Wednesday, January 16, 2008

BMW Ultimate Drive 2006

I love BMWs. About two years back, Chris and I were invited to the "BMW Ultimate Drive", which is to experience BMWs, at none other than a local BMW dealership.
Fig. 1: The refreshment spread.

BMW has a great program. The Ultimate Drive benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Every mile put on the sample BMWs is one dollar that BMW donates to the foundation. Chris and I were proud to do our part because we like BMWs and boobies. They have a couple of trailers full of their various cars that they tote around to, eventually, every BMW dealership to give everyone the chance to drive.

Fig. 2: The 330i Signature Car

The neatest thing is the "signature car" that was displayed in the showroom. It was silver and all gussied up in a pink ribbon motif, the trademark of the foundation. What makes it even more special is that anyone that drove a BMW for the cause actually got to sign the actual car with an actual Sharpie marker! I put my name, of course, and Chris put down his number one son's name, Dan. The names are forever etched on a 2006 330i to be displayed in, I think, the BMW Zentrum museum at their factory in South Carolina.

Fig. 3: Writing on a BMW

We sampled a large number of vehicles. Chris rather enjoyed the 530i wagon, and I fell in love with the 645i convertible. These are, of course, cars that neither of us can afford. It is nice to have dreams though. Chris brought his digital SLR and took most of the pictures. He is the photographer, after all.

Fig. 4: Chris driving the 530i wagon.

Fig. 5: Chris' favorite part - the HUGE sunroof!

The thought of a large number of people hooning all over northeast Dayton in BMWs might frighten some, but they didn't seem to care. There was not one single cop anywhere to be found. The route took us on city streets, backroads and interstate. With a BMW, getting up to speed is quite easy. I have wonder how much BMW paid off the local police...

Fig. 6: Me (when I was larger) enjoying the 645i convertible.

Fig. 7: Someone going fast.

Chris and I had a contest as to who could drive fastest. I won with 120 mph in the 645i. Chris had 114 mph in the 745i sedan. Just don't tell anyone, mmmkay! This was out in the country and there was no traffic, so it was at least a bit safe. Relatively speaking.

Fig. 8: Me and Chris in the 645i convertible.

Fig. 9: Me driving the much smaller 330i convertible.

Chris drove the 745i sedan, the pinnacle of BMW luxury. This is a remarkably advanced car. The driver's seat has a function that will massage your butt cheeks and raise and lower the cushions under each cheek to help prevent seating fatigue on long drives. Those crazy Germans!

Fig. 10: Chris enjoying the 745i luxury sedan.

It was a lot of fun and for a good cause. We were going to go in 2007, but there was the little matter of my coming down with cancer. We will, however, be going this year come hell or high water.

BMW knows how to make a car. Even though they are pricey, I think they are well worth it. Any car that can put up with me or Chris is a well made car! Upon leaving, my Chevy didn't quite feel the same...

2 comments:

Shari said...

Breasts and cars are the formula that launched a thousand marketing plans to appeal to the target demographic of choice!

Sometimes I think that it's better not to experience something really fine because what you normally have feels like such a letdown. If you have really high quality cheese, for instance, it's hard to go back to American. ;-)

You look like a nice fellow in your old picture, though I guess you're a bit thinner now. :-)

badmoodguy (Бадмўдгуи) said...

Why, thank you! I am flattered!

Yes, I am quite a bit thinner now. The extra chin is gone. I think I could fit much more comfortably in the 3 convertible. My Impala feels huge now, I bought it because it was large and comfortable for a larger-size human. 80+ lbs gone makes quite a difference.

It was a great deal of fun, and not as much of a letdown as you'd imagine. In this day and age, with gas prices so high and getting higher...$3.16 this morning...someone would be crazy to get a performance car, even if they are loaded. The BMWs with the inline 6 engines are much more practical and reasonable...if you can call any BMW practical and reasonable. :)

I do agree about the cheese though!

Speaking of fine things, I've probably said this in a previous entry...or maybe not...that I was out with a colleague and my previous boss and we had some bottles of wine. Previous boss ordered a bottle of "Opus One" at $200 and it was the worst I had ever had. The $13 "Clos du Bois" was far and away a better tasting wine. (I am not a wine drinker, so I wouldn't know a fine wine from a glass of water.) I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder. You won't necessarily be happy with something that is expensive or what others would consider "fine".