Who has two thumbs and loves the '79 Eldorado? This guy . I spent more time writing about it that I spent writing about Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Maseratis ... combined. What made the great '79 Eldorado? All . It was designed with clarity and purpose force ever seen on a Cadillac. There was a solid powertrain standard, although the engines and the option HT4100 later tend to misbehave. The packaging was beautiful inside and out :. Plate but spacious, small enough to be worry-free in a parking lot, but big enough to be recognized Cadillac
More importantly, it was the last great cut of a company that had a reputation for building brilliant luxury two-door. (The CTS-V Coupe had pace but had neither space nor grace.) As a declaration of personal wealth, taste and maturity, not really satisfied automobile as a coo-pay full-size luxury. The man behind the wheel of an S-Class sedan and Cadillac XTS always risks being taken for a driver when the driver of a luxury SUV still likely to be correctly identified as a fool. No, in order to convey the correct image to everyone valets to single ladies of society, it is essential to drive a coupe.
This leads me to the BMW 640i Convertible, praised by me this weekend in order to escape winter and relaxing Jonas disaster in central Florida ... but why am I talking about El Dorado in a review of what is intended to be a German sports coupe? And I may quote Marcus Aurelius after the jump, seemingly without purpose? You probably know the answer to these two questions, dear reader.
This thing, what in itself, in its own constitution? What is its substance and material? And what is the causal [or form]? And what does he do in the world? And how long does it stand?
So sayeth Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-king of Rome. You probably know at least part of this quote from "The Silence of the Lambs." To be honest, that's where I heard it first. I'm moving to reading "Meditations" to the end of my 20s.
Yet, just because he's in a movie does not make it not true. Then what is the 640i by itself? There is a convertible 4255-pound four-seater powered by the venerable, on-the-way-out, 3-liter single-turbo BMW six. (This engine in a series 4 is badged the 435i, while the new B58 three-liter turbo in series 3 is badged a 340i. Go figure.) You get 315 horsepower through an eight-speed automatic torque converter to the rear wheels only. If you really feel the need to have a convertible AWD, however, xDrive is available. Base price is $ 87,400 without it.
I would like to take a moment to express my considerable dissatisfaction with the name of the thing. This car could be legitimately called 630CSi, which would honor this brilliant and beautiful cup brought here by BMW in 1977. He could also be called 635CSi, in line with the "335i" and "435i" badging and previously used elsewhere. This also would be a nice touch. Instead, it is just a 640i. Oh good.
Truly, it is just as well that it is not called 630CSi. This old Bimmer E24 car was a quite stunning, you met in Euro-shaped chrome bumper trim or M6 bespoiled. Even the worst of all possible E24s, the bumper impact, L6 luxed-up, was a beautiful and visually striking car. This one, however, fades from my memory the minute I'm not looking. I understand that the company is trying to walk back some of that unsightly Bangle Series 6. Even me, the biggest fan of Chris Bangle, can not bring myself to like this boletus, round shoulders Six. Yet a little visual drama would not hurt. As it stands, it is a slab of undifferentiated a car that, once stripped of the Hofmeister kink that his cut and sedan four-door coupe brethren have, like anything as the fourth generation LS1 Firebird droptop formula.
The interior is pleasant and reasonably well furnished, but a basic Audi S5 does a better job of communicating an upscale ambience. There are a lot of plastic here and much of it is rock-hard.
Yet it is inside where this car really starts to reveal its purpose and intent. " What is its substance and material? " asked Aurelius, and the answer is once you open the door of the 640i and start experiencing its myriad of truly admirable features. Seats: nice and comfortable, with heating elements that reach all the way to the back of the driver. Climate control offers the choice of the driver and individual air passenger direction and temperature. This is a marriage of characteristic economy, assuming that you are married to a woman who is always cold, but also can not stand the hot air blowing in his face. This describes every woman I've ever met.
As is almost always the case with Bimmers even so degraded today, the relative positioning of the seat, steering wheel, shifter and associated controls is more or less beyond reproach. If you can not be comfortable in this car, the problem is most likely yours. I did not want to tell about the handle of the fully electronic console, which adds buttons and complexity where none is required, but some of BMW's competitors are better in this respect now .
Actually, electronic shifter of the company was at its most honest and admirable when he was a little column on the rod E65 Siebener lo there fifteen years. Unfortunately, the company's marketing department has polluted the purity original idea because the average moron on the street can not be content until he can go around with his hand on the lever aimlessly speeds like a clumsy four years into his wee-wee in public because he is afraid. So now there is a lever on the console for you to hold between shifts. But if you do, you do it wrong. real race drivers do not touch the gear lever unless they move. To do another way is to be a douchebag. STAHHHHP IT.
