A few days ago, I received an invitation from BMW North America to participate in the annual BMW Ultimate Driving Event for the third time in a row, which is a full-range model test drive event officially organized by BMW North America, mainly for BMW owners and interested customers, generally held in the first half of the year, and will be held in many places.
The event is generally led around a single car and offers a test drive of the venue Quimpharna and a test drive on the street. This year's main model is the North American special BMW 5 Series: 540i xDrive.
1. Background of the event
This is the third time I have participated in this event, and first of all, I would like to talk about the impression of this event in my mind: it is great! It is worth learning from our domestic market! In the first two years of the event, BMW has brought a lot of show cars, for example, there was the debut of the new M2 last year, and the M3 and M4 were not absent from the exhibition space.
There are also a lot of locations to choose from, and there are basically a lot of venues in major cities in the United States. The Gymkhana event was the i4 M50+330e hybrid model last year, although there were no big highlights, but the experience was also good, especially the 330e gave me a very good impression. The first two years of the street test drive were also very varied, covering almost all of BMW's non-M models (but last year there was still the X5 M), although there were no M models to test drive, but there were many MPA models, from the X2 M35i (F chassis) to the X7 M60i.
And everyone has 20 minutes to test drive the streets, which means that the staff will give us the car keys and forget about it, and we can experience these Ultimate Driving Machines on the nearby streets/highways, which is very, very good.
However, this year's event was not as good as it could have been, first of all, the location of the event was greatly reduced, and I drove nearly 700 kilometers a day to participate in this event. The second is that the Gymkhana venue has become very small, almost a rectangular track, and it is impossible to fully experience the 540 class. Each person only had 3 laps of test drives, but fortunately, after communicating with the staff, I was able to drive 9 laps, haha! The number of models for street test drives this year has also been greatly reduced, and there are a total of 9 cars to choose from.
In addition to the new X2 M35i, I have driven or owned these cars, and the most important thing is that I need to follow the team leader this year, and fierce driving is not allowed throughout the whole process, so what is the point of test driving?
2. How does the 540 drive?
Let's talk about the new 540i (G60) that you are most interested in, and I am more interested, I won't talk about the exterior and interior, including the ride experience, before the new i5 launched the event, I think I have talked in more detail. The 540 is almost indistinguishable from other G60 5 series, and the exhaust is also hidden.
Although my M340i also has a 48V motor, the car can still resound throughout the garage, whether it is a cold start or a hot car. I don't know why this generation of 540 deliberately lowered the exhaust sound of the car + idling.
In this small field, I drove more gently for the first two laps, and the low-speed response of the whole front was still particularly good, which may be mainly due to BMW's new EPS steering machine, which is precise but not obtrusive, and the damping feeling of the steering wheel is far better than that of the G30 5 Series, which is just the right amount of weight that was missing from the previous generation model.
One of the benefits of a small track is that you can better experience whether a car of this size has a "small car feeling" when driving. In my opinion, I don't feel that I am driving a car of this size, whether it is high-speed interspersed on the road, or low-speed movement, I can "take care of the tail", in other words, as long as the front of the car passes, the ass must also be able to come, this is my definition of the car feeling, and then the popular point may be that the rear of the car needs to have a good following.
The last few laps I was more intensely driving, let's talk about this generation of 540i, even if the test drive is equipped with the M Sport package, it is still only M Sport sports suspension, which is lower and stiffer than the standard version, and there is no optional rear-wheel steering or electromagnetic suspension, which is still a little different from the previous generation 5 Series. During the previous generation of 5 series pure oil, the M550i holographic is equipped with electromagnetic suspension as standard, and can be equipped with an optional active anti-roll bar + rear-wheel steering to improve low- and medium-speed handling.
