Autoblog

UPDATE: 3-24-08 -- This was left on the original M3 forum thread by Ken, the nearly-defrauded winner of the eBay auction: "Sorry its taken so long to post a update. The site is very slow (understandably). This morning, BMW of Lincoln has agreed to sell me the car at a price of 60K, with certain conditions. I'll be going over the conditions with the dealership tommorow, and I hope to have everything finalized by tommorow afternoon." You can read the rest of his comment here. It's pretty cool what the Internet can do...

Apparently all is not kosher in corn country. BMW of Lincoln, Nebraska posted an auction on eBay for a brand new M3 Sedan for $60,000. Perhaps they were hoping for the kind of eBay madness that would push the price to six figures (something other dealers are doing right on the show floor). If that's what they were after, well, they didn't get it. The car was won by a gentleman in California for the listed price: $60,000.

The problem is that the dealer doesn't want to give him the car. Not long after the auction ended, the winning bidder got a call from BMW of Nebraska telling him the auction was "a mistake," and that he couldn't have the car. In spite of the fact that the dealership changed the Buy It Now price twice -- and so was paying attention to the auction -- and eBay rules that make it clear that if someone wins the auction then you must complete the transaction, the buyer is still trying to get someone to give him the car he won at the winning bid price. Follow the link for the full story, and to you, Dooma350, good luck. Thanks for the tip, Ken!

[Source: M3post.com]

Click the above image for more pictures of the BMW M3 Sedan

There hasn't been a BMW M3 sedan since the E36 generation, but that doesn't mean BMW has forgotten how to build a fast saloon car. The M3 Sedan takes everything good about the M3 coupe and adds two doors to the mix, allowing you to better justify the purchase with your significant other. BMW has thrown out the standard headlights on the sedan and replaced them with the lights found on the coupe, giving it a more sporting design in the process.The basic specs are all the same as the coupe, but you should check out our previous post on the M3 Sedan to find out more.

All live photos ©2007 Siddharth Raja / Weblogs, Inc.

Over the course of the last few weeks, we've been constantly updating our comprehensive list of debuts slated for the Tokyo Motor Show, but one glaring omission continually jumped out at us: BMW. We know they'll be showing off the M3 Sedan, but it was rumored that something else would grace the Bavarian's show stand. Automotive News finally shed some light on the mystery model, but it doesn't reveal much.

BMW will be showing a concept built atop the 1-series platform, but when AN quizzed a BMW spokesperson, all they would say is that the unnamed concept won't be the X1 mini 'ute. Our first suspicion was the 1-series convertible, but that's far too dull for Tokyo. We'll let the relentless speculation begin below.

As for the rest of the Germans, we know Audi is bringing the A1 concept to the show, which should be close to the production model set to debut in 2009, while Volkswagen will be releasing its first Up! variant in the form of a five-door minivan concept.

We'll be on a plane to Tokyo this time next week, so expect more to follow soon.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

click on any image to view high-res gallery of 2008 BMW M3 Sedan

In our haste to bring you news of the 2008 BMW M3 sedan being unveiled, we showed you the best official pics we could find at the time, which were only 800 pixels wide. We don't know many people with 800 pixel-wide monitors, so we updated our gallery with high-resolution pics straight from BMW. They're 1,280 pixels wide, which should cover most screens corner to corner.



We noticed a couple of things about BMW's new M sedan this time around that we missed before. Take a closer look at the steering wheel, which features red and blue stitching that mimics the M colors. Also notice two shots of the M3 Sedan's trunk at the end of the gallery. One shows a parcel shelf that slides out from underneath the trunk's ceiling, while the other shows how much cargo room is available with the back seats folded forward. We thought these pics particularly interesting because they illustrate the entire point in BMW making an M3 sedan: more utility. The M3 Coupe is great, but not nearly as practical as the M3 Sedan will be.

To download the larger pics, just browse the gallery and right click on your favorite pics. Save the images to your computer, and the 1,280 pixel-wide version will be downloaded regardless of what size pic you're looking at.

[Source: BMW]

UPDATE: Truth be told, these could be photoshops. At first glance they looked like brochure shots to us, but we'll let you decide.

click above image to both pics of the BMW M3 sedan

God bless forums, you have to love them. The occasional flame war aside (who are we to talk?), they're often the repository of choice material like this, what appears to be the first official images of the BMW M3 sedan scanned from a brochure. The main shot is large enough to appreciate how well the M3 style plays with the proportions of the 3-Series sedan, while the tiny pic gives us a profile comparison between the M3 coupe and sedan. What do you need to know about the M3 sedan that's different from the M3 coupe. Well, it's got two extra doors, but aside from that the same 420 HP V8 will be powering the rear wheels, which is all that's important to us. Any more details will have to wait until BMW officially takes the wraps off of its super sedan, which is expected to happen at an upcoming auto show, hopefully the L.A. Auto Show in mid-November.

Thanks for the tip, Mark!

[Source: M3post.com]

MI6, a member of the M3post.com forums, has snagged a new set of photos showing a blacked-out but "naked" M3 four-door driving on German streets. The coupe nose on the sedan body looks really good, and the bulging wheel arches add visual muscle without cartoonishly overstating the matter. We basically expect the car to exhibit all the goodness of the new M3 coupe with added comfort for backseat passengers. That's called a win-win, folks. BMW's going to move a ton of these. Follow the "Read" link to see three more shots of the M3 sedan dressed like a stealth bomber.

[Source: M3Post.com]

M3 enthusiast site M3Post.com has snagged what are easily the best spyshots yet of Bimmer's upcoming 4-door hot rod. They don't come from any of the spy photo big guns, either. Instead, they're sourced from within their own ranks, as site member Larry Blunk was clicking the shutter as the silver M3 sedan prototype lapped the Nürburgring and then spent quality time with the car as it sat parked out in the open afterwards. Appearance-wise, think of an E90 3-series sedan with the new M3 coupe's front and rear end treatments, bulging, vented hood,side extractors, and wheels. It's looking good so far, and we're sure there'll be no shortage of takers for the slightly more practical version of the M-enhanced speed merchant. We're guessing it'll debut on its home turf at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Click here to see several more nice, high-resolution shots.

[Source: M3Post.com]

While the BMW M3 Coupe was all-but unveiled in Geneva, we have had to rely on spy photographers for images of the M3 Sedan and Cabrio. Hans Lehmann has captured a few shots of each for Winding Road, and you can see them in all their Technicolor splendor by clicking through the read link.

We're still not sure when and where the production M3 sedan will make its debut, but Frankfurt or even New York are still possibilities. As we told you before, the sedan will get a front fascia that is nearly identical to the one on the coupe, and since the coupe is both sleek and mean at the same time, this can only be taken as a very good thing. Knowing a 400ish-horsepower V8 is under the hood makes it even better.

The cabrio pics show the metal drop-top to be a handsome beast, as well. That's to be expected since the hardtop allows it to mimic the lines of the coupe to a tee.

We are guessing the sedan will appear by the end of the year and that we'll have to wait until spring 2008 for the convertible M3. But wait we will, with bated breath.

[Source: Winding Road]