Hello everyone! I know I’ve been away from X5world for quite some time. Life has been very busy and has kept me from this place. Well, I’m back. I’ll try to be around more. For my “return post” I thought I’d share a BMW story.

Many if not all of us are familiar with the Susan G. Komen “BMW Ultimate Drive” charity. I won’t go into the details of it for those who are unfamiliar. You can find information on www.bmwusa.com. The drive made its stop at my home dealership this past Friday. I went in and drove 6 cars: 650iC, 328CiC, 550i, Z4 Coupe, 750Li, and 4.8 X5. They were all excellent and I helped raise almost $80 while having a blast. Those miles weren’t enough for me so I offered to help transport a car to the next stop which was Las Vegas, baby! The drive from Palm Springs to Las Vegas was about 290 miles so it would be a lot of seat time and distance covered. I can’t say that I did it purely for charity even though the miles equaled dollars for the charity but it was a great motivator along with some alone time with a BMW on the open road.

Our drive was to leave on Saturday morning which worked out so well. The unfortunate part was that our rallying time was 7:00 am. I had already asked my wife if it was okay to take an entire weekend day to drive to Vegas and she agreed to come along. “How do we get home?” she asked. There would be a motorcoach waiting for us at the dealer in Vegas. We’d be driving to Vegas and pretty much turning right around on the bus. No time to enjoy the city. Oh well. The drive would take us about 4 hours plus time for rest stops, then about 5 hours back on the bus. It would be a very long but fun day.

We showed up bright and early on Saturday morning. We had both thought about canceling when the alarm clock went off in the morning but we were committed. I checked in with the coordinator and confirmed that my ride was assigned. I had requested a 650i since the 650iC was already spoken for. (I had asked for the 650i the previous day when I volunteered. ) The guy then asked my wife what she wanted to drive and we told him that she had intended to ride with me and switch off part way. He twisted our arms to drive a car since they were short drivers. We asked him what was still available and there were all kinds of 3ers and Z4’s. She didn’t want to drive a 3er since we have an E90 and the Z4 wouldn’t be that much fun on a freeway drive. I asked about the 550i and lo and behold, it was available. Sweet! I couldn’t believe that it had not been taken. There were quite a few people who had shown up at 6:45 am and I guess didn’t think to ask; their loss. On a side note, most of the other drivers drove in from distances about 2 hours away to do this. We drove 25 minutes. Anyway, even though there were X5’s, 7ers, and lots of other choices, we made the absolute right choices for the drive.

So we were set for the drive: me in my 650i and my wife in the 550i. Both were equipped with tons of options. Both had navigation, Sirius, HUD, and the 550 even had sport, adaptive cruise control and comfort seats, which my wife LOVED. Sirius made the drive very pleasant. I rocked out to the 80’s channel. (Showing my age!) They had taken the navigation disc out but I knew that and brought my own. The 650i and 550i are amazing! There is so much power, comfort, and the exhaust sounds positively hot rod. I must say that the power is addictive. We both want a 550i now.

Here is the start of our day at the dealership. Not all of the Komen cars are represented. Some were off getting fueled. I can’t say for sure how many there were but I’d say there were about 18 cars total.








My wife's ride:



We took off in a caravan and got split up fairly soon. We were all told to stay behind the lead vehicle which was an Alpine White 4.8 X5 driven by one of the Komen staff. My wife and I stuck together and had a problem early on. I noticed the hood on her 550i was a little popped and she called me to tell me there was rattling. We pulled off at a gas station, much to the shock of the other drivers. ("They're stealing the cars!") I popped the hood and slammed it shut. We got some looks and compliments on the cars at that stop. We headed back on the freeway and I again noticed the hood on the 550i was open. We stopped again and this time, I reset the latch springs and closed it back up. This time it did the trick and the hood stayed closed the rest of the drive. Our stops caused us to fall behind so we had to catch up. Darn it! We got the chance to stretch the legs on the cars and that was fun. I can't get enough of the exhaust note.

We made a stop at about 70 miles. This is the tail end of the lineup.



My ride:



After our first rest stop, we hit the road again. The entrance to the freeway was a big downhill decreasing radius “corkscrew” and it was a hoot in the 650i, especially when it straightened out and I could punch it to get on the freeway. Wow! The lead vehicles had gotten a bit ahead so again, I had to catch up. Fortunately, the 650i was more than willing to oblige by right foot.

Who put those numbers on the road??? HUD showing speed and navigation information.



Our caravan looked great! We got lots of envious looks and smiles, and even a thumbs up.



One of these things doesn’t belong. Actually, two don’t. The black Cadillac was an uninvited guest in our caravan and the silver E70 was not a Komen vehicle but was welcome.



I kept being pursued by this 550i being driven by a beautiful woman. I think she wanted me.





More shots of our drive.





We made a second stop about 160 miles into our drive. We stopped at a rest stop and made an impressive showing.




This 335i was getting a little hot under the hood. (Wal-Mart and BMW’s??? Champagne and pork rinds. )



Back on the road and past the giant thermometer. Luckily the top numbers weren’t what we saw. Actually, it was kind of chilly. We had temperatures in the high 50’s and low 60’s most of the drive. I was sort of glad that I was in a tintop and not the ‘verts. I did have the moonroof cover on the coupe open to let the light in. If I had to pick a 'vert I would have taken the 650iC. There is little wind buffeting in that car. I could have had an E93 but opted not to.








VEGAS BABY!!!




It was a long drive but a totally fun one. All of the drivers had a great time. The sight of the fleet was awesome. We were all very courteous and nobody was stupid. Other drivers were pretty considerate of our attempts to stay together. When we got to Desert BMW in Las Vegas we parked the cars, had pit stops, then straight on to the bus where we got a nice boxed lunch. The bus ride home was not bad but certainly no ride in a BMW. Both my wife and I were very happy we did it. It was not my first transport for Komen but it was the longest. We’re looking forward to next year.

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