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BMW reacquires original factory as classic center

BMW was barely two years old when it started manufacturing airplane engines in a factory on Moosacher Strasse in Munich. Two years after that, it sold the factory to Knorr-Bremse AG, a leading manufacturer of brakes for trains and commercial vehicles, and BMW moved into a new facility on Lerchenauer Strasse. There it expanded into the industrial giant we know today, building engines for cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats and planes. It's taken the better part of a century to get that original factory back, but that's exactly what BMW has done, reacquiring the expanded facility from Knorr-Bremse this month.
The factory on Moonsacher Strasse will now serve as the headquarters for BMW Group Classic, the division that handles archives and historical vehicles for BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce. From there, just a stone's throw from corporate headquarters and its main plant (as well as BMW Welt and the BMW Museum), the classic division's operations will include a restoration workshop, vintage parts store, the company's archives, administration as well as a place to hold events. In addition, there will be an exhibition space for historical vehicles from the company's considerable collection.
At the heart of the new/old campus is the gatehouse, which is a protected heritage site and will serve as a gateway into the company's history. Read the full details in the press release below.

2014 BMW 320i

When BMW switched its entry level 3 Series, the 328i, from a naturally aspirated, 3.0-liter six-cylinder to a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder, we weren't entirely sure what to think. Sure, from a pure numbers perspective, the new 2.0-liter cooked the old 3.0's goose, delivering more torque at far more accessible engine speeds while boosting horsepower and fuel economy.
While we miss that revvy six-pot, the numbers for the 2.0 were just way too good to pass up. Then we received news of an even less-powerful 2.0-liter 3 Series - the 320i. This was interesting, as it saw BMW delving into a power level previously owned solely by the anemic Lexus IS 250 and its six-cylinder engine.
Could BMW make a sub-200-horsepower sedan that still drove the way we expected a 3 Series to drive? To find out, we borrowed the new 320i for a week of testing.

Toyota-BMW sports car to gain all-wheel drive, supercapacitors?

Sales of salt are skyrocketing following the latest rumor of the planned joint-venture sports car from Toyota and BMW. The whisperings indicate that project will spawn both a replacement for the BMW Z4 and a long-awaited Toyota Supra successor based on the FT-1 Concept shown above. Word is that the new cars will feature front-engine, all-wheel-drive layouts with plug-in hybrid technology. This news would appear to run somewhat counter to earlier reports that BMW and Toyota are teaming for a six-figure hybrid supercar.
According to Autocar, the project will benefit from the experience Toyota gained with the TS030, its hybridized Le Mans prototype. The evidence for this is, of all things, a Toyota Yaris - in particular, the Yaris Hybrid R that was shown at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show last September. That car used a 300-horsepower, 1.6-liter gas engine, while a pair of 60-horsepower electric motors provided all-wheel-drive push (an additional motor also sent additional juice to the front axle). The 414-system-horsepower drivetrain used supercapacitors in place of the traditional lithium-ion batteries of traditional hybrids.
For the production sports cars, Autocar claims that the Yaris Hybrid R's setup will serve as the basis for the new powertrain, although it won't be a direct carryover. Instead, a 2.0-liter BMW engine will be paired with Toyota-designed, BMW-built motors.