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No but you were suggesting he change his car when, really, keeping his car (meaning a new one needn't be manufactured) would potentially be better for the environment, their income, and overall more efficient as a new car needn't be manufactured.

I am a huge fan of keeping cars, safely, on the road for as long as possible. When I retired I got more heavily into collecting cars and it is a shame to see some of them being put to rest when they really needed a trivial, few hundred dollar, repair and then some regular maintaining of said vehicle.

We seem to forget the order (generic we) of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I am not so good at the first one, personally. Then there is the added factor that the EV batteries can not be recycled and are considered hazardous waste by the EPA. Then there is the mining and processing the various ingredients... I think we need to examine the cost but, in the end, I think it will be worth it simply to move off of carbon based fuel.

As an aside, I am debating... I have finally decided that I take enough trips into town - just into town - that I can justify owning an EV. However, I have a dilemma. I do not know if I want a Tesla or if I want the i8 from BMW. I am a "preferred buyer" with BMW so I can make a deposit and go up near the top of the list but it is still in testing (design is supposedly final) and will not be shipped until 2018. It is not much more than a Tesla but it is also not a pure EV. The charge is, by itself, only good for 25 miles which gets me exactly into town and one mile back. I often go to the next town and that is much further away. No EV really suits that drive.

I have solar and wind. So it would be "free electricity." (Not really, you get the idea.) The Tesla models are nice but...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

Yeah... It is a conundrum.

Does that apply to all the cars we import. Like BMW's, Range Rovers, VW's and so on? My 428i uses this: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insi... I get light flashed at me all the time from other drivers when my low beams are on. This headlight system was engineering and built in the EU not the USA. It's the same system used on EU and US models of BMW's. You were saying?

Look, who finally woke up. Good morning, Ford, BMW and others have this technology in their production cars for over 2 years now: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insi...

You are retarded.

I drove a BMW with a speed limit detector. If I am correct, it did not feed that back into the cruise control, but seeing the current speed limit on the side of your current speed in the heads up display, hovering above your hood, was sufficient to not speed by accident. The system worked quite flawlessly, even in medium snow. It is a mix from nav data and forward sign detection. The only mistake I notices was when merging back onto the Autobahn, that was under construction, it showed unlimited on the acceleration lane, until it saw the first sign (at the end of the lane).

Bzzzz! Wrong!

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

Nice try, but their new scheme makes no fucking sense at all so don't worry about it.

Before the recent change there was nothing to be confused about - you had most models in various body styles: coupe, convertible, sedan, or wagon. Of course it'd look ridiculous if they made even more (expensive) variants of the same car so they had to make a bigger mess to hide it.

Bzzzz! Wrong!

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

Nice try, but their new scheme makes no fucking sense at all so don't worry about it.

Before the recent change there was nothing to be confused about - you had most models in various body styles: coupe, convertible, sedan, or wagon. Of course it'd look ridiculous if they made even more (expensive) variants of the same car so they had to make a bigger mess to hide it.

Bzzzz! Wrong!

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

Nice try, but their new scheme makes no fucking sense at all so don't worry about it.

Before the recent change there was nothing to be confused about - you had most models in various body styles: coupe, convertible, sedan, or wagon. Of course it'd look ridiculous if they made even more (expensive) variants of the same car so they had to make a bigger mess to hide it.

Bzzzz! Wrong!

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

Nice try, but their new scheme makes no fucking sense at all so don't worry about it.

Before the recent change there was nothing to be confused about - you had most models in various body styles: coupe, convertible, sedan, or wagon. Of course it'd look ridiculous if they made even more (expensive) variants of the same car so they had to make a bigger mess to hide it.

Bzzzz! Wrong!

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newv...

Nice try, but their new scheme makes no fucking sense at all so don't worry about it.

Before the recent change there was nothing to be confused about - you had most models in various body styles: coupe, convertible, sedan, or wagon. Of course it'd look ridiculous if they made even more (expensive) variants of the same car so they had to make a bigger mess to hide it.

Depends on the implementation. BMW, for instance, uses a planetary gear set connected to the steering wheel, the rack and an electric motor. If the motor or the adaptive steering logic fails, the motor is locked and you get an ordinary constant-ratio steering system.
Checking whether the steering output matches the input would take care of your scenario.

the i3 comes with a internal combustion engine range extender, wonder what the efficiency drops to when that kicks in..

Care to show me the stats on the ICE range extender you speak of?

