Tag Archives: BMW

News

Skytop Proved BMW Can Sell Dreams—Now It Needs to Build One

BMW didn’t need the Skytop.

That’s what made it matter.

It wasn’t the fastest BMW ever built. It wasn’t the most technologically advanced. It wasn’t practical, affordable, or scalable. What it was, however, was a half-million-euro admission that someone in Munich still knows what a dream looks like.

A two-seat, open-top grand tourer with a removable hardtop you can stash in the trunk is the kind of idea accountants normally murder before lunch. But BMW built it anyway—50 hand-assembled cars at €500,000 each—and every one of them sold. The Skytop didn’t just prove there was money in ultra-low-volume exotica. It proved BMW’s board was finally willing to say yes to Adrian van Hooydonk’s sketchbook after years of politely saying no.

Then came the Speedtop, and the message got even louder.

Seventy units. Same price. Same glorious twin-turbo V8. But now the body was a shooting brake—one of the rarest, most style-driven silhouettes in the entire automotive world, and one BMW had never dared to put into production before. With its long, sweeping roofline dropping into a muscular rear haunch, the Speedtop looked like something a 1960s Italian coachbuilder might have dreamed up after a very good lunch.

Inside, BMW took what the Skytop started and went further. Better materials. More craftsmanship. Less “concept car” and more “bespoke luxury object.” Both cars run the M8’s S63 V8, which feels like a miracle in an industry currently obsessed with turning everything into a rolling battery pack.

So now the question isn’t whether BMW will keep going. Of course it will. These things sold out before most people even knew they existed.

The real question is: what should come next?

Not another open-top. Not another limited-run shooting brake. The logical next step is sitting right there, practically begging to be built.

BMW needs a grand touring coupe.

Not an M car. Not a Nürburgring hero. A proper, front-engine, long-hooded, two-door luxury GT—something that can roll up to a five-star hotel in Monaco looking like it owns the place, then rip across the Alps without breaking a sweat. The territory occupied by cars like the Bentley Continental GT, Aston Martin DB12, and Ferrari Roma.

BMW has never truly played there.

And BMW, by itself, probably still shouldn’t. A €500,000 BMW coupe sounds absurd—until you remember that BMW doesn’t stand alone anymore.

It owns ALPINA.

And ALPINA changes everything.

ALPINA has always been BMW’s parallel universe. Where M is about lap times, aggression, and tire smoke, ALPINA is about refinement, distance, and dignity. Their engines are tuned for smooth, effortless thrust instead of top-end drama. Their suspensions are built for autobahn hours, not track-day heroics. Their interiors have long been among the best in the business, with leather quality that can embarrass brands twice the price.

So imagine a bespoke, ultra-low-volume ALPINA grand touring coupe built on the same philosophical foundation as Skytop and Speedtop.

Picture a long-hooded, fastback GT with proportions that feel timeless rather than trendy. Elegant but muscular. Athletic without being aggressive. The ALPINA cues would be subtle and confident: forged multi-spoke wheels, a heritage paint color exclusive to the model, ALPINA lettering integrated into the design instead of slapped on as a decal.

Under the hood, the S68 twin-turbo V8 would get the full ALPINA treatment. Not necessarily more power—just better power. More linear. More cultured. A torque curve that feels like it was designed for crossing countries, not chasing lap records. The exhaust would be deep and rich, not loud and juvenile.

And the cabin? That’s where ALPINA would really earn its keep.

Think full-grain leather everywhere your eyes and hands go. Hand-finished details. The brogue-style stitching BMW introduced with Skytop finally living in a space where it makes complete sense. Open-pore wood, brushed aluminum, or whatever material a half-million-euro customer feels like specifying that day.

This is the crucial part: the price would make sense.

BMW has already proven it can sell €500,000 cars with roundels on the hood. Add ALPINA’s brand equity, and suddenly that number feels not just justified, but expected. ALPINA buyers are used to paying more for subtlety, craftsmanship, and a different kind of performance.

Build 50 to 70 of them. Sell them by invitation. Keep the exclusivity intact.

And just like that, BMW’s luxury architecture snaps into place. Rolls-Royce sits at the top, offering chauffeur-driven opulence. ALPINA becomes the driver’s alternative: sporting, elegant, and deeply luxurious without being ostentatious.

The Skytop proved BMW could do this.
The Speedtop proved it wasn’t a fluke.

An ALPINA grand touring coupe would prove BMW understands what it has unlocked.

And if you think Adrian van Hooydonk’s design team hasn’t already sketched it, you haven’t been paying attention. Some ideas are simply too good to stay in the notebook forever.

Source: BMW

News

BMW and ZF Bet Big on the Automatic: Why the 8-Speed Isn’t Going Anywhere

For years, the industry has been loudly preparing for a future without gears. EVs don’t need them, after all, and even hybrids are often pitched as smoother, simpler, and more software-driven. But BMW and ZF Friedrichshafen just dropped a very loud mechanical mic on that narrative.

The two companies have signed a multi-billion-euro contract that locks BMW into ZF’s 8HP eight-speed automatic transmission until the end of the 2030s—and not just as a legacy carryover. This deal is about evolving the automatic gearbox into something that works just as well in electrified cars as it does in traditional gasoline-powered ones.

In other words, the automatic isn’t dying. It’s getting smarter.

BMW’s Quietly Radical Decision

While some automakers are sprinting toward fully electric lineups, BMW continues to play a long game. The company has been clear that internal-combustion engines, mild hybrids, and plug-in hybrids will remain part of its portfolio well into the next decade. That requires a transmission that can do more than just shuffle ratios—it has to integrate seamlessly with electric motors, regenerative braking systems, and increasingly strict emissions rules.

