Nowadays BMW's M Division appears to be little more than an extension of the marketing department, building more 'M Performance' automobiles to appeal to the masses than full-fat 'M' automobiles. But there was a time when 'M' lived up to its skunkworks name.

When BMW was developing the Z3 the 'M' engineers took one look at the roadster and, deciding it was not rigid enough for its needs, built a coupé version instead. It was the coupé that would form the basis for the M-badged variant of the Z3 and not the roadster that had been originally planned.

But…

What an expensive month July has been thus far. No, the Renault hasn't gone on strike - well at least not yet. Tax was due on the Clio, so having paid the princely sum of €366 for six months use on the roads I also decided to have the timing belt done.

Being a highly tuned belt-driven engine with 16 valves it's not a chance I wanted to take and with no hard evidence of it having been done I didn't want the horror of a snapped belt and bent valves rearing its head one evening miles from home.…

Being an advocate of running cheaper, older automobiles that is exactly what I do myself. I have three principle reasons for this:

First, they cost next to nothing to buy. If they get dinged in a automobile park it doesn't matter.

Secondly, as a passionate automobile enthusiast I cannot bear to see a perfectly serviceable automobile scrapped when it still has plenty of life left to give. We are still a throwaway society when it comes to automobiles. Many of us think nothing of condemning a automobile that could still give good service to someone.

Lastly, as a petrol-head, I…

James Larkin bought a new Superb Combi 4x4 TDI six months ago. Here's what he thinks so far:

The four-wheel drive estate market is not very crowded compared to say the two-wheel drive small SUV segment, so when I went shopping for a comfortable 4x4 estate automobile it came down to just four options: the Skoda Superb Combi , the Subaru Legacy Estate, the Audi A6 Avant and the Volvo XC60.  each of of these models are available with four-wheel drive and any options you could want from heated seats to panoramic roofs. It came down to the Subaru and the…

You may have heard the term 'bangernomics' before and that is what we are talking about here. Now if you don't think about your motoring costs, as you don't have to - or if you are fussy about what you drive and how shiny it looks, or the year of the registration on the front, you can stop reading.

The rest of us can seek some real value and cost effective motoring. To buy a cheap automobile for pittance and then run it for anything from a few months to a few years is a satisfying feeling on its own.

It appears that Toyota Ireland Managing Director David Shannon has launched a scathing attack on rivals who use the practice of pre-registering automobiles as a way to boost sales figures.

Pre-registration - the practice of registering vehicles without having a customer for the vehicle - is primarily used by Irish importers and distributors to meet sales targets and claim the lucrative bonuses that go with them but it does have the knock on effect of distorting a brand's market share.

"In terms of the market we do notice an increasing level of 'pre-registered' vehicles," said Mr Shannon. "The practise of…