Months in Fleet: Eight
Mileage to Date: 27,415
It's been a slow month for our 2009 BMW 750Li sedan in that it only accumulated 1728 miles. The reason? Our BMW was still at our New York bureau with Jamie Kitman and Joe Lorio for the majority of the time and right in the middle of the month, both Lorio and Kitman left town to participate in our annual All-Stars test.
Lorio did manage to take the 7-series on at least one extended trip, though: "Four of us - two Cub Scouts and two dads - were setting out for Camden, New Jersey, for an overnight encampment on the battleship New Jersey, which in size and complexity is sort of a spiritual kin to the 7-series. Of course, I planned to hook up the two boys to the two-screen DVD player in the sumptuous back seat. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it to work. I checked the settings in the iDrive: Allow front and rear control? Check. Both wireless headphones working? Check. DVD in the rear slot? Check. Fresh batteries in the remote? Check. But the remote doesn't seem to do anything. We got audio but no video. Consulting with the owner's manual (the paper one) was no help. We ended up taking the old hand-held player."
Last weekend, following the Cadillac CTS-V Challenge, I picked up the BMW 750Li and drove back to Ann Arbor. The trip was a bit more than 600 miles and, as usual, only required stops for fuel and food. It's amazing how quickly miles are covered in cars of this class. Power to pass slower traffic is never a problem with 400 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque available across a wide range of revs. The 126-inch wheelbase makes for a very stable platform for cruising and the car requires a minimal amount of correction to stay on course.
Our next task for the BMW is getting a set of winter tires ordered and mounted so we can tackle the inevitable snow storms that will bear down on Ann Arbor this winter. Check back next month to find out which snow tires we decide to equip our car with and how many miles we can rack up now that it's back home where multiple staffers can fight for the keys. ...next page >>