Category Archives: News

News

BMW’s iX3 Finally Gets the White Steering Wheel It Showed Us Months Ago

When BMW first rolled out press images of the all-new iX3, eagle-eyed observers noticed something odd: a bright white steering wheel that, inconveniently, didn’t exist in the configurator. Six months later, BMW has finally decided to make good on its own marketing photos.

The German iX3 configurator has been quietly updated to include the long-teased white steering wheel, priced at a surprisingly reasonable €250. It’s a small change, but one that highlights how seriously BMW is leaning into personalization with its next-generation electric SUV.

Of course, BMW being BMW, the white wheel doesn’t come without strings attached.

To get it, buyers must also opt for the Digital White interior package, a €1,080 upgrade in Germany. This wraps the seats in BMW’s Veganza material—marketing speak for artificial leather—which is also used on the steering wheel itself. The rest of the cabin avoids looking like a hospital waiting room thanks to Atlas Gray fabric trim, a black Veganza finish on the door armrests, and an Anthracite headliner. In other words, it’s more “modern gallery” than “stormtrooper.”

Interestingly, BMW doesn’t force customers into an M Sport package to get the white wheel. Even base-model iX3 buyers can order it, which is refreshingly democratic for a brand that often hides the good stuff behind pricey trim levels. The updated BMW roundel sits in the middle of the wheel, though the change is subtle enough that most people won’t notice unless they’re staring at it in a showroom.

If white isn’t your thing—or if you’d rather not worry about blue-jean dye slowly staining your steering wheel—BMW still offers the familiar black version. That one gets a small M badge on the lower spoke, and aside from color, it appears to be identical in shape and design to the white wheel. How well the pale version will survive years of sweaty palms and coffee spills remains an open question.

More Colors, More Power, More BMW Being BMW

The steering wheel isn’t the only new addition. BMW has also expanded the iX3’s paint palette with three new shades: Fire Red, Eucalyptus Green, and Individual Frozen Space Silver. It’s a welcome move for a model that’s supposed to look as forward-thinking as its Neue Klasse underpinnings.

There’s also a new AC Charging Professional option, which boosts AC charging to 22 kW and adds Vehicle-to-Load capability. With up to 3.7 kW available, the iX3 can now power tools, appliances, or even a small campsite, turning the SUV into a rolling power bank.

BMW has also thrown in a stainless-steel loading sill for iX3s ordered with the Contemporary, M, or Individual interior themes. Meanwhile, buyers who go for the M Sport Package or M Sport Package Pro get a special key finished with BMW’s signature blue, violet, and red M stripes—because if you’re paying extra, you should at least get a fancier key.

Not everything is available just yet. Heated rear seats still don’t show up in the German configurator, as BMW plans to roll that feature out first in South Korea and Japan starting with March production. Ventilated front seats are also missing for now, though BMW says they’ll arrive later in the model’s life cycle.

The iX3’s Story Is Just Getting Started

Deliveries of the new iX3 haven’t even begun, which means this steady drip of new options is only the beginning. More BMW Individual colors are scheduled to arrive later this year, along with additional versions of the SUV, including the iX3 40 and the hotter iX3 M60 xDrive.

And looming over everything is the real performance flagship: the X3 M “ZA5,” due in 2027. If BMW’s electric future follows the same formula as its gasoline past, that’s where things are going to get very interesting.

For now, though, the biggest headline might just be a steering wheel that finally matches the pictures.

Source: BMW

News

BMW Cuts V-8 Power In Europe, But Not In The United States

BMW’s S68 twin-turbo V-8 was always living on borrowed time. Not because it wasn’t good—it’s spectacular—but because Europe’s regulators have been circling it like wolves around a bratwurst. Now the bite has finally landed. Beginning next month, BMW will detune the S68 in Europe to meet upcoming Euro 7 emissions rules, slicing 40 horsepower from the gasoline side of the powertrain in both the M5 and XM Label—and doing it two years before the regulations even take effect.

Yes, the axe falls early.

In pure BMW fashion, though, Munich refuses to let its flagship Ms look weak on paper. To offset the combustion-engine haircut, BMW is turning up the voltage. The electric motor in the M5 is upgraded so that the total system output remains 717 horsepower, exactly where it was before. The XM Label does the same trick, holding the line at 737 horsepower by pairing a slightly weaker V-8 with a stronger electric motor.

The result is a numbers game that looks unchanged on a spec sheet—but one that tells a more complicated story underneath.

Europe Loses 40 Horses. America Doesn’t.

This change applies to all M5s and XM Labels sold in the European Union’s 27 member states, plus any other markets that follow EU emissions rules. But if you’re buying one in the United States, you can breathe easy—and deeply.

BMW spokesperson Jay Hanson confirmed that U.S.-market M5s and XM Labels will continue to use the full-power S68, with no detuning required. In other words, America gets the uncorked V-8 while Europe gets the eco-friendly version with an electrified crutch.

That’s not exactly new in the modern car world—but it’s still a bitter pill for European enthusiasts, especially when the M5 is supposed to be BMW’s unapologetic performance flagship.

