BMW hogs the headlines this week, while Harris gets distracted by a Dangel and we enjoy some hot Jags

BMW has been grabbing a lot of our attention this week on PistonHeads but we thought we’d kick this weekly round-up off with a shot of something definitely not built in Bavaria. Find out more below…

BMW uber alles
You’d be forgiven for thinking PH had been sponsored by BMW this week, given how many stories had the famous blue propeller at their core. Not so, but there’s been plenty to talk about this week, from a temptingly cheap E46 M3 Spotted to the contention by Dan that, for all our love of manual cars, in the M3’s case we shouldn’t be sorry it’ll be DCT only next time around. Speaking of which there’s been much talk of the M3’s successor, the M4. Pictures leaked ahead of the Monterey debut for the supposed concept before official ones and a vid were put out there soon after. Meanwhile we checked in on our progress with ‘our’ M135i, comparing notes with PH owners and exploring the surprising realities of what they paid for their cars. Even Shed got in on the act.

There’s more to life
In case you feared a BMW takeover of PH we have been writing about other stuff too! Dan paid a visit to Cosworth and discovered a fascinating hive of activity staffed by a bunch of proper petrolheads. Indeed, one of them left his Audi Quattro parked outside and was swiftly recruited as a Carpool contributor! We followed that up with an astonishing video of Jari-Matti Latvala out for a go with a Group 4 Quattro in a historic rally in Finland. Just in case you wondered what rally drivers do with their weekends off. Prepare to be amazed. Likewise with the sheer speed of fellow Finn Allan Simonsen with an onboard in his Ferrari around Bathurst, given added poignancy following his death this year at Le Mans. Another dignified memorial to a driver killed in the line of duty also took this place at the ‘ring, Stefan Bellof’s legendary status there recorded with his then team-mate Derek Bell driving his 956 to the new ‘Stefan Bellof S’. A worthy Pic Of The Week followed.

Incoming!
The industry may be on holiday and the news feeds quiet ahead of the Frankfurt show (don’t expect the peace to last) but the M4 wasn’t the only new car on our radar. An as-yet unknown manufacturer has apparently signed up to Gordon Murray’s fascinating city car project and we pondered the possible return of the Suzuki Cappuccino off the back of the tie-up with Caterham. Mercedes announced the GLA crossover – the third variant off the A-Class platform – while Hennessey slung two turbos on the 458 Spider and let rip with 700-odd horsepower. Yeehaw. News from Pebble Beach included a new Bentley Mulsanne limited edition and, hot off the press, the Spyder version of the Spyker Venator.

Team PH speaks
Harris is on his holidays so we dug out a classic video – and thread – from the archives to fill his regular Wednesday night video slot. En vacances or not, Harris filed a story based on some wine-fuelled browsing of French classified adverts and then unleashed a stunning video of him in a Pagani Huayra as part of the promo campaign for Codemasters’ Grid2. Having courted controversy with his M3 story, Dan shared a Dream Drive to the Nurburgring while Matt tried out Kia’s impressive Pro_Cee’d GT here on UK roads. Finally Sean Carson joined his dad for a bit of track training, PH2 style, with British bike racing star Mike ‘Spike’ Edwards – read what they learned here.

Coming soon:

• All the Frankfurt stories
• Porsche 991 Turbo drive
• PH goes sprinting in a GT86
• Alpina B3 Bi-Turbo driven