BMW and Mercedes-Benz working on new four-cylinder engines for U.S.

Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTEC – Click above for high-res image gallery

Premium German automakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz are working on new four-cylinder engines for the U.S. market. The last time BMW offered an engine with fewer than six cylinders was back in 1999. Mercedes-Benz put a supercharged four-cylinder engine in the C230 and SLK230 back in 2005, but dropped those engines in favor of a range of naturally aspirated V6 powerplants.

In case you're wondering... yes, we've heard about this before. Late last year, BMW confirmed it was working on a new direct-injected and turbocharged four-cylinder engine that would make more power, get better fuel mileage and have lower emissions than its naturally aspirated six-cylinder sibling. All of that sounds great, but BMW's Jim O'Donnell says the automaker hasn't yet officially decided to bring the new four-cylinder to America. The final decision won't be made until future CAFE requirements are laid out.

Mercedes-Benz showed off a very nice 2.2L four-cylinder diesel engine in the E250 Bluetec concept from the New York Auto Show, and that engine may make an appearance in the automaker's C-Class or GLK compact SUV.

Mercedes-Benz pays $28.9m in fines for fuel efficiency crimes

According to the NHTSA, more than $37 million in fines were collected last year for cars sold in 2007 from manufacturers that failed to meet current CAFE standards. Of the six manufacturers that paid fines, Mercedes-Benz was hit the hardest, racking up an astounding $28.9 million bill that was paid in December. That's a huge figure, especially in this troubled automotive market, but it's actually a bit smaller than the $30.3 million fine paid by DaimlerChrysler the previous year -- a figure that still holds the record. Go Daimler!

Other marques that failed to meet CAFE requirements included Volkswagen, which was hit with a $4.5 million sum, along with Porsche and Maserati, both of which paid fees of $1.2 million and Ferrari, which managed to skate by with a relatively paltry $1.1 million fine.

With increasingly strict regulations expected in the near future, these fines don't exactly bode well for the manufacturers of higher-end luxury vehicles, and the fact that the timing for these requirements is still undecided makes it even tougher to plan for them.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Stirling Moss coming to Detroit

• • Only 75 units will be made with a price tag of 750,000 Euros.
• • 5.4L V8 Supercharged engine producing 650-hp.
• • 0 to 62 mph in 3.5 seconds; Top speed of 217 mph.

Things are starting to look better for the press and visitor of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. After all the spyshots we’ve seen, Mercedes-Benz announced today that it will unveil the 2009 Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Stirling Moss - named after racing legend - wait for it… Stirling Moss.

The car with no roof, side windows or windscreen, aka a speedster, is powered by a 5.4L V8 Supercharged engine making a total of 650-hp. 0 to 62 mph will come in 3.5 seconds with a top speed of 217 mph. The standard Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR makes 617-hp and accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 3.8 seconds with a top speed of 206 mph.

Mercedes-Benz will produce only 75 units prices at 750,000 Euros each. Existing SLR customers will have top priority on ordering the car.

2009 Mercedes-Benz McLaren Stirling Moss:

Mercedes to Unveil Concept BlueZero in Detroit - Previews 2010 B-Class

Mercedes-Benz, or to be exact, German car magazine Autobild, has released a series of sketches previewing the "Concept BlueZero" that will allegedly make its worldwide debut at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 11. The all-electric concept car is said to give us a first taste of the next generation Mercedes-Benz B-Class that's scheduled to hit dealerships in early 2010. The most anticipated version of the luxury 5-door hatch will be a fuel-cell powered variant which is expected to go on sale during 2010. According to Mercedes-Benz, it will be the first series production model to be offered with such a drivetrain.

The 2010 B-Class Fuel Cell model will be powered by a new generation of fuel-cell drive that is much more compact than other systems while at the same time offering better performance and, according to Mercedes, will be completely suitable for everyday use.

The electric motor used on the prototype B-Class Fuel-Cell develops a maximum output of 136HP and a torque figure of 320 Nm. Merc's engineers claim that the fuel cell model will give better acceleration figures than a B-Class fitted with a standard 2.0-liter petrol engine while consuming the equivalent of just 2.9 liters of fuel (diesel equivalent) per 100 km or 81.1 mpg US.

Via: Autobild

Tokyo Auto Show

Tokyo Auto Show

Bringing the bling and luxe looks was German auto giant Mercedes-Benz, which debuted the luxury concept car F700. The F700 is equipped with a 1.8-liter turbo-charged engine.
(Yoshikazu Tsuno, AFP/Getty Images)