(I took a spring break trip to Germany in 2013, with the goal of driving a BMW on the autobahn and circling the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Sadly, my day at The Ring was snowed out, but I did drive nearly 2000 km on beautiful derestricted autobahns. What follows are the automotive excerpts from my travel journal.)
Day 1:
The badge on the back of our German rental car says BMW 320d xDrive. (This car is now sold in the USA as the 328d.) To translate the marketing speak, this silver 3-series sedan packs BMW’s midsized 2.0l turbo-diesel engine and turns the wheels using AWD. As it turns out, the car is brand new with just 200km on the odometer. It is also fully equipped with the sports line package and its improved suspension, a color head up display, moonroof, 6 speed manual, and navigation. (I guess yesterday’s investment in an Android GPS app was unnecessary!)
It was a quick shot out of the Frankfurt airport complex to the A3 autobahn. The head up display gives me the distance and instruction for the upcoming turn, including which lane I need to be in for multi-lane intersections. The HUD also displays my speed and the legal limit for the current stretch of road. It takes just a few minutes on the A3 before the coveted end-of-restrictions sign appears. We are now on a derestricted autobahn!
I choose to ease my way into higher speeds. After all, I am a little sleep deprived after our redeye flight from Philadelphia. I start at 150kph, then try cruising at 160kph (~100mph) for a while. Ultimately, I find the 320d settles in quite comfortably at 180kph (~110mph). The BMW has a quick steering response off-center and at first I sway around in my lane. After a short time acclimating, I get used to the steering speed and hold my lane more Germanically.
We arrived in Germany in early March. Per German regulations all cars must be shod with snow tires up until March 15. As I continue exploring higher speeds, the snow tires become less and less comfortable with their task. Their displeasure with my speeds is particularly noticeable at 200kph.
The 2.0l diesel engine revs to 5k RPM, but after 4k it is really time to shift. The engine is very unhappy at the top of its rev range and the meat of its torque is lower down anyway. Even though the car is geared long, I can basically just use 6th gear my autobahn strafing, as there is plenty of torque to pull my from 100kph onwards.
Closing in on Bamberg, our destination for the day, the car’s HUD shows a warning sign indicating there is an accident ahead on the highway. Sure enough, a few minutes later the traffic draws to a halt. Some poor fellow has put his car into both the left and right guard rails, and his car is blocking the left lane. He seems to be okay though, as he and his family have spread out a picnic blanket on the edge of the highway and they are talking with Polizei.
I am very impressed with the navigation in this car! I have not used a system before which gives me real-time information on traffic, accidents and roadwork. I really like how the system has the ability to reroute me around jams too.
Day 2:
Returning from a visit to the Altenburg hilltop castle, I stop to investigate the 320d’s equipment more closely. I’ve been concerned that the snow tires might have a low-ish speed rating which will constrain me on the autobahn. Inspecting the sidewalls for the speed rating, I notice that the Bridgestone Potenza S001’s are not actually snow tires at all but instead are summer run flats. I’ve now got my license to bomb the autobahn!
I spend five minutes playing with adjustments to the manual sports seats. They raise, lower, tip fore and aft, adjust lumbar, and extend thigh support. I was able to sink the seat down low enough that I can now look under the rear view mirror; yesterday I was ducking every time I peered forward and to the right. With all the adjustments that are available I am able to find a really comfortable seating position.
So far the BMW 320d has impressed me as being a comfortable car with a sporting ride. Alas, the diesel engine is not sporting, even if it is a willing partner to take me to high speeds. The engine lacks all of the aural cues that excite a car enthusiast (me!), and while it will whoosh me forward it does so without the fast revving rush of a petrol engine. I like the car, but it has not hooked me as a must-buy ride.
