Mansory Gives The Bentley Mulsanne Some Extra Muscle

But it’s still slower than a Bentley Mulsanne Speed, somehow.

Mansory’s extravagant customization jobs can divide opinions, but its latest creation is surprisingly restrained. After souping up the Bentley Bentayga, the tuner has now given the mighty Mulsanne some extra muscle. The exterior has been enhanced with naked carbon fiber details such as a new front bumper lip spoiler and fog lamps surround. Elsewhere, the luxury limo has been fitted with carbon-fiber side skirts, a subtle trunk lid spoiler, a rear bumper diffuser, and a set of massive 22-inch light forged wheels with “ultra-high performance” 285/35Z tires for both axles.

Of course, the upgrades continue under the hood. Mansory has managed to massage the Mulsanne’s 6.75-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 engine to produce 585 horsepower at 4,000 rpm compared to the 512 hp the standard car offers. Combined with an obscene 811 lb-ft of torque at 2,300 rpm, the Mansory-tuned Mulsanne will sprint from 0-62 mph in just five seconds. Top speed has also been bumped from 184 mph to 190 mph. For a luxury limo that weighs 2.6 tons, that’s mightily impressive. Having said that, Bentley’s own Mulsanne Speed can achieve the same top speed and sprint to 62 mph point one of a second faster.

A marginal difference, granted, but you would expect an aftermarket tuned car to surpass anything the original manufacturer can offer. No photos of the interior options have been supplied, but Mansory says that customers can customize the cabin with a bespoke mix of brushed aluminum, bare carbon fiber, and burled or high-gloss piano surfaces. These details can be ordered in any color to “perfectly complement the leather on the dashboard and seats.”

BMW Gives Us A Good Look At The X7 SUV, Confirms Reveal This Week

Look at that pretty glass roof framing all four seats.

BMW can't seem to stop hitting home runs. It followed the 8 Series Concept, a car already dripping with sex appeal, with the Z4 roadster to give us a taste of where its sights are0 set for at least the next generation or so. However, the German automaker is far from done, especially when it finds itself in the middle of a pivotal year where it can either reclaim its sales crown from Mercedes or let the Silver Star stay ahead. To advertise just how hard it intends to fight, BMW USA just tweeted a teaser image.

The picture, an overhead shot of a four-seat vehicle with a glass roof sitting on what appears to be a helipad, is paired with a caption that reads, “We’re redefining luxury with something big on September 8th. Stay tuned.” Of course, it immediately becomes necessary to dig into the message and rip apart the photo for any evidence of what BMW could be planning. Fortunately, we don't have to look too hard to spot some obvious clues, starting with the fact that the vehicle sits exactly four occupants and no more. That rules out supercars, sports cars, standard run-of-the-mill sedans (because these come with five seats), and new takes on current SUVs in the lineup due to the same lack of a rear bench seat.

The glass roof and four-seat configuration gives us a clear message that BMW is working on something with more luxury than capability. Something like, say, the X7 SUV that’s supposed to compete with the Audi Q8. Motor Trend took to Photoshop in order to mess with the image in search of further clues. There it found a Y-brace holding up the glass roof and the infotainment consoles straight out of the 7 Series. That top-tier equipment combined with the four seats we know will be featured on the X7, compounded by the fact we know the range-topping X will be revealed at Frankfurt, all points to this being a confirmation that BMW will reveal the X7 on September 8th. Time to get excited. If you're rich that is.

Russian Government Gives Out BMW Crossovers To Olympic Medal Winners

Following the conclusion of the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Russian government rewards its team.

During a ceremony held last Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev presented each gold medalist with a BMW X5 xDrive30d, the silver medalists were given an X4 xDrive 30d, and the bronze winners took home the less powerful X4 xDrive 20d. Russian Olympians brought home a haul of 17 medals, 2 gold, 6 silvers, and 9 bronze medals from the 2018 games, however, they were forced to compete as Olympic Athletes from Russia instead of an actual Russian Olympic team.

This was after the International Olympic Committee officially banned the Russian Olympic Federation following a state-sponsored doping program. In total, 47 of the special white BMWs were handed out, largely due to the gold-medal winning men’s hockey team and silver-medal winning figure skating squad, who were also recipients of lavish praise from Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, in addition to their new crossovers. The cars were presented by the Russian Olympic Foundation and were supplied by BMW Russia from its facility in Kaliningrad. "We are proud that the Russian Olympians Foundation has again chosen the BMW brand as a partner of the ceremony.

“Winter sports traditionally reflect the philosophy and values of the BMW Group, and over the years the concern has sponsored sports disciplines such as biathlon, cross-country skiing, bobsleigh and luge,” said BMW Group General Director Stefan Toichert. The Russian government has gifted BMWs to medal winning athletes in the past. Controversy ensued following the 2016 summer games in Rio when one of the cars showed up for sale online just days after they were presented.

BMW Gives The X2 The Power It Deserves With New M35i Trim

A 306 horsepower four-cylinder sounds good to us.

For a while now, we knew that BMW was set to reveal a more powerful version of its X2 Sports Activity Coupe, rumored to be called the X2 M35i. Up until now, the only power option in the X2 was the 28i, which was powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder producing 228 horsepower going out to front- or all-wheel-drive. Now BMW has finally revealed the X2 M35i in all its semi-M glory.

As with models like the M240i or M550i, the X2 M35i isn't a fully-fledged M car, but it has been tweaked with plenty of M Performance parts. The 2.0-liter engine now produces 302 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque going out through an eight-speed automatic to standard all-wheel-drive. With launch control, 0-60 now takes just 4.9 seconds, which is a big improvement over the 28i, which takes 6.6 seconds.

In addition to the power upgrades, the X2 M235i has also been fitted with an adaptive M Sport suspension and M Sport front differential. One of our biggest criticisms of the X2 was the lackluster steering feel, but BMW says this M-tuned version features an M Sport steering system that delivers more feedback to the driver.

Visually there are a few styling cues to set this apart from a standard X2. Larger 19-inch M Sport light alloy wheels are standard and 20-inch M Sport wheels are optional. On the interior, BMW has given this X2 exclusive M Sport seats that really dress up the interior and make it feel special. This new X2 looks like it will fix many of our criticisms of the base car and we can't wait to get behind the wheel and drive it.