The range extender is an option. Maybe it is not offered in the US (although it is mentioned in reviews), but it is available in Germany: http://www.bmw.de/de/neufahrze...

It is a 2 cylinder engine which according to the BMW website increases the range to 300-340km total (about 200 miles).

2 cylinder engines were popular for motorboat outboards and jetskis. The industry switched to 3 cyl and 4 cyl because 2 cyl engines are less efficient and produce a greater amount of pollution. Granted, the electric engine reduces the total pollution amount, but still...

That being said, it does look like some research is being done to produce more efficient 2 cyl engines: http://www.technologyreview.co...

the i3 comes with a internal combustion engine range extender, wonder what the efficiency drops to when that kicks in..

Care to show me the stats on the ICE range extender you speak of?

The range extender is an option. Maybe it is not offered in the US (although it is mentioned in reviews), but it is available in Germany: http://www.bmw.de/de/neufahrze...

It is a 2 cylinder engine which according to the BMW website increases the range to 300-340km total (about 200 miles).

Lets wait until a 3rd party company measures its efficiency in similar conditions as Tesla S instead of taking the number off of a BMW dealership sticker.
 
  Those numbers ARE from a third party
 
  the i3 comes with a internal combustion engine range extender, wonder what the efficiency drops to when that kicks in..
 
Care to show me the stats on the ICE range extender you speak of?
 
What the fuck are you Tesla fanboys so afraid of? That another company out there can do better? I thought that was the idea of the EVs to begin with! Jesus fuck, get over yourselves.

You mean like this ? http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_guide/articles/head_up_display.html

The truck burning 14.28 gallons of diesel generates about 145 grams of CO2. [1]

The energy losses for the transmission line (considering it comes from coal) generates about 7 tonnes of CO2. [2]

Hopefully my calculations are correct. Obviously a huge difference here.

But after dumping all that CO2 into the atmosphere, we now find ourselves at a gas station with 10K gallons of gasoline and 1000 MWh of energy.

The Tesla S would be able to drive about 2.857.142 miles with that energy. [3]
Driving these miles, it would "release" about 936 metric tonnes of CO2 (at the coal plant).

A BMW 5 Series 520i would be able to drive about 915.294 miles with that gasoline. [4]
Driving these miles, it would release about 91 metric tonnes of CO2 (in the streets).

Conclusion: fuck the coal plants, we need more renewable energy sources!

[1] http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/documents/420f11041.pdf
[2] http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=74&t=11
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_S#Powertrain
[4] http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/5series/sedan/2010/showroom/compare.html?model_1=

Sounds like BMW's HUD system.

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/3series/sedan/2011/showroom/safety/head_up_display.html?

For what it's worth, the iDrive controller is a little less crappy now, because they've added buttons on the front of it to get you into the most used functions. A quick google for an image results in not only showing the buttons, but showing that they've been angled against each other so that you can actually feel for the one you want without taking your eyes off the road.

Seems they are going the exact opposite way of the touchscreen. Thank Jeebus.

BMW has a system to keep a constant distance with the vehicle in front of you, but it doesn't steer the wheel: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_guide/articles/active_cruise_control.html

Called "auto start stop".

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/efficient_dynamics/phase_2/technologies/auto_start_stop.html

Where exactly in that "innovation" is the difference to the systems that BMW and Merc already sell since a few years on the market in their top cars?

i.e. 7 Series of BMW from 2008:

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/7series/sedan/2008/allfacts/ergonomics/head_up_display.html

I am still waiting for my heads-up-display GPS unit.

Given the constantly decreasing costs of electronics manufacture, even if not now, there will be a point where it becomes possible to constantly monitor large part of the population without extraordinary expenses.

You mean like OnStar(GM), BMW Assist(BMW), TeleAid(Mercedes) or Lexus Link(Toyota)?

And of course there is the ubiquitous cellular phone...

From the BMW website. http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/efficient_dynamics/phase_2/clean_energy/bmw_hydrogen_7.html

I own MacBook Air among other laptops in my home. This is just different device and I'd say with just different approach on portable computing, if I can say so. I really can not get why people comparing it just by features? Because it does not have 5 USB ports as any 5kg weight Asus laptop has and does not have DVD drive?.. Well, IMHO it is kind of irrelevant. It is as same as compare BMW Z4 with... let's say Huyndai Amica (both are small) and complain that Amica has much more features (extra seats, extra doors, bigger space for cargo etc).

