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German Car Enthusiasts

BMW is the first automaker to integrate an online music selection service into a production car.

(Credit:James Martin/CNET)

MyiPhone, with 8GB of memory, can hold about 1,700 tracks. A BMW’s internal hard drive has room for almost 3,000 tracks. Now, BMW’s new Mog integration puts 14 million tracks at a driver’s fingertips.

I sat in the driver’s seat of a 2012 BMW 650i, with Robert Passaro, the head of BMW’s App Center, in the passenger seat. But we weren’t going anywhere. Our entire focus was on the stereo.

Passaro slotted aniPhone 4S into the BMW’s cradle, nestled in the console compartment. Tapping the Mog icon on the phone, the app launched, but showed a custom graphic with the BMW logo instead of the standard Mog iPhone interface.

On the wide, 10.2-inch LCD mounted in the 650i’s dashboard, a Mog entry asserted itself among the list of onboard audio sources. with thecar‘s iDrive controller, I selected it and was treated to a screen showing cover art for the current track, along with a set of icons on the left for search, track skipping, marking a track as a favorite, and reviewing the current playlist. The icons of this screen were all arranged in the familiar BMW iDrive format.

BMW integrated the Mog app with its latest cars late last year, making it the first automaker to integrate an online, on-demand music selection service. Many automakers have or are starting to integrate Pandora, but that service uses a radio paradigm. Similar to Rhapsody and Spotify, Mog lets you pick specific artists and albums.

Using iDrive, I chose the search option and was given the options of search for an artist, album, or specific song. I was pleased to see this particular screen, because I’ve long complained about BMW’s standard iPod integration, which forces you to go through a set of filters to dig through your music library. The type of search in the Mog interface made much more sense.

Selecting artist search, another screen came up showing BMW’s standard rotary letter selector. I inwardly groaned, as it is very tedious turning the dial around to find each letter. It is actually worse than the old rotary phones, as those only had nine digits. But as I began selecting the letters in the artist name Dr. Dog, a list on the right of the screen immediately began to populate with suggestions. By the time I had entered D and R, Dr. Dog appeared on the list. that wasn’t so bad after all.

Once I had a track queued up, Passaro pointed me to the Options menu, where I was able to tell Mog whether to continue playing every song it could find from Dr. Dog, or mix in tracks from what it thinks are similar artists. The similar artists option makes it a more Pandora-like stream, so I wouldn’t be forced to search for a new artist when I got bored with Dr. Dog.

Another icon, which I think is supposed to represent books on a shelf, led to other Mog music lists, such as Editors’ Picks and new Releases. both of these were welcome for exploring new music, especially when I could not think of a particular artist I wanted to hear.

Spending a little time driving around and listening to the Mog stream, I was not all that impressed with the audio quality. I switched back and forth between music stored on an iPhone and the Mog stream, and the latter was noticeably inferior. Mog streams music in AAC format at 64kbps to the phone by default, which is just enough to be listenable. The high quality of the stereo system in the 650i probably made the compression more obvious.

When using Mog’s Web interface on a computer, the music is streamed at 320Kbps. There is a setting on the iPhone app to switch to the higher bit rate, but even 64Kbps would challenge most 2GB data caps for a heavy listener.

For now, BMW only supports Mog and Pandora integration on the iPhone, although the company is working on Android integration. and the system will only work in BMW models that have been updated to read music digitally off an iPhone.

<a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-57367624-48/take-a-tour-of-bmws-new-mog-online-music-system/tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-57367624-48/take-a-tour-of-bmws-new-mog-online-music-system/Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:02:45 GMT”>Take a tour of BMW’s new Mog online music system

And if history is any indicator, 2012 could hold even loftier achievements for the company’s one and only U.S. vehicle manufacturing facility.

In 2010, BMW laid the groundwork for this year’s boom by completing an additional $1 billion expansion to make room for production of the next generation X3 sports activity vehicle in addition to the X5, X6 and their variants.

In November of this year, the X3 broke the 100,000-unit sales mark and helped catapult the company’s global sales to their highest point ever.

