Hugo Becker

Hugo Becker is our resident curmudgeon and technology maven. Having had a driver’s license for over 40 years, he also has seat time in a large number of cars, from the silly to sublime. He brings a Sputnik era emphasis on science and technology to BMWBLOG, along with a passion for automotive history. Did we mention he’s old and crotchety?
Technical Analysis: Pedestrian Airbags

Technical Analysis: Pedestrian Airbags

Pedestrian deaths represent a fairly significant percent of all automotive fatalities (according to some sources over 10% in the US, 14% in Europe and about 25% in China). One option is to mandate all pedestrian…

The Spun Bearing: Reusing NedCar

Automotive News reports that BMW is considering building vehicles at the NedCar facility in Born, Netherlands. The deal would be for third party assembly of BMW Group vehicles. The report indicates that they’re interested in…

BMW and Toyota Technology Sharing Announcement Due Soon

Speculation regarding a soon to be announced technology sharing agreement between BMW and Toyota has been making the rounds of the interwebs. The bulk of the speculation has focused on BMW obtaining access to Toyota’s…

Editorial: Further Thoughts On the i Brouhaha

Editorial: Thoughts On the Seven Speed Manual

Editorial: Thoughts On the Seven Speed Manual

The folks at Bimmerpost uncovered BMW patent drawings that showed a seven speed manual shifter and shift functionality. What caught my attention was the notion that BMW was developing a shifting mechanism that could physically…

The Power of the Press

Leipzig, Germany – If you want to see the most modern metal pressing operation in the world you have to travel to Leipzig, in the state of Sachsen, and head northeast of the city center…