Now, for curious people a bit semi-numbers of performance. Machine is 1.8GHz CPU since 1.6GHz is not the point: if you decide to buy it, then you buy it right (in my opinion). I did not got it with SSD because for me it is too pricey so far. So, I use Windows XP on VmWare sometimes, because I develop stuff for web and MSIE still on rails, unfortunately, and also I need other Windows-only software. I also tried to play on this thing various 3D games, watching video (of course!), music stuff, Flash sites, Photoshop things and so on. Folks... it just that works fast enough and never gets hot. I also surprised of HDD's 4200rpm must be too slow. However, in fact, as for such machine it is not.

Lenovo X300 or MacBook Air or something else -- each product should be reviewed according to damn CUSTOMER'S OWN NEEDS. Is it not stupid to look at a product that does not match somebody's specific needs and say "this product does not match everybody's needs"? Lenovo X300 match needs for those who does not care screen size, keyboard comfortability but care about DVD drive, need Windows/Linux/*BSD as main OS, wants it rather smaller by width then height. MacBook Air are for those, who want it lightweight nearly 1kg, but still need normal keyboard with backlight and decent screen size. Among other users, MBA definitely perfect for writers, for business, for (maybe) programmers (like me) and for wives on sofa. :-)

I am not bashing anything or saying that MBA is something mega-incredible. I just feel sick when reading bullshit articles, called "strong opinion" though they just comparing apples with oranges: each product is individual and has its good or bad points.

Diesel is primarily used in heavier vehicles

Probably true in the US, but in Europe most small cars are diesels, and a large part of all other car classes too, up to the premium and even some sports car brands. Audi has won the 24 hours of Le Mans with a diesel.
Diesel fuel is cheaper here, and diesel engines use less of it. Modern diesels (with turbos, common-rail injection et al.) have high torque, are silent and fun to drive. They also produce a large amount of micro particles, which was realized as a problem not long ago, and which only the next generation of engines will really get a handle on.

Right, because Ford Escorts and SUVs are the only cars in existance. Nice BMWs et al. that get 50 mpg on the highway are a pipe dream

I'll join in with the chorus of "Bullshit" as to the position on Apple Customers. Apple Customers value Shiny, and will continue to swarm accordingly. Steve Jobs would have to release at least two and probably three gold-plated turds in a row before this would change noticably.

Actually, my belief is that we like "shiny"[1] and quality. The same way as a BMW or Bang and Olufsen customer expects both to be present. The trade off? By expecting a premium product, one is willing to pay a premium price as well.

[1] Not in the bling way, of course.

Although it's been available in aftermarket parts for a while, it's now available in production cars as well... the current BMW M3 has a carbon-fiber roof. Sure, it's a $50k production car, but I expect the material will trickle down to more and more vehicles each year. It's strong and light, and we need strong, light materials to increase fuel-efficiency across the board.

I think firefox needs a tagline. Maybe Mozilla foundation can contact BMW and include a free firefox CD with every BMW sold. (ie. the Ultimate Driving Experience along with the Ultimate Browsing experience). Things like this will help firefox's penetration. People really need a reason to use firefox over IE, and right now I can think of two good reasons:

So the list of major advantages firefox has over IE is dwindling. I think integrating some form of anonymous browsing, either through a network such as Tor, or through an anonymous proxy service would give Firefox yet another advantage over IE... Maybe Firefox 3?

Yeah, and a lot of "old" people fought in WWII, but have no problem buying a Honda car or Sony TV.

It's actually a BMW M5, which has got a V10 engine. The article summary is wrong.

This is a very good explanation of why designers want full control over web page display - they see a page of information as more of a whole 'image' - which comprises pictures and text.
If you really want that, use PDF - or Flash, as many commercial sites do when they are there primarily to promote the brand 'image'
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/index_highend.html

If you want to communicate in text - use HTML.

If you do not like Flash, you need to provide a constructive alternative. What is suggested here is just one of the first. Given the reception and the fact that if I set the font on my browser appropriately, the 'image' is not what the designer envisaged, I think attention will focus on something else.

OK, try this: http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&q=bmw&btnG=Googl e-Suche&meta=

For me, BMW _international_ comes up as #3 -- http://www.bmw.com./ But you do NOT see http://bmw.de/

Google.de really means business here!

No, they won't be able to find BMW-Germany. BMW in other locations, if I understand correctly, should remain unaffected. Note that BMW International is still indexed and at http://www.bmw.com/

BMW has had them on the road for at least 6 years with the 750hL.

