BMW’s looking to take on the newest Audi RS6 by producing a boosted version of the M5’s V10 motor, which sources say should make more than 600 HP. The new engine is said to be a development of the twin-turbo 4.4L V8 from the X6M, which makes 564 HP already. With two extra cylinders and the M division’s careful caressing, the newest M5 should be more than a match for the RS6’s bi-turbo V10, which makes 580 HP currently.

Just like some revolutionaries from a couple hundred years ago who froze their asses mostly to death one winter in nearby Valley Forge, modern-day agitators against the regime of boredom currently gripping the suburbs of Philadelphia have adopted guerrilla entertainment tactics to fight back. We’re not talking about killing Hessians on Christmas – we’re talking here about Guerrilla Drive-In, the secret entertainment phenomenon that beams its revolutionary propaganda right from the sidecar of a BMW R100/7 motorcycle!!! Want to see Repo Man in a junkyard with strangers? This could be the ticket!

The MINI E UK Research Consortium has won a £25m grant from the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board in order to launch a 12-month field study of the MINI E’s real-world sustainability. Spearheaded by MINI’s parent company, BMW Group, the MINI E UK Research Consortium is comprised of several corporate, academic, and government organizations, including energy provider Scottish and Southern Energy, Oxford Brookes University’s Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), as well as both the Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council.

Joining similar projects already underway in the U.S. and Germany, the UK test project will bring BMW Group one step closer towards achieving Strategy Number ONE: mass-producing the electric plug-in MINI E within the next five years.

Everyone who knows anything about those fine Bavarian sportscars with the roundel on the hood knows that if your car sports an M-badge, it’s usually backed up by a seriously good motor and a lot of tweaking. That is, unless you’re either a poser who shaved your 318i and slapped a M3 logo on, or this distressing styling package from our Bayerische friends. Take a regular 7-Series, add “unique styling accessories” like new front and rear bumpers, more chrome, and … wait for it … M-Design wheels, and you get this.

Image: Autoblog

BMW is doing a round of upgrades to the European-spec versions of its excellent twin-turbo 3.0L diesel engines, which we only just received in the States in late 2008. Two main technologies have been updated to allow more power and efficiency. First, the common-rail fuel injection system now supports a whopping 29,000 PSI injector pressure, up 6,000 PSI over the last version, allowing greater control over the mixture. The turbos have also been tweaked to scavenge power more efficiently. What does it all add up to?

2009 Volkswagen Tiguan

No, not all crossovers are created equal. Some are more car than truck, and most are essentially more wagon than anything else. And then there’s the Tiguan which Volkswagen has taken great pains in trying to guarantee that it is more than just a miniature version of the Touraeg. Here are the results.

It’s neat how once somebody somewhere does something really cool, everybody else starts doing it. Like how everybody ripped off Anvil after the Japan tour in the 1980s. Do we think about Anvil anymore? Not until that movie comes out at least.

The Audi R8 set a new industry standard for automotive design. And Idries Noah has whipped up an imaginary BMW competitor. Drawing inspiration from the Ferrari Dino, 250GTO, and BMW’s own M1, Noah’s burly coupe would pack a ferocious 540hp 5.0L V10 in its center and lay down the law in the Motherland.

Check the gallery for Hi-Res pictures

In a move two steps away from groveling, BMW placed 7,000 fliers on cars in employee parking lots asking those who don’t already own a BMW to please consider purchasing one. If that doesn’t work BMW is going to try 84,000 roses (a dozen for each windshield) and will likely consider standing outside employee houses in the rain holding up a boom-box blaring “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel, or something by Falco.

If I were a BMW driver I would be pretty pissed by now. A preponderance of quirky crossovers is slowly diluting the brand which once stood for the “Ultimate Driving Machine”. The X3 is entirely too small and only for those that can’t swing an X5. There, I said it. Why in the hell make one even smaller then? With little to no real utility in “CUVs”, let’s just call this what it is, a sedan styling exercise for SUV fetishists. Lucky for few, World Car Fans has rounded up some X1 photos at the ‘Ring (for some reason). Hit the jump for the target of my mockery.

California resident Peter Trepp made a ripple in the hybrid world today when he became the first person on U.S. soil to take delivery of the new plug-in hybrid MINI E. Although singularly noted for his possession of the flagship MINI E, Trepp’s sinister quest to sacrifice as much performance as possible in the name of fuel efficiency will not be undertaken alone. Hand selected by BMW, a total of 450 participants (including Trepp) will receive their exclusive U.S.-spec MINI E’s this week, kicking off a year-long field study designed to gauge the MINI E’s viability in a real-world setting.