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.

Dartz Prombron Black Dragon announced for Chinese market

Who combines post-Soviet capitalism with outlandish Eastern European money-trash ideas quite like Dartz? The simple answer is, no one. Last year, the Latvian automaker rather notoriously asked, “Why isn't somebody building an F-117-inspired, 2,000-hp, armored yacht hauler?” While we've seen no more of the resultant Nagel since then, the company is introducing a China-only version of its Prombron armored SUV.

Driven: BMW 6 Series convertible

Every large BMW coupe – from the E9 3.0 CS, through the shark-nosed E24 6 Series, Claus Luthe's beautiful E31 8 Series, right up to the outgoing, Bangle-era E63 6er – has had an exoticism beyond every other car in the brand's range. We drove the latest from the most southern point of Europe back to our London office to find out if it too is a truly Grand Tourer. Stepping off the 'plane in Gibraltar, greeted by a Deep Sea Blue 650i with Ivory White leather, 19-inch rims and Shadow Line exterior trim under the early summer Mediterranean sun, it's clear that the right colorway and a more appropriate setting certainly help the F12's cause after our disappointment with the car at its debut in Detroit earlier in the year.