide fall in the cost of petrol, which now averages 129.63p a litre compared with 130.46p in mid-January.

BMW 640d xDrive announced

On Thursday, Greg Kable waxed effusively about the new BMW M550d xDrive coupe, suggesting that it was the ultimate 5-series for everyday use. On Friday, Munich announced that the 5's two-door sibling will receive an AWD diesel variant: the 640d xDrive. While not quite as high-zoot as the 5-series' top oil burner, the 640d's 3.0-liter, twin-turbo straight-six cranks out a respectable 465 lb-ft of almighty torque between 1,500 rpm and 2,500 rpm, plus 313 hp at 4,400 rpm—numbers that, according to BMW, will carry the 6-series to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds.

625 cars per day found to be insurance write-offs

ONE IN EVERY 33 vehicles given a history check is found to be an insurance write-off, according to data gathered by HPI. In 2012 one in 33 vehicles checked by HPI was an insurance total loss – otherwise known as a write-off. This equates to 625 cars a day or over 223,000 cars per year being dangerously repaired and sold on to unsuspecting consumers.