Bmw

Name: Florence Taylor-Block Résumé: Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Board member, Habitat for Humanity of Washington County Born: Oct. 6, 1947 Children: Sons J.D., 36, and Jason, 27 Education: South Hagerstown High School, class of 1965 Mentor: Joan Schupp, a Realtor with Long & Foster. Schupp is "very professional. I just admired the way that she interacted with clients. " Favorite part of your job: "The interaction with people" Least favorite part of your job: "The paperwork" Biggest challenge of your job: "Keeping everybody happy - buyers and sellers.

Imagine being Chris Bangle. Imagine being the head of BMW design, the automotive artist who sketches the look of the future and casts the die for generations to come. Imagine being unpopular. Don't believe it? Just ask him. "I'm a cottage industry," Bangle recently told The Car Connection, an auto enthusiast website. "Without me, a lot of . . . folks wouldn't have anyone to write about. " Without Bangle, today's most controversial figure in the world of auto design, an industry would indeed have less to say. There wouldn't be the criticism over his edgy redesign of BMW's flagship sedan, the 2002 7-Series, with the bulbous rear end. There wouldn't be the complaints over the tall X3 sport-utility vehicle or the daring, shark-like gills of the Z4 convertible.

We've patiently waited for more than a decade and it's finally here. The new 6 Series is a first-class feast for the eyes and a refreshing treat for fans of those speeding Bavarian beauties with the propeller logo proudly attached to their hoods. Not that BMW has been sitting around doing nothing all this time. Quite the contrary. Over the past few years we've been treated to a proliferation of more new models - everything from sports cars and sport-utility vehicles to luxury sedans - than you can think of. Everything, of course, except some sweet looking high-end, high-performance two-door stunner to gush over.

charlestown@herald-mail.com SHENANDOAH JUNCTION, W.VA. - Two women were flown to hospitals Thursday afternoon following a head-on car collision on Daniels Road near the Jefferson County Schools bus garage, police said. The 1:39 p.m. crash occurred when Pamela Norris, 35, of Falling Waters, W.Va., crossed a yellow line in an attempt to pass a BMW, said Sgt. Sam Harmon of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. When Norris approached a small crest in the road, her vehicle collided head-on with a Mazda 626 driven by Connie McCarty, 42, of Shenandoah Junction, W.Va.

BMW calls its new X3 model a sport "activity" vehicle, not a sport-utility vehicle. I would say it's neither. Slotted between the bigger X5 and the sportier 325Xi wagon, the X3 is a tall station wagon, and a very good one at that. The X3 rolls on a car-based chassis with an all-wheel drive and traction system known to BMW as xDrive. xDrive has a rear-wheel bias with a front-wheel back up. The normal powersplit is 60/40, rear tires/front tires. As your traction begins to suffer, xDrive's control system assesses wheel speed data and does one of two things.

The first motorcycle built by BMW over 80 years ago was of the company's own design, featuring an air-cooled opposed-twin cylinder or "Boxer" motor. The concept remains a strong influence in today's two-wheeled BMW lineup. A new model graces the R Series stable for 2004 - the R 1200 C Montauk. My 2004 BMW R 1200 C Montauk test bike was finished in Champagne metallic with aluminum- and silver-painted components, accented by generous doses of chrome. Only three colors are available and all are metallic - Champagne, Sapphire Black and Arctic Blue.

Call it athletic. Call it versatile. But please, BMW respectfully asks, just don't call the new X3 something it's not. The German automaker has never been one to travel the path of the common automaker, which is why, in a sport-utility segment that's bursting at the seams, BMW is offering its very own interpretation of what buyers really want in all-weather transportation. For 2004, it's something called the X3. And, in this case, X marks the spot for sport/activity. In an automotive world dominated by utilitarian vehicles labeled either cute, sporty, or cute and sporty, leave it to an industry leader such as BMW to want to define itself based on what its vehicles do and not what they look like.

If you know the BMW 5-Series, you can understand the gasp that went out when word spread that the Bavarian automaker was looking into making a few tweaks and a few tucks for 2004. Change it? Inconceivable. Make it better? Impossible. You could almost hear the rumblings from the BMW faithful. When it comes to ride, handling and performance, it's no secret the previous-generation 5-Series has been both the bench and the mark. It has set the standard for luxury sport sedans.

gregs@herald-mail.com Sitting in a wheelchair, Matthew David Meyer, 24, entered a no-contest plea Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court to two counts of vehicular manslaughter in the death of a Hagerstown couple last fall. Meyer was charged in an Oct. 23, 2002, collision that claimed the lives of Gerald Eugene Dietrich, 59, and Mary Ellen Dietrich, 61. Lawyers for Meyer, of 11010 Sani Lane, told Washington County Circuit Judge W. Kennedy Boone Wednesday that Meyer does not remember anything from the night of the accident or for several weeks before the crash, and probably never will.

Exotic sports cars and ultra-fancy luxury vehicles tend to grab all the headlines and be worshiped by collectors. But the humble and inexpensive BMW Isetta also has its loyal followers who treat this funny-looking micro-mini as if it were a classic Ferrari or Rolls-Royce. Different doesn't really begin to describe the tiny, 90-inch-long Isetta. It lacked conventional side doors, instead sporting a hinged opening in the front that swung open - windshield and all - to reveal a single bench seat.