Bimmer Times

Friday, 9:21 AM

San Diego, CA

Howdy, 

BMW’s Spartanburg, S.C. plant has made plans for expansion. In America’s waning economy, this is good news especially for the regional economy within Spartanburg. The Spartanburg plant is BMW’s only U.S. BMW production plant and is responsible for the X5, Z4 Roadster, and M coupes. The Z4 assembly will move to Germany and bring in all X3 assembly to Spartanburg.

 Details. The plant will expand by 70 k square feet. Estimates quote the cost to be $27 million, a mere fraction of the $4.83 billion invested in the plant since its inception in 1994. This substantial growth means the need to hire 200 new employees at the going rate of $12.50/hr for the day shift, 13.50/hr for night. Any takers?

 See you on the road,

Sammyg

 Thursday, 4:57 PM

San Diego, CA

Howdy…

Pity the fool without an X5. I mean, a man is at his last limb if he doesn’t have one! I found this poor soul as I was rummaging through blogs. He is suffering from humanity’s greatest predicament. He does not have an X5.

View his blog and make however big or small a donation you can towards his cause. I really hope you sympathize with this guy as much as I do.

See you on the road. . .

Sammyg

Tuesday, 7:37 PM

San Diego, CA 

If you are either an architect or a BMW lover, your next vacation destination should be Munich, Germany. There is plenty of cultural sight-seeing to satisfy any tourist in this city, but as of October 2007, the new BMW Welt will leave those lucky visitors with lasting impressions not found in any nearby museum, historic church, or royal palace. 

Located next to BMW world headquarters, the BMW Welt building is none other than an architectural marvel. The building itself is likened to a Pringles potato chip, or a more artistic take would be a rising cloud. The ondulating exterior reminds me of the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle and in the same way the EMP tickles the classic rock buff, the Welt stimulates the BMW freak to no end.

Welt meaning world in German, the place serves an abundance of functions, from product display, distribution center,  conference center, to reason for planning honeymoon in Munich. While you’re there, cross the street and visit the BMW Museum which has the blue and white emblem painted on the circular roof. I’m not married yet, but when the time comes, I know just where to go.

For those of us without the time or money, we’ve always got the online virtual tour…

See you on the road. . .

Sammyg

Tuesday, 9:06 AM

Howdy… 

BMW and Garmin are coming out with a customized Garmin Nuvi 360 that will be compatible with the 100 and 300 series.  This is for those of you who already have your vehicle without a navigation system.  The tailored mounting bracket will be much cleaner and stylish in that you can mount it on the instrument panel rather than the windshield using a suction cup.  The special bracket is powered by BMW’s onboard network so there will be no exposed power cables.   The system will come with a complete BMW Center database…guess this is when your ultimate driving machine unexpectedly breaks down away from home :-)  .

The current NUVI 360 model sells for $322.  Add the BMW bump, and you will be set to go.

See you on the road,

Sammyg

Wednesday, 3:54PM

San Diego 

Howdy,

BMW unveiled their diesel intentions at the Detroit Auto Show.  They are expected to be in showrooms later this year.  BMW hints that the first models to get the diesel will be the X5 SUV and the 5 series.  Currently named the X5 XDrive35D (must be some BMW driver’s bra size).  Good news is that these diesels should make these cars among the most fuel efficient and best performing in their class. BMW will be using an injection system called BluePerformance…. good name for the ultimate driving machine.

See you on the road,

Sammyg

Tuesday, 12:09 PM

Howdy….

Time for a little BMW ingenuity.  Personally, I can think of at least 100 other BMW projects I would rather work on, but hey, we all need a little bit of humor.  For those of you Bimmer’s with a little road rage in you, see what this Youtuber did to his:

Monday, 5:09 PM

Howdy, 

Not sure if we are talking drugs or alcohol, but these guys in a 2008 BMW must have been on something.  I don’t think the ultimate driving machine was meant for this.  Kind of makes Lady Di’s crash look like a little tap.  Supposedly, the BMW was on a airplane runway, tried to stop, but went over a burm and flew 200 feet.  This occurred in the Florida exclusive community of Jumbolair Aviation Estates, where John Travolta lives.

To see video coverage, go to www.ocala.com

No rides for me, thanks.

See you on the road,

Sammyg

Monday, 10:39 AM

San Diego, 

Howdy…. 

I just came across a great little accessory to keep those BMW wheels clean.  We all know how the little nooks and crannies of wheels and their designs can frustrate even the best of us. 

The latest BMW car cleaning innovation is here in the shape of the SonicScrubber Pro Detailer.  It looks live an over-sized toothbrush.  It uses sonic cleaning technology to deliver 3600 scrubs per minute,  This is not only good for cleaning wheels, it will help with your dashboard, upholstery, and carpet. 

The sonicscrubber can be purchased at the big box retailers or online.  Check out the “Pro Detailer SonicScrubber” at www.sonicscrubber.com/prodetailer.php . 

This is the kind of gizmo that makes keeping your BMW in top shape effortless..  This one has my two thumbs up!

Click on the You-tube demo below.

See you on the road,

Sammyg

Friday 10:49 AM

San Diego

Howdy… 

Advertised as the worlds cheapest wheels, India’s Tata Motors is launching a $2,500 People’s Car.  This could be in the price range that even presidential candidate John Edward’s dwindling middle class could smile at.    Personally, I thought at that price, it must literally be for the “wheels only”, not the whole car.  $2,500 sounds better than the advertised “less than 100,000 rupees.   It must be for real as Renault-Nissan announced its own plans for a $3,000 car joint ventured with India’s Bajaj Auto. 

The market for this starter car appears to be huge.  PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that half the growth in auto sales between 2006 and 2011 will come from Brazil, Russia, India and China. 

In current dollars, the People’s Car compares as follows:

Model T - $19,700,   Beetle $11,300,  Mini  $11,777,    and Tata’s Peoples Car $2,500.

Pretty impressive, I must say.  Tata an use lean manufacturing and Japanese Kaizen standards, I have much hope that BMW will someday be able to come down from the financial clouds to let’s say $5,000.  One can dream!

See you on the road,

Sammyg

Thursday, 10:28 AM

San Diego 

 Howdy…

     I just came across this Michelin concept wheel which looks interesting though the looks might take a few years to get used to.  Personally, I think it detracts significantly to the cars appearance….. especially a BMW.

     This is an airless constructed puncture proof tire.  Kind of like a tire without the insides.  Ugly.  Michelin states that mounting and removal operations will be simpler.       

     Who cares?  It is way to ugly to save a couple of seconds.

     Ok, for the performance enthusiast in me, there does appear to be the benefit that the Tweel wheel can be tuned independently of each other.  Thus ride comfort (vertical stiffness) and handling and cornering (lateral stiffness) can be optimized for superior performance  not possible in inflatable tires.

     Who knows…. I’m always for trying new things.  This one I think will take a few years for market acceptance.  This would be nothing new for Michelin.  Their radial tire was invented in 1946 and was not widely accepted in the U.S. until the 1970’s.  Click on the You-tube video below for a demo.

See you on the road.

Sammyg