Confirming a recent rumor, BMW has introduced an entry-level version of the 7 Series powered by a four-cylinder engine in China and in Turkey.

Called 730i, the sedan is fitted with a 2.0-liter turbo four that’s also found under the hood of the 225i and the MINI John Cooper Works. It has been tuned to generate 258 horsepower and 295 lb-ft. of torque, and it’s bolted to an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The four-cylinder sends the short-wheelbase 730i from zero to 60 mph in 6.2 seconds when it spins the rear wheels. Selecting all-wheel drive and a long-wheelbase body lowers the zero-to-62 time to 6.3 seconds, which is a fairly respectable statistic when the sedan’s size and weight are taken into account. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph. Fuel economy checks in at over 40 mpg.

The 730i is evidently not as well equipped as a range-topping 7, but that doesn’t mean it’s a stripped-down, bare-bones machine; don’t look for steel wheels and black bumpers. BMW is mainly bringing it to the market so that private buyers and fleet operators can circumvent the stiff tariffs that authorities in China and in Turkey slap on passenger cars powered by large-displacement engines.

It’s not too far-fetched to speculate the downsized 7 won’t be offered in Europe and in the United States, where demand for a large sedan powered by a small engine is low at best.

Note: BMW 750i pictured. Photos by Drew Johnson.

Chicago Police officers have allegedly schemed to intentionally sabotage cruiser dashcams, adding fuel to the controversy surrounding police accountability.

The pattern has been exposed by a DNAinfo investigation prompted by the city’s release of a dashcam video showing an officer shooting and killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The footage was withheld for more than a year and finally went public late last year, under court order but lacking audio to provide additional context.

Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi initially dismissed the significance of the missing audio, claiming it was likely a simple technical fault.

“As with any technology, at times software issues or operator error may keep the cameras from operating as they normally should,” he said.

The department later admitted that “intentional destruction” may have played a role in some cases. The latest investigation, based on nearly 2,000 maintenance records, suggests sabotage may not be an anomaly.

Exemplifying the trend, only two of five vehicles present at McDonald’s shooting captured any video footage and four vehicles did not record audio. For the vehicle occupied by the first responding officers, including shooter Jason Van Dyke, a wiring issue had been fixed in June 2014, three months after the malfunction was first logged. Just one day later the system was broken again, due to “intentional damage,” according to the maintenance records.

The issues appear to have gone unnoticed or ignored by Police Department leadership until questions were raised in the wake of McDonald’s death. Guglielmi now claims the department “will not tolerate officers maliciously destructing equipment.” Union officials, meanwhile, claim the city is to blame for failing to maintain the equipment.

Some police departments have implemented a zero-tolerance policy for intentional destruction or misuse of recording devices.

Toyota has fully acquired subsidiary Daihatsu, setting the stage for deeper collaboration between both companies.

Claimed to be Japan’s oldest automaker, Daihatsu is already majority owned by Toyota. The latter company will acquire the remaining minority stake in a share exchange, expected to be worth around $3 billion USD.

“The purpose of the agreement is to develop ever-better cars by adopting a unified strategy for the small car segment, under which both companies will be free to focus on their core competencies,” Toyota said in a statement. “Ultimately, this will help Daihatsu and Toyota to attain their joint goal of achieving sustainable growth.”

The brands will continue to engage in ‘friendly competition’ and maintain separate management structures, but with a shared strategy that could benefit from co-development and global growth.

Best known for its minicars, Daihatsu currently sells its own models in Japan and builds Toyota-badged adaptations. The subsidiary is said to have struggled in a price war against rival Suzuki last year, according to Bloomberg. Interestingly, a Nikkei report claims Suzuki and Toyota are involved in talks to form a potential global alliance.

Pornography has been cited in the distracted-driving death of a Michigan resident involved in a single-car crash.

The 58-year-old was allegedly watching an adult film on his cellphone while attempting to simultaneously drive and masturbate, Michigan State Police told local news outlet Fox2.

Wearing neither pants nor seatbelt, the man reportedly lost control of his 1996 Toyota on I-75 in Detroit. The car consequently rolled, partially ejecting and killing the driver.

Michigan State Police Lieutenant Mike Shaw claims the accident tops his list of strangest encounters on the road, according to a CBS Detroit report.

The incident is not the first traffic fatality to involve lustful distractions. In another case last year, a truck driver was accused being distracted by nude pictures on his cellphone before his rig smashed into the back of an SUV in Georgia and killed five Georgia Southern University students.

