For part III of our BMW package, we bring you impressions from our maiden voyage in the 2010 BMW 550i Gran Tourismo in Spartanburg, SC at the BMW Performance Center. We rode in the four-seater edition, with sumptuous rear seats akin to the first class transatlantic cabin. (It’s also available with five seats.) We work our way from the back to the front, because here is a upscale vehicle truly designed for full-sized adult passengers, not of the petite variety. The passenger seat, where we road next to a veteran BMW performer has a wide and clear outlook with ridiculous amounts of legroom. (We suggest you consult a great car site like Motor Trend for exact specs.)
We enjoyed the interior creature comforts of the pre-production model even at high speeds and twisty turns, which incorporates a good deal of glass for a spacious outlook. From our vantage point we could appreciate the aesthetic of the 5-Series’s exterior shape on the road, following a caravan of test subjects. With a distinctive body, BMW strikes new ground from the X6. This is a vehicle that sparks debate among BMW loyalists — a departure in design that incorporates classic elements, but that’s a standout. It’s daring in the sense that it’s polarizing among those who still lament the days of old.
The coolest feature by far is the double trunk — complete with hatch and stash areas for gear that open with a button. A cluster of journalists marveled at the flexibility of this latest mark. Cues to previous gen BMW include the retractable shades in the back, prompting comparisons to 7-series amongst observant scribes.
With a 407-horsepower, 4.4-liter V-8 this is a performer, not for the fuel-saving minded, but then again at a steep price point 5-series BMWs aren’t for everyone. It’s for the sort of individual that appreciates the finer elements of driving big, who’ll anticipate the late fall release with a gleeful gran tourismo spirit.
Logic for BMW drivers: If you buy a BMW, you should know how to drive it. All too often, I come across two kinds of BMW owners, both of whom are clueless on the potential of their driving machines. The first set shows off as if they are chasing Vin Diesel himself, wrought with bad one-armed driving habits sloppy braking, and no real race car skills. Or they’re the other kind of BMW driver, they like to go fast, but are intimidated by anything except a straight stretch of highway. It would be to the best advantage of both under educated driver to opt on the BMW Performance Driving School Delivery Center, traveling to Spartanburg, South Carolina to pick up their new BMW car or motorcycle, and learn from experts on the nearby obstacle courses.
The school breaks it down likes this: Performance driving (per-for-mance dri-ving; verb, transitive) – the act of extracting the highest level of performance from an automobile by its driver under any circumstances.
I had a track side experience this week driving an M3, 650i, 750, X6, 1 series and 3 series for three solid laps a piece under the guidance of their certified instructors. My weak points are built on incorporating newish technology – like paddle shifters – into my F1 style moves. The instructors gently eased me on, building up my confidence with a few lessons for take home practice. It was just a taste, but the deft response of the M3 is best appreciated on the track. The M School is right up the ally of any performance driving aficionado, whereas tentative parents can’t go wrong with the Teen Driving School for next-gen BMW drivers. I spied drivers learning oversteer technique on the skid pad across the way, as students earned their racing stripes. Shiny new BMWs were lined up preened for customer pick up, with eager customers in search of their apex.
Last fall, I sat on the meeting between Ford Flex interior designer Anthony Prozzi, Automobile Magazine Editor Jean Jennings, our in-house artist extraordinaire Lee Quinones at the scrumptious Il Bagatto located in the East Village. Prozzi was the super star of that meeting when restaurant regulars found out that he had worked on the Flex. Turns out an inner city law enforcement officer was quite proud of his brand new Flex – and he called it – the hot new ride on the streets. Seemingly, the Ford Flex has something for everybody, and the more road time it sees, it’s cache grows. Most recently, Flex won ‘Urban Truck of the Year’ at the 2009 Urban Wheel Awards during the North American International Auto Show, trumping the BMW X6 and Dodge Ram. A diverse panel of 23 judges from newspapers, magazines, broadcast sources and online media, organized by On Wheels Inc., voted for the Flex. Judges were asked to nominate three vehicles in the categories of car and trucks.The Flex beat out finalists BMW X6 and the Dodge Ram to win the title. Flex apparently has a serious toned muscle.
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