11 Bmw Z4 Sdrive35i Roadster Convertible 28k 1-owner Navi Heat-sts Keyless Xenon on 2040-cars

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Mercedes leads in US luxury car thefts

Mercedes-Benz makes some fine automobiles. The Silver Arrow'd cars are so good, apparently, that thieves can't help but try to steal them. The German brand is at the top of the charts for luxury car thefts in the US, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, with New York City leading the way. (And those New Yorkers complain about Detroit being bad!)
The C-Class was the most stolen model, with 485 ganked between 2009 and 2012 in NYC alone, while the E-Class and S-Class (which also boasted the worst recovery rate, at 59 percent) both finished in the top ten. Following the C-Class was the BMW 3 Series and Infiniti G. Not surprisingly, each of these were the most common models in their respective lineups. Los Angeles and Miami are also prime hotspots for luxury car thefts, according to the Detroit News report.
While getting your car stolen is pretty awful, there was one inspiring statistic compiled by the NICB - the average recovery rate across the board was 84 percent, with the Cadillac CTS getting recovered 91 percent of the time.

BMW M4 Concept leaked ahead of Monterey debut

Last month, we heard that BMW might be bringing a concept previewing its next M4 sports coupe to this year's Monterey festivities. Well, thanks to the folks at USA Today, we have absolute confirmation of this by way of some leaked images. And goodness, she's certainly a looker.
While a few of us still find some of the 4 Series' design to be a bit awkward, it's hard to not immediately warm up to the aggressive bits of this hotter M4 concept. It certainly looks the business of a proper sports car, and a worthy successor to the M3 coupe. Of course, a lot of this will likely be toned down for the production version, which we'll likely be seeing at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show in January, along with its four-door M3 kin.
The official M4 Concept details will be revealed later tonight, but for now, have a look at a few shots of the golden show car in our gallery of leaked shots, above.

Looking back at 84 years of BMW roadsters

Today BMW is a top player in the luxury vehicle market, but it wasn't always so. With origins as an airplane engine builder early in the 20th Century, it broke into the automotive industry when it bought Automobilwerk Eisenach in 1928. That German manufacturer was licensed to build the Austin Seven under the name Dixi DA-1, which could be had in a roadster body style. In 1929, BMW dropped the Dixi name, and by 1936, it was building a car it designed in-house, the 326 sedan. That was followed by the company's first roadster of its own design, the swoopy two-door 327 of 1937.
XCAR picks up there, and gives a history of BMW's iconic roadsters starting with the 327, ending with today's Z4, and covering everything in between - including the beautiful post-war 507 of 1957 and the funky, plastic-bodied 1989 Z1.
The video, which we've included below, is a good history lesson and a great chance to see a bunch of classic BMWs, spanning 84 years, all driven back to back within the safe confines of a racetrack. When you have a spare 20 minutes, go ahead and take some time to watch it.