BMW tagged posts

Automobile Suspension Design 101 (Part II)

In Part I of this article, I provide a general review and some background knowledge of the automobile suspension system. There are four types of suspension geometry. In this article we will briefly analyze the first type: trailing arm.

A trailing arm system is using a solid arm, which connect one end to two locations of the car chassis (so it can only “swing” in a 2-dimensional plane); and the other end is connected to the wheel hub, with the wheel hub fully fixed to the arm.

Because the arm connected to 2...

Eight years earlier, cars sold under the $35k mark seldom get a 300hp+ engine (with exceptions like the 2005
Mustang GT), not to mention whether it was possible to get a 300hp+ luxury car at that time. Even though the
Mustang GT gets a 300hp V8 engine which is considered “high output” at that time, it sacrifices refinement
and interior material qualities and lots of other features.

But in the end of 2005, after Lexus released the 2GR-FSE engine, which was used in the 2006 IS350, the
situation is permanently changed. Equipped with the dual-injection-system 2GR-FSE engine, The IS350 has
306hp and carries a MSRP of $35,440 and its invoice price is $31,186 (for many peopl...

BMW officially released the redesigned 2015 X6 information, along with a lot of images. Below are some highlights:

2015 X6 sDrive35i (RWD) and xDrive35i (AWD)

• N55 3.0L TwinPower turbo I6 engine
• 300 hp @ 5800 rpm
• 300 lb-ft @ 1200-5000 rpm
• 0-60 in 6.0 seconds (0.3 seconds faster than 2014 model)

2015 X6 xDrive50i

• 4.4L TwinPower Turbo V8 (N63TU)
• 445 hp @ 5500-6000 rpm
• 480 lb-ft @ 2000-4500 rpm
• 0-60 in 4.8 seconds (0.4 seconds faster than predecessor)

All models: 8-speed transmission from ZF; xDrive model with torque vectoring feature; 33 – 55 lbs lighter than outgoing models; drag coefficient = 0.34.

Two package lines are available

xLine

• optical underbody protection el...

BMW will also publish the official image soon. The redesigned X6 borrows a lot of style elements from the new X5, including the grille, headlight housing and also the tail lights.

At least three models will be offered in US: the 300hp turbo I6 X6 xDrive35i, the 445hp turbo V8 X6 xDrive50i and also the range topping X6M (engine output unknown yet).

Dear readers, we will be flooded with 2015 model year pricing of different models from different brands in this month, since right now it is the season that auto makers replacing their product line to a new manufacture year.

Today comes the news for the hot selling BMW 5 series.

Major changes are:

1. Sport leather steering wheel is standard on all models (previously you need to pay $2,000 – $3,150  to opt for luxury line/modern line/M Sport line to get it);

2. LED fog light is standard (you also need to shell out $2,000 – $3,150 to get the whole packages to get it too);

3. Comfort access (aka...