Day 3:
I take the autobahn south to Inglostadt, home of Audi, where we will tour the A3 production line this morning. Traffic is pretty light and south of Nuremburg I hit an indicated 237kph (~147mph) on a downhill stretch. (BMW claims a top speed of 233kph for this model.) It took a while to get to this velocity, as the 320d is pretty slow to accelerate over 210kph. In today’s world where most sports cars boast top speeds of 180mph and higher, I did not know if the little Bimmer would feel fast at top speed. Well, I am happy to report that 237kph does really feel fast to this gear head! It’s definitely the fastest I driven any car, breaking my prior record of 135 mph in my Evo IX at Watkins Glen raceway.
Driving the 320d is very comfortable and the car is very stable, but I am disappointed by how little feedback I get from the steering wheel and how the action of the 6-speed manual is long and slightly balky when rowing the gears. My 3-series highlights continue to be the built-in navigation system and color HUD.
Day 4:
During our visit to the gorgeous Residenz Wurzburg, the first in a forecast series of snow storms arrives. The snow is falling fast, so I decide it’s best to cancel our dinner plans and drive back to Bamberg while there is still light in the sky. Leaving the Residenz I turn off the stability control and do a little four-wheel drift in the parking lot for fun, then I head north to the A70 to Bamberg as the BMW’s navigation is reporting an accident which has clogged the A3.
The drive was harrowing to say the least. The snow falls steadily throughout the whole trip, and the snowplows are few and far between. While I praised the 320d’s summer tires yesterday, today they are a curse. On the city streets I am tenderly tiptoeing through the snowy slurry covering the road. On the autobahn I kept to the slow lane and tracked behind the heavy trucks, as the trucks cleared two strips of black pavement for me to employ.
The BMW navigation notifies me that there is an accident somewhere past Eltmann, and suggests I take a B-road to avoid the traffic jam. I follow its advice and end up on completely unplowed roads tracing the southern bank of the Main River. All is well until I come to the final roundabout which will send me north across the river and back to the A70. As I slowly circulate its tight circumference, the BMW loses grip at the front wheels and starts plowing towards the curb. I cannot regain control in time, but at least I have the presence of mind to straighten the wheel before I jump the curb (it is mercifully small!) and clobber an innocent shrubbery. I’m momentarily stuck in shock, straddling the shrub, traffic continuing to circulate behind me. I back out, then find a pullout and inspect the car. Beyond a twig wedged under the front bumper, all appears OK, so I continue on.
I stick to the main highways as much as possible, do a nail-biting transit of Bamberg in an inch of snow and then victoriously arrive home.
The unsurprising moral to the day is that even with AWD, summer tires are dangerously useless in the snow.
Day 7:
I drive up into the hills along the Rhine River to test the car on twisting roads. The BMW 320d wakes up a little when I pressure it to perform. There is quick turn-in response, solid cornering control, and torquey pick-up. Still, the BMW’s steering lacks feedback to tell me if I am approaching the limits of the capable chassis. The steering is too quiet and disconnected in this regard. The car is very neutral at the 7/10ths pace I am driving, and thankfully the xDrive AWD doesn’t seem to be introducing understeer.
Day 8:
My route to the Frankfurt Airport is on the autobahn, but the derestricted segment I encounter is very short and a bit too traffic and I only managed to hit 180kmh once. I’d hoped to do a little more high speed driving than that on my last day in Germany.
After a week with the BMW 320d, I can attest to it being comfortable, capable and fast. Fine breeding is obvious in the 320d, even if its engine doesn’t have enough grunt to challenge a chassis designed for the much faster 335i. What the 320d lacks in involvement due to the absent steering feel and the low-revving character of the diesel engine, it makes up for with good highway dynamics and excellent electronic conveniences.
Ah, the autobahn! It is the real highlight of this trip. There is such freedom in being trusted to drive your car to its limits! Having driven hundreds of kilometers of derestricted autobahn in the last week, I now have a new understanding and appreciation for BMW (and its German competition too). Cars engineered for cruising at +200kph for hours at a time really do come out solider, safer, and more efficient than the rest.
Mike's Steering Column 