Auto News 5

BMW has redesigned its roadster for 2009, and the change amounts to comprehensive maturation, if not quite the obvious transformation from newborn Z3 to adolescent Z4. The new two-seater retains the name Z4, but it adopts two clumsy new model designations, the sDrive30i and sDrive35i. You'll notice there's no M roadster anymore, and word is that none is forthcoming. Nor will we see a return of the historically slow-selling hatchback coupe variant.

At the 2009 Geneva motor show, rumor had it that BMW's 5-series Gran Turismo concept, a shapely convergence of sedan, wagon, and hatchback, was a good look at a forthcoming production model. Hindsight proves those rumors true-you're looking at the production-intent 2010 BMW 5-series Gran Turismo, which mirrors the concept down to the awkward "GT" badge on its rump.

Months in Fleet: Three
Mileage to Date: 13,542

The arrival of the controversial X5M and X6M might be confirmation that BMW has dumped every engineering principle that made its M cars so distinctive and consistently good for the last thirty years. Until now, all M cars have had a high-revving, normally aspirated engine, a manual or automated manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive, and a sedan or sports car shell. You won't find a single one of these qualities in M's latest efforts.

Just like you, we always want to know what's coming next from Detroit, Tokyo, Stuttgart, Munich, Los Angeles, and all the other places where automotive engineers and designers dream and scheme on our behalf. Car companies, of course, are loath to share information on new products lest their competitors try to copy them--or you decide not to buy the cars they already have on dealer lots. Car companies, though, are simply groups of people, and some of them have a hard time keeping secrets. So, we poke, we prod, we cajole, and we uncover information that becomes the basis for our annual Sneak Preview issue. As always, some of our information is educated guesswork based on hints, insinuations, hunches. Make no mistake, though, these cars are on their way, even though details may change. Ladies and gentlemen: our list of 136 cars coming over the next few years...