Well I just upgraded my 2003 Volkswagen Jetta to a 2006 BMW 325i. It has so many cool features that I decided to write them down. Turns out that I have a blog, so I figured this would be a great place to do so. Here goes:
- The headlights are Xenon (the wicked cool blue ones), and they turn to point where you’re steering.
- It comes with BMW Assist, which will call BMW if I’m ever in an accident and tell them where I am so they can send an ambulance.
- I also go the concierge service, so I can call them whenever I want and have them look stuff up for me. They can give me directions, make reservations for me at hotels, or just sit there and talk to me. One of the cool applications I thought of was being able to call people when you are not in mobile phone range.
- The tires are run-flat, so if I have a “blowout”, the result is an indicator light on my console rather than death and destruction.
- The brakes are sick. If you take your foot off the gas quickly, the car knows you might be heading for the brakes and automatically shores up the distance between the brake pad and the wheel to avoid that delay when you do actually hit the brake.
- Oh, and in wet weather the car gently touches the brakes to the wheel every once in a while in order to burn off the moisture. This makes braking in wet weather just about the same as under normal conditions.
- I have a manual transmission (as if there was a question), and when you’re on a hill it’ll hold the car in place while you move from the brake to the throttle. Sooooo sweet.
- The side mirrors can automatically fold in at a press of a button.
- The car starts via a “start” button, and the “key” is a rectangle doohickey that you insert into the dash.
- The transmission/shifting on the car is masterful. It’s so smooth that it’s fun just to change gears.
- The turn signal is like nothing I’ve ever seen; you basically just touch it a little bit in order to change lanes, and then you actually push it down more to signal a turn. The cool part about it is that it doesn’t make the bone-snapping sound like most signals — instead it’s a smooth bump feeling. Rich, very rich.
- The steering wheel on the sports package is thicker than normal. This adds to the experience although I don’t know why.
- The winshield wipers have an auto mode that lets you just turn it on and forget about managing the wipers. If there’s barely a mist, it’ll get it every once in a while. If it’s a heavy downpour it will change to maximum speed automatically.
Anyway, I’m sure I’ll think of more stuff to add, but that’s a start.