Drive for the Cure: pretty interesting

[Jeff N.]

Snuck out of work for an hour an a half and did the Drive for the cure. Drove 3 cars - 530 SMG with active suspension, 3.0 Z4 steptronic, 330i stick with ZHP (sport) package. Skipped the 7 series and there was a big line for the 6 series drop top so I passed on that.

530 SMG with the active sport package

Wow. Really really interesting car. Nice zippy power but not excessive power. The SMG system works great in manual mode but it's sort of jerky in automode when upshifting from 1st and 2nd. It's something you might learn and drive around..or not. It works nicely in full manual mode. Fun. Not sure I'd buy one over a 6 speed manual but it's a pretty cool demonstration of where SMG technology is going. What WAS really cool was the active suspension. Read up on this stuff if you haven't already seen it. Car was amazingly flat thru high speed sweepers - zero body roll. Felt like a go-cart. The active steering adjusts the steering ratio based on road speed. Faster ratio at low speed, slower at high speed. Around town, I don't think I turned the steering wheel more than 1/2 turn to make a 90 degree turn. Feedback felt pretty good as well contrary to reviews I have read. I'd really like to drive one of these on a track and wring it out.

You can tell BMW is working hard to change the "dash paradigm" in the car. The dash is really clean - none of the button farms that you're familiar seeing in late model audi's and mercede's and last gen BMW's. It LOOKS really nice. Now...how does it work? I couldn't really tell...you'd need to live with it for a bit to learn it.

Sooo...what do I think about the new 5-er? I think it's a pretty bold paradigm shift and thus, as we've noted, both risky and controversial. I'd love to try one for a week or so to render a better opinion. All in all.. I liked it.

Z4 3.0 steptronic

Sucked. Didn't like it at all. $45k for this? Maybe a 6 speed would help it; the steptronic blows in this car. It is quick, I'll give it that.

330i 6 speed ZHP

More traditional bimmer for sure. Engine sure is zippy, no power problems here, really nice torque. Thought the suspension was rubbery given the sporting nature of the car. Would be a nice daily driver but I think I'd take the *gasp* 530 SMG over this car just because it's vastly more interesting (sorry Micah!!)


Getting back in a 90 535i

Well, hard to compare those new engines to our old M30s. The M30 is nice but not quite up to a new bimmer. I do really like our seats..imagine that! Also, the tweeked suspension in my car is really really nice and holds up well to the new cars. So give me the driveline of the 330 or the 530 and I'll keep the rest of my car.



Nice of BMW to do this...it's fun to be able to try all the cars.

Cheers!

Jeff

[Robin-535im]

]

[bighc2000]

I tried a 7 series over the weekend as a favor to the service manager (slight friend). I was picking up a part and said I should at least drive one car to raise some $$ for charity.

Got stuck with a 745i. It is a well built car but the iDrive cannot be overlooked. The car had excellent acceration, braking and cornering but did not seem to mesh well as a package. I think the curb weight of the car + myself () had a lot to do with this.

Driving my 535i back home afterwards was eye opening in that my car felt 8 to 9 tenths of the new 7. The iDrive really blew.

[Karl]

The past few years I took a day off work when Drive for the cure came thru town. My aim was to drive as many cars as many laps as possible to run up the miles. Took out the cars with no waiting lists (dance with the homely girls), like 325iA. Any organization that helps women keep their breasts is worth the effort.

But I also got some interesting cars in the mix:
Z4 is much better with the 6-speed
X5 is really pretty good, great handling for a truck
540T will definitely get your beer home before it warms up
Convertibles are fun, but don't think I'd want it for a daily driver
740--I rode shotgun and played with I-Drive. Finally figured out how to change the radio station (to a channel other than the presets)
MCoupe is too good. I don't have the self control for such a car, I'd paper the wall of my garage with tickets. YEEEHAAA!!!