Spartanburg-based BMW Manufacturing Co. spokesman Max Metcalf said 2011 was the company’s most productive year by far, with more than 270,000 vehicles manufactured. Official production numbers will be released after Jan. 1, he said.

“We had our most productive year in South Carolina,” Metcalf said. “There continues to be strong global appeal and demand for our three vehicles and their variants. we look forward to that continuing next year.”

Metcalf said at least 70 percent of the vehicles produced at the plant this year were exported primarily through the Port of Charleston to 130 countries around the world.

BMW announced in August it plans to increase the facility’s output to 300,000 vehicles in the coming year. the plant operates on a built-to-order model, meaning 80 percent of the vehicles produced go to fulfill customer orders.

The 4-million-square-foot facility represents a $5 billion investment. It has pumped well over $8 billion dollars into South Carolina’s economy, according to state economists.

Since its grand opening in 1994, nearly 2 million vehicles have been assembled at the plant. this year’s production accounted for roughly 14 percent of that output.

Total employment at the plant currently stands at 7,000 associates, including 4,500 full-time workers and 2,500 temporary employees. those associates cranked out an average of 1,000 vehicles per day in 2011.

The plant’s supplier network consists of 170 companies in North America, including 40 companies in South Carolina, who daily ship parts to the 1,150-acre site.

A University of South Carolina Moore School of Business study in 2008 said BMW suppliers in this state employed more than 23,000 people at the time. the study said each position at the plant has a job multiplier of 4.3 across the state. Based on that number, the plant currently props up 30,100 jobs in South Carolina.

Local leaders continued to heap their praise on the automaker.

“BMW saved Spartanburg as an industrial community,” said County Councilman David Britt. “It saved not only our employment, but it gave us a can-do attitude and a confidence in ourselves. and we haven’t looked back. we all knew what a critical state we were in when textile jobs began to disappear or go overseas in the 1980s.”

Britt said BMW is the “golden goose that keeps on giving” for the county and the state.

“They have lived up to everything I thought they would and more,” he said. “It is the single most important thing that happened to South Carolina and Spartanburg County in my lifetime. their current success proves that their decision to move here was absolutely the right thing for them to do.”

BMW kicked off 2011 by putting the international spotlight on Spartanburg. It spent an estimated $3 million to air a Super Bowl ad that depicted scenes from across the county, including Mabry’s Simple Simon, Morgan Square and Spartanburg High School, and lauded its decision to locate in South Carolina.

In January, the automaker’s chief executive Norbert Reithofer said the company was lining up a “volume model,” possible the 5-Series or 3-Series, for production at the plant. Industry analysts speculated that the company could add production of an X4 model to its Spartanburg lineup.

The company added another piece of the puzzle to its plant in late February, when the plant’s President Josef Kerscher announced the company’s plan to invest an additional $100 million in the facility and increase production by 51 percent to 240,000 vehicles, a mark that was later surpassed.

Those extra funds helped streamline the plant’s export operation and enabled the launch of the company’s new X3 Semi-Knocked down program. Under the SKD program, the company said it will ship 4,000 painted X3 body shells for assembly in emerging markets worldwide.

In June, BMW Manufacturing Co. initiated an expansion encompassing the addition of more than 100,000 square feet to an existing warehouse, two new bays, new space in a container yard and other small building additions.

The plant also announced in June that it planned to move its production model from a five-day schedule to a six-day schedule and change the structure of some of its shifts. the move, which was part of the $100 million investment, was meant to help the facility reach its production goals.

In August, company officials announced that the new shift structure required 100 professional jobs to be added. At the announcement, the plant unveiled two programs aimed at securing the future health and development of its workforce.

The first program was its two-year BMW Scholars Program, and the other was its 25,000-square-foot Associate Family Health Center, which will be located off Brockman McClimon Road.

“We continued to be flexible,” Metcalf said. “We spent a lot of time working on our partnerships, and we received a lot of support from everyone. and that goes beyond our client base.”

On Nov. 1, the plant was featured in an hour-long documentary on the National Geographic Channel’s popular “Ultimate Factories” series.

