Archive for the ‘General News’ Category

Hamann BMW 7 Series: First Images Released

29 March 2009 | 2 Comments » | Jeroen

Hamann declared that they at present have a body kit along with their tuning programme for the 2009 BMW 7 Series. Details are not being revealed for the moment with the exception of tyres run on 22-inch rims. Component parts which can be spotted are a rear boot spoiler, a rear roof spoiler, four tailpipes and new side skirts. The inner has sporty pedals, and black leather seats and carpets stitched with the Hamann logo.
The previous-generation Hamann 7 (HM 7.1) was declared in 2005 and was founded on the 760i/L. Hamman augmented the factory V12 engine power from 6.0-litres to 7.1-litres and contended to discharge 510hp (375kW) and 728Nm of torque. The 0 – 100km/h time enhanced to 5 seconds while its maximum speed went up to 312km/h (194mph).
Other models in the 7 Series are the 745i and the 745iL. These received a 5.2-litre V8 with augmented power to 412hp (303kW).

Hamann BMW 7-series frontview

Hamann BMW 7-series front-side view

Hamann BMW 7-series side view

Hamann BMW 7-series side-rear view

Hamann BMW 7-series rear view

More photo’s can be found on the website of worldcarfans.

REPORT: Quandt Family to Block Daimler & BMW Cross Ownership Plan

22 March 2009 | No Comments » | Jeroen

BMW’s main single shareholder is the legendary Quandt family. The family holds 46% share of the Bavarian company. It could be debated that this bulk stake makes BMW a family business rather than a public company.

bmw mercedes logos merged
Recently BMW AG and traditional arch rival Daimler AG who are owners of Mercedes-Benz are going to buy stakes worth 7% in each other’s businesses. This was reported in Germany’s Der Spiegel newspaper. Now it is reported that the Quandt family will oppose such a deal.
Presently the two companies have agreed to buy in bulk parts that are common for both of them. BMW has the same kind of agreement with PSA Group where the Germans develop 1.6-litre petrol engines and the French use their monolithic buying power to bring down the total production costs for both entities. The deal is for 1 million engines where PSA takes 800,000 and BMW keeps 200,000.