Driven #52: E87 BMW 116i Sport

A car arrived here the other day that was far more significant for me them for any of my
colleagues. A BMW 116i Sport, in quartz blue metallic. An identical car in almost all
respects to the first car I was ever issued as a salesman. My first company car

I was only 24 the time and being handed the keys to my first BMW was quite a stirring
experience. I had parked my old Rover just half an hour ago and was about to drive home in a car worth about 200 times its value. Remember this the time when the 1 series had only just been launched. It was a rare sight, not clogging every fast lane and ubiquitous in every city centre advertising the local estate agent. Do you remember that time? Does anybody?

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Driven #37:- '07 BMW Z4 2.0 SE

Having driven the Z4M reasonably recently, having heaped superlatives on it and gushed nauseatingly about it ever since, it was time to put it into context. Here was an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the Z4 in its most basic (some would say purest… but let’s stick with basic) form. The four-cylinder, manual, 2.0SE. 

The predecessor to the Z4, the Z3, had a similarly broad range. The M and M Roadster sat atop the pile, while the 1.9 was at the bottom, and was universally panned for its almost total lack of power and branded pathetic, hopeless and a hairdressers car. Does this criticism apply to the next (and now previous) Z4? And, now the new Z4 is out, does it really matter?

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Driven #19:- E65 BMW 730d

It’s funny how things change. Last time I drove an E65 7 Series it had belonged to my boss. This was going back a few years, it was a facelifted, 2006 ½ machine, in Sterling grey, and I absolutely loved it. Such was its imperious bulk, traffic would part the instant it appeared in its rear view mirror, it made you feel special, very special indeed. Everything about it seemed designed to remind you that you had gained admission to the BMW executive lounge. You had made it in life.

It’s now, with the benefit of hindsight, that I realise I had probably been brainwashed by the great Munich corporate propaganda machine that I was working for at the time. Now's a good time for a re-evaluation - for here on my desk are the keys to an original, 2004 E65 730d. 

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