Enter ZF’s 8HP.

This gearbox is already one of the industry’s most widespread units, used by everyone from BMW and Audi to Jeep and Rolls-Royce. But the next generation will be engineered specifically for the awkward middle age of the car industry—the phase where gasoline engines and electric motors have to coexist under the same hood.

Three Big Engineering Goals

ZF and BMW are steering the 8HP’s future along three main paths.

First, efficiency and emissions. The new versions will reduce internal friction, improve thermal management, and better coordinate with hybrid systems to squeeze out every possible gram of CO₂.

Second, performance across hybrid layouts. Whether it’s a 48-volt mild hybrid, a full plug-in system, or a traditional engine, the 8HP will be designed to handle electric torque fills, engine restarts, and blended propulsion without sacrificing BMW’s trademark throttle response.

And third, future-proofing. Regulations will keep tightening, and customer demand will keep shifting. ZF is effectively being paid to make sure this transmission platform doesn’t become obsolete halfway through the 2030s.

Why This Matters to Drivers

For BMW buyers, this is quietly excellent news.

The ZF 8HP is already one of the best automatics on the market—quick, smooth, durable, and far better than most dual-clutch gearboxes in daily driving. By continuing to refine it instead of replacing it with something unproven, BMW ensures that its future gas and hybrid cars will keep the crisp, confident shifting enthusiasts expect.

More importantly, it means BMW isn’t treating the next decade as a technological stopgap. Instead of rushing into half-baked solutions, the company is doubling down on a proven piece of hardware and evolving it for an electrified world.

In a time when many automakers are discarding everything mechanical in favor of software, BMW and ZF are making a different kind of bet: that great engineering still matters, even when electrons start sharing the workload.

And for drivers who still enjoy how a well-tuned automatic feels when you put your foot down, that’s very good news.

Source: BMW

NEW CARS

The Next BMW 5-Series Refresh Won’t Go Full Neue Klasse

BMW is already deep into development of a mid-cycle refresh for the current G60-generation 5-Series, but if the latest camouflaged prototypes are telling the truth, anyone expecting a full Neue Klasse makeover might want to temper their expectations. Instead of a radical reinvention, the 2027 5-Series appears to be heading for something far more conservative—a design tweak rather than a design reset.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The current 5-Series is only a couple of years old, and while its styling didn’t exactly light the internet on fire, it hasn’t aged poorly either. What BMW seems to be planning is a light visual refresh designed to keep the car competitive without stepping on the toes of the all-new Neue Klasse models that will follow later in the decade.

Until BMW starts pulling camouflage off its test mules, we’re left reading tea leaves. But digital artists have already filled in the blanks. And the results range from cautious to borderline sci-fi.

One of the more realistic takes comes from Nikita Chuyko, whose rendering imagines a refreshed M5 Touring that doesn’t stray far from today’s shape—but sharpens it up in key areas. The biggest change is up front, where the current split-headlamp arrangement is replaced by narrower, simpler LED units. They’re cleaner and more modern, though arguably a bit less expressive than the existing setup.

The kidney grilles also get toned down. They’re still unmistakably BMW, but smaller and less dominant, trading shock value for something closer to elegance. For fans who still haven’t warmed up to BMW’s recent grille phase, that alone might count as a win.

There’s also a redesigned front bumper, revised side intakes, and lightly reshaped front fenders—enough to make the facelift obvious to enthusiasts without forcing BMW to reinvent the sheet metal.

Chuyko also explored a more aggressive direction for Kolesa, previewing what an M5 could look like if BMW leans harder into its Neue Klasse design language. Inspired by the 2023 Vision Neue Klasse sedan concept, one version features a full-width horizontal panel stretching across the nose, with the headlights integrated into either end. It’s a modernized callback to classic BMWs like the E30 3-Series and E24 6-Series—and, frankly, one of the more tasteful faces BMW has previewed in years.

Another version keeps the Neue Klasse headlamps but reintroduces a compact double-kidney grille, blending the future with BMW’s traditional front-end layout. It’s the kind of compromise we wouldn’t be surprised to see BMW adopt in the real world.

Inside, things are murkier. BMW’s new Panoramic iDrive system, which debuts on the iX3, is almost certainly coming to future models—but given how restrained the exterior refresh looks, a full interior overhaul seems unlikely for this mid-cycle update. Expect software updates and subtle interface changes rather than a dashboard revolution.

Under the hood, though, the stakes are much higher.

The current M5 uses BMW’s S68 twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 paired with an electric motor and an eight-speed automatic, forming a plug-in hybrid system that delivers a formidable 717 horsepower. But Europe’s looming Euro 7 emissions rules forced BMW to cut the V8’s output from 577 hp to 537 hp on EU-spec cars. BMW made up the difference by boosting the electric motor, keeping the system total the same—but the V8 itself took a hit.

The facelift could give BMW an opportunity to claw that power back. If the company restores the V8’s original output while keeping the revised electric motor, the M5’s total system power could climb even higher. Given the ongoing horsepower war in this segment, don’t be surprised if BMW takes that route.

Timing-wise, the refreshed 5-Series is expected to debut later this year, hitting showrooms as a 2027 model. The M5 sedan and M5 Touring should follow not long after, likely arriving for the 2028 model year.

In other words, don’t expect a design revolution—but do expect BMW to quietly sharpen its most important luxury sedan, making sure the 5-Series stays fresh while the brand’s Neue Klasse future waits in the wings.

Source: Kelsonik