The other day I test drove a 2011 BMW 535i. With the updated body style, this car was the first one after a long time that visually appealed to me. I had already driven the 6 cylinder twin turbocharged engine in a 335i a while back. I thought this would be an adequate match for the 5-series. The powertrain produces 300hp and was mated to a six speed manual gear box. This is rather unusual in the US, so I was eager to try this exotic combination. The car came with the luxury and sport package (not the M sport) and was well equipped. My first impression was that the power was in fact adequate, if though a tiny turbo lag could be felt. The six-cylinder ran noticably rougher than my V8 in the 740 but it had no problems propelling the vehicle forward with acceleration rates for driver enthusiasts. The gear box was no match for the refined cabin and subdued sounds from the road though. A jerky clutch with a short stick to switch between gears felt a little out of place in this luxury sedan. Another point I was curious about was the electric steering of the car that has been berated by the press. I have to say that I found it to work flawlessly and precisely with good feel for the road. At no point did I feel disconnected from the road or did I find the steering overly sensitive. Up to 80mph the steering behaved well and felt just the way you would expect. I can’t comment for higher speeds as encountered on the Autobahn.

The engine had enough power to spin the tires in second gear and to shift through the first three gears rather quickly under full power. The engine noise was present at all times and there was an always present slight growl from the rear exhaust pipes – nothing bad, just present …

When I parked the car I felt that BMW had delivered a fine product, though none that swept me off my feet. When I returned the keys to the sales person, he told me that I had to also drive the sports version of the car with the automatic gear box. He talked about the independent power settings, suspension setups and gear programs, enough to get my curiosity up. So I said I’d take the second 535i only around a block – and I’m glad I did. Wow, this combination is just ideal for this car. In pure sports mode, it puts out more power, shifts late and firms up the suspension so you really feel the track – I mean road. You can choose to keep the power train setup in sport, but select “normal” or “comfort” for the suspension for a more comfortable highway ride. The car is eager to downshift two gears at a time, if power is demanded by a firm pressing of the pedal to the metal. The car is well planted on the road and quite relaxed at highway speeds. Not completely as regally as my 740, but close.

There were some disappointments, too: the nav-system doesn’t live up to it’s expectations. Any Android handheld device works better – sad, considering the navigation package is a $2k+ extra. I was able to operate the iDrive system without instructions, so you could claim it works, but it’s cumbersome. Selecting the A/C temperature with old fashioned dials for each zone felt so much better – I’m glad BMW kept those. I’m not a fan of the self-canceling signals nor of the electric hand-brake. (Although the seamlessly working hill assist, when starting in 1st gear uphill was a welcome surprise). The high protruding arm-rest is not visually appealing, but works well while driving. The fit and finish has a good feel to it, but lacks high end class that I would expect in this category. My 10-year old 740 has some higher quality controls than this brand new 535.

On the upside, BMW has added memory seats for the passenger seat and an automatic trunk lift gate that works well. The side camera and rear view camera are a nice touch, though pricey.

I’m glad I drove the second car with the drivetrain meant for this vehicle. A manual gearbox just felt a bit out of place. If it wasn’t for the $63900 price tag of the vehicle, I would consider one of these machines.

But getting back in my 10 year old 740iL and driving off the lot, produced a big grin on my face, because the torque of the V8 was still superior to the 535 turbo and the smoothness unsurpassed. All that for a sixths of the price – and some increased maintenance cost, I might add. But that’s a trade-off I’m more than willing to live with, as the cost for maintenance is still significantly lower than the depreciation of a new car. Even with an attractive lease for the 535i, I’m still coming out ahead with the 740iL, financially. So the 740iL lives on…

Every time I travel to Europe I get very confused about the different philosophies of building cars in the US versus Europe. European cars are small, agile and mostly underpowered (by US standards) – built for winding roads, while US cars and trucks are of monster size, heavy, with humongous engines build to drive on straight roads. In the US all the power is used on the straights to accelerate from a red light to highway speed (65mph, 110km/h). On Europe’s narrow roads, the relatively weak engines don’t seem to matter that much. Rationality would imply the exact opposite: high power engines on winding and challenging narrow roads, while cruising on the four lane highway would require the leanest 1.2L/50hp engine to keep a rig coasting along on the freeway. Gas prizes have encouraged a different taste of the local consumers though. In the US bigger is definitely better. No one crinches at 5.7L V8 engines – they are considered cool. 12 mpg is just a way of life – a little more expensive lately, but that’s alright. Only when gas prices exceeded $4/Gallon, people started thinking about alternatives, and that has stopped after fuel prices have dropped again recently. Europe has gone Diesel in the meantime. While environmentally less appealing, the Diesel delivers great torque  with frugal fuel consumption. Lower Diesel prices combined with a lot of annual driving offsets the higher tax for these cars. In the US Diesel is 20% more expensive than gasoline – the exact opposite of Europe and the main reason why we haven’t seen more European manufactured Diesels coming to the US (The lack of low sulfur Diesel was another reason until 2007). But this is about to change. Hybrids have paced the way for the environmentally conscious and clean diesels are introduced in the luxury segment (Audi, VW, Mercedes and BMW all offer a diesel option in 2010 – albeit pricey).

One of our friends is driving a Volvo XC90 with the turbo charged V6. I’ve never considered this car in the past, because I was convinced that a seven-seater of this size would require a V8 engine. But from our Mazda CX-7 I’ve learned that the turbo is actually a good choice in hot climates, where the air is much less dense and where you always run the A/C. There, the turbo or super charged engines shine, as they provide power on demand. Obviously they don’t excel in the fuel conservation department, but the driving fun factor easily compensates for that. So after this week-end I’ve come to like the spacious interior of the XC90 while providing a peppy, almost nimble ride. This car definitely makes the short list when considering our next big family car.

In the US we have usually three different gasoline octane grades to choose from. In the south that’s 87, 89 and 91 octane (this is different from the European number). Modern fuel injected cars can usually consume any of the fuels without experiencing the knocking phenomenon in combustion engines. This is due to the engine computers, that advance or retard ignition timing based on many inputs from the engine. The price per gallon differs about 25-29cents between the lowest and grade and highest grade fuel. So common recommendations say to use any fuel grade you want, unless you put high stress on the engine, like towing a trailer, or driving lots of uphills. While there’s nothing wrong with that, it might be actually cheaper overall to use the more expensive high grade fuel over the lower grade. How’s that? That’s because the mileage of the car deteriorates with the lower grade fuel. It’s enough to make up for the difference in price – at least on a turbo charged vehicle like the Mazda CX-7. Instead of achieving 23 mpg in highway driving we only saw 19 mpg on 87 fuel.

Another interesting observation is that with rising fuel prices (as we’ve experienced them in 2008 when we paid up to 4.25 per gallon) the cost of driving a car that requires 91 octane fuel becomes relatively cheaper than one that consumes 87. That’s because the price delta between 91 and 87 stays usually constant in absolute terms (25c), so percentage wise the gap shrinks with rising gas prices. This led to the interesting scenario, where it was cheaper to drive my more fuel efficient BMW which consumes 91 preferably (21mpg), over the Ford Explorer sipping on 87 (16mpg).

Yesterday when I was driving home from work I floored the gas pedal of my BMW coming out of a 25mph turn. I was surprised by the sluggish acceleration of the heavy 7 series, which is usually quite agile, thanks to it’s large V8. But yesterday, the car just didn’t feel like it was agile. Then it dawned on me: outside it was 38C and the A/C was working overtime. Both effects took significant power away – enough so I could feel it. That reminded me that I definitely want my next car to be turbo or supercharged.