A new video and photo tour of the BMW Design Works USA facility shows just how BMW gets many of its design ideas, how it brings them to life, and where it all gets done. And unlike many such inside stories, BMW takes us behind the scenes to see the actual studio, including their 3D prototyping mill.

Many studios are off-limits simply because of the nature of the work: you can’t have your competitors know what you’re working on before it’s ready to go public. But this studio, spartan in its layout but with ample room for thought and experimentation, lends itself to showing off just how BMW comes up with its ideas for everything from coffee makers to bicycles to cars.

The video is presented by Verena Kloos, the president of Design Works USA, headquartered in southern California.

Source: MotorAuthority

Yep, I did it again. Pleasing the BMW boys here. :eusa_danc

Once you train yourself to notice the details on cars you’ll always catch the good stuff.

Read more: autoblog

Received my Mercedes Classic a few days ago and just read some stories in it. This one struck me as really fascinating.

There used to be a popular German television show in the mid 1970s and early 1980s called Auf Achse (literal translation: On the move / on tour – but the word "Achse" can also refer to axle or shaft and thus something mechanically related to cars). The guy who owns the truck in the article below was just a kid back then but he loved the show and the 1975 Mercedes Typ 1632 truck that was one of the main characters.

The short version is that as soon as he was able to he searched the used truck market for a 1975 1632 Mercedes truck (320-hp 16-l V10 diesel). It had to be a 1975 model because the one in the show was a 1975 model too. After years of searching he finally found one in poor condition. But with some passion and the help of friends he restored it and had it painted in the same colors as the truck in the show.

Really cool if you ask me. This is PASSION, people.

TV SHOW: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auf_Achse_(Fernsehserie)

The Scans

New E-Class Coupe sits on older, cheaper C-Class platform
POSTED TODAY, 9:45 AM BY JEREMY WEBER

While the E-Class Sedan starts at $49,475 for the base E350 model, the E350 Coupe is slightly cheaper at $48,925

Mercedes Benz surprised many by offering its new E-Class Coupe for less money than the E-Class Sedan, with which it shares its styling, interior and positioning. After all, which carmaker makes a more exclusive coupe model and then sells it for less money than the sedan variant?

If you missed our original pricing story, the E-Class Sedan starts at $49,475 for the base E350, while the similar E350 Coupe is slightly cheaper at $48,925.

It appears that Mercedes had some method to its pricing madness, however, and not purely because it wanted to hit its rivals by undercutting them in price. It turns out that while the new E-Class Coupe borrows its svelte styling from the E-Class Sedan, underneath the handsome exterior sits the smaller and cheaper C-Class platform.

This certainly explains why Mercedes can charge less for their E-Class Coupe than the Sedan, but pricing wasn’t the only factor behind the decision to use the C-Class platform. Speaking with Automotive News, Mercedes U.S. chief Ernst Lieb explained that the older C-Class platform results in "a stiffer car with a bit more performance".

The news also follows earlier missives from Mercedes about the reason for dropping the previous CLK class of vehicles, which like the new E-Class Coupe were also based on the less expensive C-Class platform. The axing of the CLK was thought to be a sign that Mercedes would be using the E-Class Sedan’s platform but instead the use of the C-Class platform harks back to how the company created its original CLK range of cars – essentially, the whole change was just an exercise in nameplate swapping.

Source: New E-Class Coupe sits on older, cheaper C-Class platform – [2010 Mercedes Benz E-Class Coupe] – MotorAuthority – Car news, reviews, spy shots