See the Milestones section of http://www.bmw.com/com/en/index_highend.html

I don't think you would be able to "convert" a normal gas car into a hydrogen based or hydrogen supported car. You would have to take out both the engine and luggage area.

On the other hand, the hydrogen car not only is possible, but absolutely viable, environment friendly, and depending on the fuel price (hydrogen) also a lot more economical.

I'd recommend you check out BMW's research so far, they've been on it since the 80's.

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/index_highend.html?prm_c ontent=../../com/en/insights/technology/cleanenerg y/_highend/xml/overview.xml

I dunno, BMW doesn't seem to think so...

So (nearly) did a blanket 100PS power limit on every motorcycle manufactured in or imported into the EC. This was former Commissioner Martin Bangemann's pet project, and it took intensive lobbying from among others, the Motorcycle Action Group and Triumph Motorcycles to slow it down, but it only died when Bangemann himself ceased to be a Commissioner.
This was a virtally unresearched, transparently anti-competitive (Bangemann was trying to protect BMW, who, up until about five years ago, had a similar self-imposed limit) piece of legislation, supported by almost no-one else and more than once rejected by the European Parliament, yet it still took the downfall of its sponsor to kill it.

Moral?
EU Commissioners have far too much power, far too little responsibility, and are too difficult to get rid of.

Incidentally, I'm uncertain whether BMW themselves actually had anything to do with this mess, but shortly afterward, they lifted their self-imposed limit and now make some very nice bikes.

how about we do a gift swap, and get eachother a gift from our list? here's my list.

A little plain?? Logos are supposed to be plain. Take a moment and look at some memorable logos. They're generally very, very, simple. This makes them easy to associate with the product. It helps build the brand.

If only more Free Software projects would follow the lead of NetBSD. There are a lot of decent logos out there too but by and large Free Software logos constitute strong evidence that Graphic Design is indeed a valuable skill. Not as valuable as coding, but still valuable.

Specifically, it's not about technical prowess in using your favourite graphics program, it's about being able to come up with strong ideas and express them strikingly, visually.

Not that I'm any good at it...

Actually, BMW already did a hydrogen engine some time ago (it was tested with the older BMW 7 series - marked 750h and the newer 745h) -
check this page

the only significant difference is that the BMW uses liquid hydrogen, and so home-production of it would be much harder (so i suppose it will go in this direction - BP and others still want to earn some money) - to me it appears these cars are nearly production-ready. The only promblem is that the cost of hydrogen is still higher than the cost of gasoline

PDA functionality is usefull and will be used virtually in all personal devices. And some of those devices will be far away from being called "a cell phone": watches, MP3 players, cameras.

Watches? Yes and yes. MP3 players? Not quite yet, but I'd expect it soon. Cameras? Close enough.

Also, I am sure PDA functionality will expand from wearable devices to... drivable one?

Once again, yes, yes, and yes. Granted, most of the items I've listed aren't exactly PDAs, but they all have some PDA-type behaviors or at the very least the capability or promise of PDA features.

The exceptions to this are Japanese and (I think) U.S. cars. These cars are normally sold in Europe already containing every imaginable extra, so the only thing left to choose is the color. Since it takes some time to freight those cars over to Europe using ships, importers normally have a stack of them ready at all times so that you can get them as soon as you have paid.

Let's say that we have gestures that distinguish between 8 directions (N, NE, E, SE...)

I said it. Sorry. The harsh reality is the Internet is driven by the masses, and the masses want something that will wow them. More importantly keep their attention. Believe me, it is a short span. When I intalled the Flash plugin the other day for Mozilla I decided to check out the site of the day. It made me really think about the direction the web will ultimately go. Just look at this. It says clearly what we can expect the future of Internet innovation to be. The rest will become a great place for research, which is where the browser will stay. #!/i/am/chaos

Welp, BMW already has a car that does most of this - and more! The 7 series includes the iDrive and a several computer networks connecting everything from headlights to seat adjustments. And they are all coded to that specific car - so if you remove the radio it work work in ANY other car, even a BMW 7 series! Wow!

Unless the economy turns around, all I'll be able to afford is a hydrogen-petrol Yugo :(

No BMW 7-series?

Check out the force-feedback controller.

for 100 million dollars, i'd sell out :(

I wouldn't sell out, even if you tempted me with the tastiest sub in the world and wash it down with the best damn beer in the world then handed me the keys to the nice car you delivered it all in.

on second thought...