Random Firings by Hank Farber

I went to the opening of the New York Auto Show at the Javitt's Center yesterday, and, of course, I headed straight for the BMW exhibit. BMW unveiled three new cars: 1) the Z9 concept car, first seen at Frankfurt last fall, 2) the 330xi, a new 4-wheel drive sports sedan with a new 3-liter six, and 3) the new E-46 M3 coupe. I have no interest in being a shill for BMW, and the club is (or shouldn't be) a marketing arm of BMW-NA, but I am here to tell you that the BMW exhibit was clearly the most interesting exhibit at the show for car enthusiasts (SUV/truck enthusiastis may have had another favorite). And this was validated by my casual inspection of relative crowd size at the various exhibits.

So why was the BMW exhibit so sucessful? The easy answer is the cars. BMW had a large number of relatively new models to show. In addition to the three mentioned above, there was the X5 with the 3-liter six, the 3- and 5-series tourings, the (not-so-new) M-coupe, and, of course, the drop-dead gorgeous Z8. I will share some impressions a bit later. While having interesting cars is essential to a successful exhibit, BMW scored big by having all of the cars (with the exception of the three new cars and the Z8) open so that folks could get a real feel for them (or at least as real a feel as you can get for a car that is standing still).

A number of BMW's competitors, did not have an open car policy. Porsche, right across the aisle from BMW, had some nice cars, but everything was locked up tight. As a consequence, there were not many people looking, and certainly no one touching, the cars. But maybe that is the idea. Of course, Porsche does not have nearly the model range that BMW has. Neither did Porsche have a concept car or much in the way of new models to show off. I was surprised that Audi had a locked-car policy, as well. I have been struck by the number of active BMW club members who, when buying new cars lately, have purchased Audi's. I was eager to sit in the A4, the A6, and especially the tt. But that was not to be. I really don't understand why manufacturers spend a ton of money to exhibit in NY and then make the cars off limits. Strange.

It appears that Porsche and Audi were alone among German automakers in locking their cars. Mercedes had an open-car policy, althouth the S-class experience is not my cup of tea. I was more interested in sitting in the VW's. VW has a nice range of cars. The new Beetle Turbonium still makes me smile.

So back to the BMW's. Let's start with the new cars. The Z9 did exactly nothing for me, but, judging by the crowds it was attracting, mine was a distinctly minority opinion. I know it is a concept car, but I could not see the point. It looked too big and unwieldy to me. And the new technology seemed a bit far-fetched. There were doors that were both gull-wing and standard. So what? There was a new control design so that hundreds of functions would be controlled by a switch/mouse or two. I had a nightmare vision that my car would have controls that worked like the front of some car sound systems I have seen where a single knob or button does about ten things that I never can remember. I understand that concept cars are meant for flights of imagination. But my imagination flies in other directions.

One car that definitely flies in my direction is the Z8. What an incredible looking automobile. And, by all reports, I would love driving the car too. I generally do not lust for new cars, being quite happy with my pack of E30's and my tii. But I would love a Z8.

Since I own two 325ix's (E30 4-wheel drive), I looked with great interest at the 330xi, the successor to the old ix. It indeed is an impressive looking automobile. The 330xi uses the drive system from the X5, with a fixed front/rear torque split in combination with Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) for presumably very stable handling. The old ix uses a variable tourque split system based on viscous fluid couplings that send torque to the axles/wheels with the most traction. I have always appreciated the elegence of that system since it uses no electronics and relies on changes in the viscous properties of the coupling fluid at different temperatures. The new system may work better, but it has to be more complicated. But that is the way of "progress".

The new E46 M3 looks like a terrific (300HP!!) car, even if some of the styling cues are a bit heavy-handed (e.g., the "power bulge" on the hood and the quad-exhaust). I would love one of these as well. Maybe in a decade or so a used one will have my name on it. It is based on the E46 3-series coupe, which I think is a fundamentally beautiful design. Finally, I have to mention the (now relatively old) M-coupe. This little car turned a lot of heads, with more than one person commenting on how great it looked (and one or two saying how they hated the styling). Now if I could only fit inside.