Beginning this week and running through April 6, visitors to New York’s Grand Central Terminal will be able to witness two art exhibits involving BMW.

The first exhibit will feature four of the so-called BMW “art cars” including a 1977 BMW 320i painted by Roy Lichtenstein and a 1979 M1 from Andy Warhol.

Since 1975 BMW has been creating the “art cars” and has allowed 16 of the world’s most famed artists to design their vision of a BMW. In addition to the actual cars, the exhibit will feature videos of the artists working on the vehicles and discussing their inspiration behind the work.

A second exhibit in the terminal will feature a painting by contemporary artist Robin Rhode which was created using a 2009 BMW Z4 Roadster.

The car, which had paint dispensers mounted behind the wheels, drove along a football field-sized canvas to create the work. A 30 foot by 40 foot section of the painting will be featured at the exhibit.

Jack Pitney, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America said the exhibits are part of the automaker’s commitment to the arts.

“BMW is proud to bring the works of some of the world’s most respected artists to New York
City as part of a free public art installation,” he said. “It is an honor to know that these artists, and so many others, have garnered inspiration from, or expressed their thoughts and points of view through, our cars.”

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When it comes to carmakers, image is everything and according to Kelley Blue Book, some automakers have maintained that image better than others with the coolest being BMW.

With its Brand Image Awards, Kelley Blue Book honors the car companies that have captured the enthusiasm and attention of the public. With the awards, BWM took home the most honors, including Coolest Brand, Best Performance Brand and Best Exterior Design Brand – Luxury.

Rick Wainschel, senior vice president of marketing and analytics for Kelley Blue Book and kbb.com, said that carmakers know that their imagine means a lot to people looking to buy new and used cars. The companies that won the awards did this the best.

“The winners of the annual Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards showcase the strengths of various automotive brands in the minds of consumers, providing great insight for all auto manufacturers, marketers and agencies on what is clearly resonating with the car-buying public today,” he said.

Also taking home awards were Cadillac, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Toyota.

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Savvy car buyers know they can probably purchase a used car that is only a few years old for a fraction of the price of the new model. With that in mind, Edmunds put together a list of the top 10 2008 models that are likely to depreciate in the next five years.

In coming up with its estimates, Edmunds assumes that the cars will have an average of 15,000 miles per year and says two Mini Coopers top the list.

In fact, BWM, the maker of Mini Cooper, takes the top three spots with the Mini Cooper, Mini Cooper Clubman and BMW M3 all retaining more than 50 percent of their original value in five years.

BMW also hold the number nine position on the list with the BMW 1 Series tied with the Volkswagen Eos in holding 47 percent of its value.

The only American car on the list was the Chevrolet Corvette which at number eight will hold slightly more value than the BMW 1 Series with 47.1 percent.

By contrast, the two cars with the worst residual value are the Kia Rio (26.3 percent) and the Kia Spectra (27 percent).

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Reports say that BMW will be bringing its 400 horsepower hybrid car, the Z10 ED – which was originally planned as only a concept – to market.

According to Autocar.co.uk, the company decided to remove the car from concept status to production after plans to produce a V10-powered rival to the Audi R8 were scrapped. Instead, the company decided to go the environmentally-friendly approach.

“The idea is to bring all the very latest technology together in a way that will allow a high level of performance without overburdening the environment in a way that the current crop of supercars do,” an insider told the website. “There is no reason why they need to be mutually exclusive when you consider the sort of technology that exists today. It is just a matter of applying it correctly.”

The two-seater is expected to sell for about $105,000.

At this year’s North American Auto show, BWM unveiled two hybrid concepts which included the X6 which can run on gas, electric, or a combination of the two.

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