The facility received a visit from domestic diva Martha Stewart in mid-November. Stewart traded her apron for a pair of BMW coveralls as she and her crew filmed production of an X3 for a spot on her show on the Hallmark Channel.

“Promotions like (the Super Bowl ad) and the NatGeo piece speak volumes about our people, our company and the direction that we’re headed in,” Metcalf said. “We look forward to a lot more of that in the future.”

BMW Manufacturing Co.’s growth rippled across its supply chain this year.

Germany-based Draxelmaier Group announced in January it planned to invest $10 million to expand its subsidiary DAA Draexlmaier Automotive of America LLC in Duncan. the expansion included a 65,000-square-foot addition and 100 jobs.

In February, R

HELL YAEH IT IS !!did u know that audi rs6 took down the mercedes 600cl bmw m5 it is more powerful than any other good looking car ..its a 4.2 v8 engine it goes from 0 to 100 km/h by 4 damn seconds…its a family car . sports car and racing car..as well it has a 18 inch rims double exose twin turbo..and a special limited s line seats and a really nice sport body design that differs from a6 ..i think audi rs6 is one of the best audi mades til now ….a really powerful security system 8 or 12 airbags and a well secured body ..tiptronic system …its max speed is
320km/h …its a really wounderful car …for me i have a s6 ..willing to perform it into an rs6 ….after i have found out about the twin turbo it got …ya ill get it if i where you..

I would advise you to avoid this vehicle for several reasons. Most likely this vehicle has been abused and driven hard. Although it may not have been on the track, I would say the origional owner has definitely "redlined it" many times. People don't buy a RS6 and drive carefully and slow to pick up the sunday newspaper.

Given the reliability records on Audi's in general, its not going to last you a long time before things start to break and malfunction. I would further avoid used BMW M3's, M5's, Audi S4 S6 R8, all Mercedes AMG models, turbo (or any turbo motor from any German manufacturer). parts are very expensive. Not a wise move.

are you joking? audis are good until they reach like 300k audi rs6 is like the best car you could have from audi and its a real chick magnet

How many miles?
Over 150,000, No.
Under that, yeah.

It is a very fast car. it was faster than the BMW M5 when it came out.

amazing cars, but be sure to have a warranty on the car at all times.

Audi is one of the best cars. I got myslef a Audi S4 cuz i cant aford the RS6. If ur gone get the Audi RS6 i would recomand getting the 2001 or 2002 because those have twin turbo and u can tunned it up more if u want 2. but in stock it has 450 hp wit a V-8. its both a family and sport car.

yeah but would imagine them to be used quite hard, and maybe with a few track days under their belts, and they are quite rare

yes the RS6 is a good second hand car. the car is rare and most of the time they are going to be very well taken care of.
The RS6 is very fast and sporty so defiantly buy it.

Are Audi RS6 cars a good second hand buy?

These are some of my favorite cars so I was wondering which you thought was the best one.

It depends on what type of car you want. but my choice out of that list would be the Mercedes-Benz CLS because i love Mercedes. I also like Mclaren which is supplied by Mercedes. thats the main reason why i like Mclaren

M6. Steadfast company -great car.
have you seen the Morgan Aero 8 (my favorite)
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?… ( article, lotus vs cls)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS_unscao… (R8 vs Veyron)

My personal favorite is the CLS 55 AMG Ingenieur and the photos at the following link show why.

http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Sep05/06CLS…

Love it, love it!

Which is the best car: Audi R8, Lotus Exige S, BMW M6, or Mercedes-Benz CLS?

Hi there, please anyone tell me which one most faster of those

2009 BMW xDrive X5 3.0si
2009 Mercedes-Benz ML350
2009 Porsche Cayenne v6

OMG go for the Porsche hahaha All the way! BMWs are common cars now a days, Mercedes are kinda…. homo-ish. only women with rich husbands and gay dudes drive those. C'mon now.

I would go for the Porsche and not even look back… don't know if it is the fastest one or not, but I wouldn't care… I'd still go for the Porsche.

Which one most faster than others? and which one you will recommend for buy?