Looking For A New Baby No. 3

2006 BMW 540






Nothing about this car says cheap. For a cool $60K, this could be everybody's version of an automotive wet dream. But like Toyota, BMW nickels and dimes you to death with the additional options. Toyota still charges for ABS brakes on some of their cars!

I've driven Japanese cars most of my life. It started with a Honda Civic EX. At that time, it was a cool car. It still is but it's become such an ubiquitous car and almost every garage has one. Then I drove the Civic's cousin, the Integra. I loved my Acura Integra! That was a pocket rocket! I drove that car like crazy. I remember driving it to Texas (and back) and not seeing one like it. But once I switched to European cars (I have an MB SLK 230 now and a Saab 9-5), there is just no comparison.

The one thing that I can say about European cars is their love for little buttons on the dash (and everywhere). Whereas Japanes cars are more intuitive and ergonomically well-designed, Europeans are determined to add some more buttons to make it complicated.

So what's to love with the new BMW? Where do I start? But the coolest things are its dedicated iPod dock, its voice-activated satellite navigation system and its Bluetooth capability. If you have a cell phone with Bluetooth, you can set it up where you can make and receive calls without headsets or earpieces. The car has a "heads up system" where it projects information on a small area of the windshield: it can show caller IDs, songs playing on the XM radio or even what's playing on your iPod. All designed so you don't have to fumble and search for your phone or your iPod. Pretty neat when I saw the demo.