new bmw

BMW X1 spied at Nurburgring
BMW is hard at work on its new small SUV, the X1, and spy shooters have caught it during testing at Germany's famed Nürburgring.
No word on how fast this JV ute is running the 'Ring, but it looks like the concept seen last fall at the Paris motor show--which was fairly close to production guise.
The X1 will get the same mechanicals as the recently redone 3-series. The X1 launches in Europe in 2010 and is expected to arrive in the United States later in the year.
The X1 gets a bit of the X5's styling and is the first BMW ute to offer rear- or four-wheel drive. Look for four- and six-cylinder powerplants.
A sister car also is planned for Mini off the same underpinnings. As the name implies, the X1 becomes the entry BMW ute, while the X3 is expected to shift upmarket a bit.
BMW is always on the leading edge for new product. they just don't have recessions at their plants.

Mag Chloride-Bad Stuff

I own a '01 S-4 Audi that is about my favorite car of all times. We lived in the Vail Valley, Colorado for the first 3 years of the car's life-lots of nasty weather and lots of mag chloride on the roads. About a year ago, I had a pump of some sorts go out. The pump was located deep under the injection system, so getting to it was not easy or cheap. Once it was pulled, my mechanic in Denver noted that the plastic on the pump had deteriorated saying he had not seen this before. It was replaced. Not long after, I had another major plastic failure under the hood. More time and money. Then recently, while in Vail, I had a simple plastic T just fall apart. At the garage, the mechanic told me that this was common with cars subject to exposure to mag chloride. So all these failures are happening at once. I thought I had been pretty careful cleaning the engine compartment, but obviously I had not. Note that lots of cars use plastic components under the hood. So take some time to thoroughly clean this crude from under the hood and car.

World Engine

So the FIA, Max Mosley specifically, is talking about developing a "world engine". That means that every race car out there will have bascially some form of the same engine. No more Ferrari engine. No more Honda engine. etc etc etc. How about this quote:
"We're looking at the moment at a 'world engine' for 2013," Mosley said. "That's to say an engine that would work in turbocharged form for F1 and then all the way down to naturally aspirated form for the lesser categories and in a turbocharged or naturally aspirated form for the World Rally Championship."

They're even talking about using it in the IRL, maybe NASCAR. Who knows. I'm all for controlling thd cost of racing. F1 has gotten pretty absurd, but I think the challenge to the teams should be to develop their own cost effective engines. Establishing a budget for this would work as well. I just hate to see racing reduced to watching the same equipment compete. Racing is much more creative than this. That creativity translates to some pretty cool stuff for the street too. I'd like to see this continue.

Alfa Guy

I've located a really great Alfa spider. It looks to be original and low miles. It's a 1988 Quatrofilio which was a limited production, upscale version of the Veloce spider. It's silver with the red accented interior along with the optional hardtop. I've got to have this car. AT $6,800 bucks I think it's priced right, especially if I can get the price down closer to $6,000.
A few years back I bought a regular low miles Veloce spider for around $4500. I spent $2000 getting it squared away, but it was an all original '84 spider with 25,000 miles. After a little refurbishing, it looked practically new. Got it listed in the Barrett Jackson Auction, Jan of '06, and sold it for $16,500. Not a bad profit.
The trick with Alfas is to find a nice low mile one. Most have been run hard and neglected, so any time you can find one that is original and well maintained, it's the basis for a good buy. If you know of anyone that wants to sell their Alfa, let me know. I'm always interested. I'll pay a finders fee.

BrawnSupremacy rolls

Ross Brawn is my new hero. On to the Malaysian Gran Prix, and another win. What's really amazing is that Ross got Richard Branson to step up and help fund the effort. Branson always seems to show up at the most opportune time-the guy really has the midas touch. In his own words, " My life seems to be under a lucky star". So not only has Ross got the car, the team, the drivers, but also the sponsorship. I think that he's the new force in F1. The reality is, he's been the force in F1 for a number of years-just not as recognized.
After two races Ferrari and McLaren have, combined, 1 POINT. If you'd taken this bet to Las Vegas before the beginning of the season, you'd now be looking to buy the island right next to Branson's in the Caribbean.
Stay tuned-

BrawnSupremacy

Well I've loved cars and car related stuff my whole life. It's why I started the website, www.autopartsclearance.com. I just wanted to have a great place for everybody to buy and sell autoparts without it costing a king's ransom and have some fun chatting back and forth.

But what I really love is racing and F1 is my favorite. This weekend kicked off the season with the Australian GP. What a hoot!! Ross Brawn, the famous engineer for the former champ Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, has done what no one else has done. Taken over a F1 team, Honda, using their money to fund the purchase and created a car that simply is the best. Within a couple of weeks of firming up the deal(March 6th), Ross loaded up a couple of cars, headed for Melbourne and ran away with a 1-2 qualifier and a 1-2 finish. The last team to score a one-two on their debut was Mercedes-Benz in the 1954 French Grand Prix at Rheims. I'm an old Ferrari fan, and I loved the days when Ross and Michael just kicked butt on everyone. So I guess now, I'm a Brawn fan. And he's doing it with a couple of old dogs, Jensen Button and Rubin Barricello. I think Rubins is nearing 36 or 37-ancient in the world of F1. These guys didn't even know whether they had jobs until about three weeks ago. So here's to the start of a new season. Lots of action, new rules, great passing and the Brawn Supremacy!!

Auto Parts Clearance Party

We had a giant party for out launch of our new webpage.