Tesla Motors has denied rumors that a second vehicle will make its debut alongside the Model 3 in March.

The company is widely expected to launch a crossover based on the Model 3. A deleted Twitter post suggests it will be labeled the Model Y, apparently completing a S-3-X-Y lineup without fighting over the trademark for Model E.

Citing leaked presentation images with two veiled cars displayed side-by-side, Electrek speculated that Tesla’s March event would simultaneously introduce two different models.

Tesla now claims the report was simply “wrong,” though the denial is said to have included confirmation that another model is under development on the same platform as the Model 3.

The fledgling automaker may attempt to narrow the gap between the Model 3 and its higher-riding stablemate. The crossover segment is still experiencing particularly strong growth — much higher than sedans — and quick arrival of a second affordable model could further improve economies of scale as the company ramps up Gigafactory battery production.

The first Model 3 sedans are expected to arrive on the market sometime late next year.

Nissan has promised to finally offer more engine choices for the Sentra sedan.

The current model is available with one powerplant in the US market, a 1.8-liter naturally-aspirated four-cylinder with 130 horsepower and 128 lb-ft of torque.

The Toyota Corolla is available with two engines ranging from 132 to 140 ponies, while the Honda Civic can now be purchased with a 174-horsepower turbocharged mill. The Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Forte and Mazda3 can also be configured with higher-output engines for certain packages.

“From a product standpoint, in the future you’ll see more engine offerings, and it’s full steam ahead,” Nissan North America product-planning director Michael Bunce told Wards Auto. “We’re fully focused on the segment.”

The company is also exploring a potential resurrection of the Sentra hatchback, not seen in the US market for more than 25 years. The proposal is being weighed against potential entries in the compact crossover segment, which is experiencing a higher growth rate than sedans.

Sentra sales were up by 11 percent to around 203,500 units in the US last year, providing a seemingly strong starting point for the 2016 refresh. The company has not yet announced if one or more new engines will arrive before the next-generation model, likely slated for a few years down the road.

The Volkswagen Budd-e concept (pictured) that was unveiled a few weeks ago at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been given the green light for production, a new report finds.

“You will see a car that looks a lot like [the Budd-e], on the MEB platform, reach production. I can’t say exactly when, but 2020 or thereabouts,” revealed Volkmar Tanneberger, Volkswagen’s head of electronic development, in an interview with England’s Car magazine.

The concept’s design will be toned down slightly for production. In other words, it will ride on smaller wheels, it will wear a less futuristic-looking front end, and it will gain a set of conventional door handles. Bigger changes will be found in the cabin, where the lounge-like rear seat will most likely be replaced by a pair of more conventional forward-facing bench seats for obvious safety reasons.

Like the MQB platform, the MEB will underpin several Volkswagen- and Audi-badged models in the coming years. All models will feature a flat battery pack in order to free up as much space in the cabin as possible and an electric motor mounted over each axle. The production version of the Budd-e will be capable of driving for up to 373 miles on a single charge, though that figure might get bumped up as battery technology advances.

The Budd-e will be the only battery-powered van in the Volkswagen lineup. The California, the Transporter, and the full-size Crafter will continue to be offered with an internal combustion engine in the foreseeable future.

The Texas-based DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) has announced plans to resume production of the iconic DMC-12 next year.

DMC didn’t design the DMC-12, but it bought all of the spare parts and the tooling needed to build it from the original DeLorean Motor Company that was founded by former General Motors executive John Z. DeLorean in the 1970s. The company has been selling new, fully restored DMC-12s since 1997, and a new law that allows low-volume car makers to sell complete, turn-key cars opens the door for DMC to move into the manufacturing sector.

The replica will look just like the original DeLorean (pictured), but it will be upgraded with improved electronics, beefier brakes, bigger wheels, and a more modern interior. More changes will be found in the engine compartment, where DMC is tossing out the DMC-12′s mid-mounted 2.8-liter PRV V6 and replacing it with a modern V6 tuned to make between 350 and 400 horsepower. Executives are in talks with two engine suppliers — including, ironically, GM — so final technical specifications won’t be published until an agreement is reached.

DMC-12 production is scheduled to kick off early next year. DMC will only build 325 examples annually — the limit set by the new law — and each one will cost a little less than $100,000 before options are factored in. Buyers who don’t like the idea of spending BMW M5 money on a DeLorean can order a fully restored one for approximately $50,000.