The dashboard is a single compelling video screen that mimics the classic BMW instrumentation. At night it turns into a system of false orange-lit, echoing what the driver of a 1984 325th have been possible.
A remarkable amount of thought was put into the presentation of false gauges, right to the fact that the nearest number of the indicator "needle" swells slightly . It is usable and readable in all lighting conditions. Good, too, is the multi-purpose center stack display. five-year headstart on BMW iDrive with its competitors is quite evident from the ease with which one can navigate through the various functions of the navigation system and stereo.
The soft top operates quickly and without hassle. There is an additional feature in the form of a rear window which can be raised and lowered with a button on the driver's door. When the roof is in place, lowering this window allows some engine noise and wind to enter the cabin; when the roof is lowered, raising the window acts as a wind stop, allowing the car to be driven up and down by 40 degrees time without turbulence or excessive heat loss from the cockpit.
How does it drive? Well, your humble author has some experience with mega-powered versions of the car, after being impressed with the Comp pack M6 at Motown Mile, but charmed by a manual six M6 Gran Coupe speed Nelson Ledges. It is not either thereof. Throw in sport mode, the combination of the turbo six and the automatic alert is briefly "brapping" between shifts as a Volkswagen GTI DSG-equipped, but it is not particularly fast. My impression was that he was not faster than my Accord Coupe, an impression reinforced by C / D instrumented test that gives Honda a 0.3-second edge in quarter mile of.
The same impression, that of general jurisdiction, without excitement, applies to the handling of this convertible. Cowl shake just does not happen, at least not on Florida roads, and 640i can capture fine twice the posted speed limit around all offramp happen to meet, but there are not many joy in the process. Steering feel is cut, at least. The journey on the other hand, is simply outstanding. True, I could have been biased by the fact that my other vehicle for the weekend was a Roadmaster motorcycle Indian tourism, a 100 mph paint shaker for two that can exceed the 640i but not come near outhandling, but I ' was rather surprised by BMW's ability to stifle the bumps.
consider the last two questions that are given by Marcus Aurelius. " What is he doing in the world? " Well, he does not do things sports cars. If you load nearly ten thousand dollars for something that can not exceed an agreement, it's not a sports car. Sorry. No, I'm afraid it's a luxury car. This is a good thing, mind you. BMW used to make a habit of paying luxury car prices for vehicles that only work well either sport or luxury cars. The Bangle Sixer was an example of this: it is mounted as a dog sled accelerated as a sick dog, and like the ass of a dog. The 640i, however, is pleasant and composed. It is a brilliant car in Florida, offering a tour and features thoughtful smooth galore.
is the kind of thing so well with Cadillac Eldorado. There is something odd about the fact that the current Cadillac ATS-V is a kind of E46 M3 convertible that big imitator then channels the best of American luxury cars droptop. All Eldorado could do, this BMW is as good or better. Even the market positioning is the same; BMW in 2016 is like Cadillac was in 1979, setting sales records while at the same time disappoint many of its traditional customers.
So this is a BMW Eldorado. I am happy. If Cadillac has not the courage to build one, I'll take one of Bavaria. There's just one little thing, and that is the last question of Aurelius: And how long does it remain
only four to twenty ten miles in my weekend, seatbelt system the driver's side, a rather complicated case that "pre-tension" before each workout, and abandoned his belt vomited on the floor. I do not do anything unusual in it; the engine that pulls tight just died. I found myself much feed belt I could come back in the seat and hoping I did not crash into anything. While I understand the logic behind a motor located in the seat belt system - it allows you to fold the seat forward and allow passengers in (a little cramped) rear seats free of interference from a B-pillar-mounted band - there are times I think the technical adventurism can be taken too far, even an admirable idea service.
Eldorados the '79, too, were creatures of the moment. Most of them were pretty well worn before they reach their 10th birthday. This is part of being a luxury car mass market. They are great to have when they are new and under warranty. So too will be the 640i. I would not look for them on the lawn of your local BMW club show two decades from now. It is an indulgence, an outboard smooth riding for good weather and good times. Marcus would not agree with it; he wrote that famous "Whoever continues as pleasure and avoids pain as evil, is guilty of impiety." This fan Eldorado two-thumbed, on the other hand, can dig.
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