BMW announces M550d, X5 M50d, and X6 M50d diesel cars, but only in Europe.

By Amir Iliaifar Published January 27, 2012

Okay go-fast fanatics, BMW has finally confirmed in an official press release that it plans on launching M diesel versions for a number of its models, but sadly will not make it stateside, remaining a strictly international affair.

With that downer out of the way get ready for a barrage of numbers. Receiving the M and D treatment is the M550d XDrive sedan, M550d xDrive touring, X5 M50d, and successful love-it-or-hate-it Sports Activity Coupe, the BMW X6 M50d.

Each of the new diesel M versions will display engineered optimization with, as BMW puts it, “harmonious interplay of powertrain, chassis technology, and design features typical of M models.” The new M diesels will also utilize a 3.0-liter inline-six common-rail diesel with added triple turbochargers that will be capable of outputting 376 horsepower and 545 pounds-feet of torque.

In addition, each model will feature an eight-speed automatic gearbox as well as standard xDrive all-wheel-drive with each car being capped at 155 mph. One of the more standout figures collected from BMW is the new M5’s sprint speed of 0-62 in 5.4 seconds, just a tenth of a second longer than its X6 cousin.

Former Associate Automotive Editor

Associate Automotive Section Editor for Digital Trends, Amir Iliaifar covers the ever increasing cross-section between tech…

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Volvo is rolling out Apple Music to over 2 million cars with a simple OTA update

Your Volvo may soon get Apple Music without needing CarPlay

Interior view of the 2024 Volvo EX90.

The line between your smartphone and your car continues to blur. Volvo has announced that it is rolling out an over-the-air software update that brings Apple Music directly to the infotainment systems of more than 2 million vehicles worldwide. Instead of relying on Apple CarPlay or plugging in an iPhone, eligible drivers will be able to stream music natively from their car's built-in system, making Apple Music another integrated feature of Volvo's software experience.

The update is arriving for a wide range of Volvo models, including the EX90, ES90, XC90, S90, V90, XC60, S60, V60, XC40, EX40 and EC40, covering model year 2020 onwards. Availability, however, may vary depending on the vehicle.

Cars

Chery’s latest EV packs flagship tech for the price of a base Tesla, but you can’t buy it

Here's everything packed into Exeed's 2027 Exlantix ES, from its 27-sensor autonomous driving suite to its 860 km range, all starting under $31,000.

Car, Transportation, Vehicle

Chery's premium arm just dropped a sedan that makes you wonder why American EVs cost twice as much for half the tech.

Exeed's 2027 Exlantix ES ships with a driver-assist system called Falcon 700. It is built around an Nvidia Orin-Y chip and a genuinely stacked sensor suite.

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A new AI model wants self-driving cars to think before they swerve

Forget guessing games, this self-driving AI actually shows its work.

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Self-driving cars have gotten pretty good at driving. The harder problem is teaching them to drive safely in situations nobody planned for. We have heard horror stories of self-driving cars, behaving erratically in emergency situations, often times delaying first responders from reaching the scene.

A team at Seoul National University, led by professor Jun Won Choi from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, thinks they have cracked part of that puzzle with a new AI model called SafeDrive. The research was recently selected as a highlight paper at CVPR 2026, a distinction that goes only to roughly 3% of all submissions.