BMW Ultimate Drive

[Jean]

Stopped by the local BMW dealership to attend the yearly? Ultimate Drive event for Susan G. Komen support.

Made it quick this year and only drove 2 cars, a 135i and a 550i. There was an Alpina 7 series there as well, but I was short on time....

The 135i surprised me on how quick it's steering is, it still felt over assisted but it was quick. The power delivery was impressive and the engine had a pretty good sound to it as well. I could not find any kind of "sport" or "traction off" buttons anywhere on this car, and it was not a manual, but it impressed me but I felt that it could have been still better somehow....

Next was a 550i, this one must of had a sport suspension on it, it had a sport button that was clearly present and traction control was quickly turned OFF :) The car felt big, but it moved w/o any hesitation at all. The sound while accelering was good and it handled nicely although not as "eagerly" as the 1 series.

Overall I liked the power of the 550i, but liked the handling and liveliness(sp?) of the 1.

They did not have a single manual car, was told they were all being repaired with bad clutches..... doh

[dvmotorsports]

Niello or Roseville?

[smonkbmw]

im disappointed with the program this year. im not sure why but they are not stopping anywhere near portland. ive gone for the last 3 years and both the local dealerships held their own drives. nothing for this year and so far no one knows why, grrrr.

thats cool you got to drive the 135, ive drove the 550 that car is INSANE i can only imagine what the 1 is like. i would have passed on both to try that Alpina car though any day.