Although it doesn't have electromagnetism, the all-new 540i still performs well at low and medium speeds in intense driving. There is roll, but it is well suppressed, significantly better than the previous model, and although I personally feel that the roll is more, the limit also comes later, and the front end is more willing to corner. At the same time, with the ESC open, the xDrive will also push the rear of the car faster out of the corner to enter the line, and the whole car can be simply understood as more traceable, rather than the previous generation's more slippery butt (single finger G30 540i xDrive).
The Hankook Star Four Seasons tires with the test drive have been "erased from the edges and corners" when I drove it, so if the operation is wrong, the whole car still loves to push the head, but I think this still depends on the driver and this bad tire, if you change to summer tires, everyone who knows knows that it is as good as releasing nature for BMW.
I have to admit that if I drive the new 540i to the track to brush laps, it may not be faster than the G30, but this car is indeed more controllable, and more suitable for more ordinary people to enjoy more driving pleasure within limited technology, just like BMW's slogan - "Sheer Driving Pleasure".
The transmission downshift is still crisp and sharp, and I think it's more comfortable than the previous generation 8HP51, and I'm more willing to maintain high revs and respond well at low speeds. Speaking of response, the new 540i has an excellent power response, I don't know if this is due to the addition of 48V, because again, my M340i does not respond very well at low speeds, unless it has always maintained the state of "biting the butt of the car in front", the smoothness of this B58 power output is softer, and it will not feel like the car has been holding its strength, this linearity is very similar to the N63 in the medium speed state, which can give people the kind of calm feeling brought by large displacement.
There is nothing to talk about in the brakes, and it can still be carried after a morning of intense driving, as long as you dare to step on it, you can stop, I didn't check the specific size, but the size of this caliper and brake disc has been improved compared with the previous generation model.
Although the exhaust of the G60 5 series is hidden, but the throttle is pressed, the sound is still online, a video was specially recorded, you can take a look, I know that there is no original surging, but it is really much better than the six-cylinder of the friend.
As for the 540i's more in-depth driving experience, I want to borrow one from the store when I have a car. However, the 540i has been on the market for half a year, and it is still difficult to find a car. i5That's outrageous, haha.
3. Small easter eggs
In this event, BMW pulled two large flagships, XM Red Label & i7 M70, as show cars.
I have to say, it's really handsome, XM as an experimental breakthrough model I really like, i7 M70's aura has nothing to say, as half of the G12 750i owner, after watching the i7 M70 and then go home to drive the G12, I really feel that the times are changing, haha! I asked for the keys to these two cars from the management of the event, and I had a good experience of static, XM is still acting as always, looking at the center console, this is a BMW, but when I look up and see the roof, or when I look back, I see the "big sofa" in the back row will play in an instant, but I still have to sigh that BMW is too creative.
The i7 M70 is the flagship version of the new 7 Series, and the show car is also a large full configuration, with executive seats in the rear, so I mainly experienced the difference between the rear row and the previous generation. It's really great, this generation of BMW, whether it is 5 Series or 7 Series, the comfort of the seat itself has been greatly improved, and the 7 Series is even more so, even if it is an upright sitting posture, it is very stretched, and the whole person is even more relaxed in the state of "lying flat".
And it's good to have an integrated leg rest, I'm not sure if it comes with a leg rest for the four-seater version of the previous generation model, but my 750i is optional with a rear executive seat bag, so it will be a little tiring to ride the calf for a long time. Speaking of the new 7 Series, the ride experience is very good in all aspects, but the small screen is indeed slightly difficult to use, but it's okay, and the big iD8.5 in the front row is not bad.
Editor's Comments:
Although the all-new 540i did not make it to the domestic market, it still has a high level of attention among BMW fans. Thanks to the wonderful and detailed sharing of the 540i driving experience with Aggreko, which is overseas, it can also be seen that the blessing of the 48V mild hybrid has changed this inline six-cylinder medium and large sedan - quiet and calm, and the charm of the fuel vehicle remains unchanged under the electric shock effect.
Compared with the electric driving fun of the i5 M60 that can be bought in China, what interesting points can we find? Regardless of petrol or electricity, BMW always brings pure driving pleasure.
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