BMW Officially Confirms 2.0-Liter Turbo for Z4 and 5-Series

Earlier this week, BMW unveiled its new 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine which will effectively replace the firm's classic, naturally aspirated straight-six. The force-fed four banger made its debut on the X1 compact crossover, but today, the Bavarian automaker officially confirmed that the new engine will be available in other models "such as the BMW Z4 and 5 Series in due course." While BMW did not give out a launch date, expect to see both models towards the end of the year or early 2012, depending on the market.

In the X1 28xDrive, the new turbocharged twin-scroll engine churns out 245hp and 350Nm torque from just 1,250rpm, with BMW claiming that the four-cylinder unit is lighter and more compact than the equivalent six-cylinder engine, while also returning 16 per cent better fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions.

China Rumors: BMW to Team up with Brilliance and Develop Local Market EV Based on 5-Series

BMW is making plans with its Chinese partner Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. to develop a new fully electric model designed specifically for the local market, according to Autonews Europe citing a report from the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper.

The report added that the EV will be built on the platform of the current BMW 5-Series, a long-wheel base version of which is assembled at the German firm's plant in Shenyang, China, and that a pre-production concept study will make its world premiere at an auto show in China sometime this year. No other details were given about the electric model.

BMW 5-Series GT Spotted by Reader in New Jersey

Carscoop reader Kenneth Helman caught these photos of the forthcoming BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo in a parking lot somewhere in New Jersey. Even though the Bavarian firm has already released a slew of official shots as well as initial specifications, for some reason the automaker chose to mask the BMW logo - as if anyone could confuse the 5-meter (196-in.) long crossover for something else...

BMW's newest addition to the 5-Series range will debut at this fall's Frankfurt motor show and go on sale in most parts of the world by the end of year.

Depending on the market, the liftback crossover will be offered with a choice of three power plants, a 3.0-liter twin turbocharged inline six petrol with 306HP for the 535i GT, a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 petrol delivering 407HP in the 550i GT and a 3.0-liter straight-six diesel with 245HP in the 530d GT.

We thank Kenneth again for the shots, and remember that if you find any scoops of your own, don't hesitate to send them our way.

G-Power’s BMW M5 HURRICANE GS is the World's Fastest LPG-Powered Car

After the standard BMW M5 and M6 Hurricane editions, BMW tuning specialists G-Power has now released a more eco-friendly iteration of the same package, in the form of the LPG-powered Hurricane M5 GS.

The German firm's engineers performed several modification to the M5 and M6 Hurricane's 5.0-liter bi-supercharged V10 engine which now comes with one fully sequential five-cylinder LPG system per cylinder bank. G-Power says the benefits of LPG fuel are both economical and ecological in nature, as LPG is not only around 50 percent less expensive per liter than petrol, it also reduces CO2 emissions by about 15 percent.

As an added bonus, the V10 is slightly more powerful than its gasoline counterpart producing 660-horsepower (+25HP) and 650Nm of peak torque at 5,500 rpm.

The M5 Hurricane GS can go from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in only 4.6 seconds and reach the 200 km/h (124 mph) mark in 11.4 seconds, while topping out at 333 km/h (207 mph), which, according to the tuning firm, makes it the world’s fastest LPG-powered car.

For improved stability and handling, the sports saloon has been fitted with a G-Power RS coil-over sport suspension, high performance braking system and lighter, 20-inch Silverstone Clubsport alloys, clad in 255/35 front and 285/30 rear tires.

U-SPY: Carscoop Reader Snags a Fleet of BMW Prototypes in Austria

The BMW Group is quite busy these days as the Bavarian automaker is developing a raft of new models, ranging from the upcoming Megacity electric-vehicle and the MINI Coupe and Roadster, to the next generation of the 3-Series and the production version of the Vision ED concept sports car.

Carscoop reader Andras from Hungary was vacationing in Obertauern, Austria when he spotted this convoy of BMWs comprising of both masked prototypes and normal production cars, including a sedan in full body cladding. Check out Andras' photos and story after the jump.

Andras Deak's Scoop:

"I am currently in Obertauern, Austria for my holidays and discovered a small parking place dedicated to BMW. I walked there to check the cars and took some pictures.

There were 4 "cooling boxes" for cars. At the parking area I recognized a heavily camouflaged next-gen BMW 3-Series (possibly a hybrid version), the brand new X3 with some light camouflage (also possible hybrid version) and several 5-Series... Note that all the cars were plugged into something which looked like an electric charger to me.. Maybe a plug-in hybrid?

The interior of the next-gen 3-Series looks like all the new BMWs these days. It looked like a small 7-Series from the inside. The navigation screen is huge. I could see several fingerprints on the screen (maybe touchscreen?), but also an iDrive controller..."

Köszönöm for the pictures Andras!