2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is

This Z4 sDrive35is (what a mouthful) has a smooth, powerful, turbocharged six-cylinder, a stellar dual-clutch automatic, and all kinds of dynamic capabilities, but I confess that I barely noticed any of that, because on the night I drove this car it was experiencing some kind of malfunction of the remote keyless system. When I unlocked the car with the remote, it was making as noise as if the radio was turned to a frequency that was emitting only static -- except that the car wasn't running and the radio wasn't turned on. I shut the door, locked the car with the remote, and then hit the remote again to unlock the doors. Same static, which sounded as if it was coming through the stereo speakers. I got in, started the car, turned on the radio, turned off the radio, and shut off the engine. I put my left hand in, I put my left hand out, I did the hokey-pokey and I turned myself about (OK, not really). I finally gave up, got in the car, and drove it home, with that loud static in my ears for the entire trip. When I arrived home a very long 25 minutes later, I locked and unlocked the car numerous times, and was finally able to get the static to stop. I was so relieved that when I drove to work the following morning the only thing I noticed was the blissful quiet. Amy Skogstrom, Managing Editor