The S68 Isn’t Going Anywhere

Despite the emissions squeeze, BMW isn’t walking away from its V-8 anytime soon. The S68 is slated to power a whole lineup of future M and M Performance models, including:

  • The next-gen X5 M Performance (G65)
  • The full X5 M (G95)
  • The X7 (G67)
  • And the next X6 in both G66 M Performance and G96 M forms

Even BMW ALPINA is expected to stick with the V-8 for the return of the B7 and an XB7 successor, though those models will reportedly come with hybrid and inline-six variants as well. An electric ALPINA is also on the horizon—which feels both inevitable and faintly tragic.

Meanwhile, the current M5 (G90 sedan and G99 wagon) will keep the S68 when its mid-cycle update arrives. The facelifted models have already been caught testing, though their official debut isn’t expected until late spring next year, ahead of production starting in July 2027.

More Than Just a Power Cut

BMW isn’t simply turning down the boost and calling it a day. European-market M5s and XM Labels are also switching to the Miller combustion cycle, a strategy that improves efficiency and lowers emissions by tweaking how the engine handles intake and compression. On top of that, BMW is upgrading the exhaust aftertreatment system and recalibrating engine management software.

The company insists the result is “continued dynamic performance at the highest level,” thanks to the stronger electric motor filling in for the lost V-8 output.

Maybe. But we all know what that really means.

Hybrids are fantastic at masking what’s been taken away—until you start pushing the car hard, again and again, when heat, weight, and battery limitations start to matter. The M5 is already a two-and-a-half-ton missile. Adding more electric hardware to compensate for a neutered engine only makes it heavier.

And if given the choice, most buyers would almost certainly take the 40 horsepower back instead of the electrons.

As someone who lives in Europe, I know I would. Better yet, ditch the plug-in hybrid altogether and let the V-8 breathe freely again. It would shed weight, restore character, and make the M5 feel like an M5 instead of a regulatory workaround.

Of course, the EU wouldn’t be thrilled about that.

Source: BMWBlog

News

Lamborghini Brings the Arena Back to Imola for a Full-Throttle 2026 Showdown

If there’s a better way to spend a spring weekend than being surrounded by hundreds of Lamborghinis screaming around one of Europe’s most storied racetracks, we haven’t found it yet. On May 9–10, 2026, Automobili Lamborghini is bringing Lamborghini Arena back to the Imola Circuit, turning the Formula 1–grade ribbon of asphalt into a two-day celebration of speed, design, and brand obsession.

After a blockbuster debut in 2024—when more than 6,000 people showed up alongside 380 cars and a 350-Lamborghini parade lap—the Arena returns bigger, louder, and more ambitious. But this isn’t just another car meet. Lamborghini Arena is a full-scale brand takeover, part race weekend, part factory open house, part cultural festival for the Sant’Agata faithful.

Track Action, Lamborghini Style

At its core, Lamborghini Arena is about seeing these cars do what they were built to do—run hard on a racetrack that demands real commitment. Owners will take their own road-going Lamborghinis onto Imola’s historic layout, driving the same corners once attacked by Senna and Schumacher. That alone would be worth the price of admission.

But Lamborghini ups the stakes by pairing this with the second round of the 2026 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe championship. That means Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 race cars will be in full competition mode, delivering a no-apologies dose of real motorsport. Free practice, qualifying, and wheel-to-wheel races will play out across the weekend, with Lamborghini Squadra Corse on hand to run the show.

For spectators, it’s a rare chance to get close to a factory-supported racing operation without the usual velvet ropes—and to watch Lamborghini’s one-make racers fight it out on one of Italy’s most unforgiving circuits.

The Paddock Becomes a Lamborghini City

But Lamborghini Arena isn’t just a track-day on steroids. The paddock transforms into the Lamborghini Arena Village, a kind of temporary Lamborghini headquarters where the brand tells its story from every possible angle.

This is where Lamborghini gets introspective. Visitors move through spaces dedicated to the company’s core pillars: the Manifattura, showing how the cars are physically built; Centro Stile, where the wild designs start as sketches; Polo Storico, which preserves Lamborghini’s past; and Ad Personam, where customers turn already outrageous cars into something uniquely theirs.

Then there’s R&D, which pulls back the curtain on the tech behind Lamborghini’s future—advanced materials, aerodynamics, hybridization, and engineering solutions that keep the brand competitive as the supercar world evolves.

It’s less museum and more living, breathing ecosystem—a reminder that Lamborghini isn’t just selling V-10s and V-12s, but an entire philosophy of how supercars should look, sound, and feel.

More Than a Car Brand

Adding another layer to the experience are Lamborghini’s long-time partners, representing everything from high-end fashion to advanced technology. Their presence isn’t just corporate sponsorship—it’s Lamborghini reinforcing that it operates in a broader luxury and performance universe. You’re not just buying a car; you’re buying into a lifestyle built around Italian craftsmanship, engineering, and design bravado.

A Rolling Manifesto

In the end, Lamborghini Arena 2026 is less about individual cars and more about what Lamborghini wants to be. It brings together owners, racers, engineers, designers, and fans in one place, tied together by the shared belief that supercars should be dramatic, loud, and unapologetically emotional.

For two days in May, Imola won’t just be a racetrack—it will be a full-scale Lamborghini statement. And judging by the numbers from the first edition, expect it to be one very crowded, very loud, and very unforgettable statement.

Source: Lamborghini