WEBVTT - Into the BMW i5 M60 and 540i xDrive

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<v Speaker 1>Hello, and welcome to Car and Drivers Into Cars, a

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<v Speaker 1>podcast from iHeartMedia is Ruby Studio, brought to you by

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<v Speaker 1>eBay Motors. I'm Tony ki Roger, the editor in chief

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<v Speaker 1>of Car and Driver, and I'm joined by my co host,

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<v Speaker 1>former editor in chief and current Chief Brand and Content Officer,

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<v Speaker 1>Eddie Alterman, and together We're Into Cars.

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<v Speaker 2>Each episode of this podcast covers a new car we

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<v Speaker 2>think is worthy of your attention. The cars we select

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<v Speaker 2>for this podcast may feature a novel design, cutting edge engineering,

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<v Speaker 2>or offer something entirely new. We'll be covering the stories

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<v Speaker 2>behind the cars too, answering the whys and exploring the whats.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll drive the cars and let you listen in, and

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<v Speaker 2>then we'll sit down with the people who made the

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<v Speaker 2>cars to answer our questions about them. Come along for

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<v Speaker 2>the ride and you'll hear it all the good, the bad,

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<v Speaker 2>and the ugly in the way that only carent Driver delivers.

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<v Speaker 2>So today we've got two BMW's to drive and talk about.

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<v Speaker 2>Two BMW's, but they're the same car. It's the five series,

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<v Speaker 2>but the gas version and the EV version.

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<v Speaker 1>And it basically comes down to a customer's choice. Do

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<v Speaker 1>you want battery or gas tank charging station or gas station.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you want a turbot charge in line six or

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<v Speaker 1>an electric motor? I mean, it's an interesting choice, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's a choice that more and more people are going

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<v Speaker 1>to be facing over the next five ten years.

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<v Speaker 2>BMW has a really interesting approach here within the envelope

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<v Speaker 2>of the five series. You can get a mild hybrid

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<v Speaker 2>gas engine or a full EV. You can just pick

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<v Speaker 2>which technology you want.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, it comes down to what do you want, what

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<v Speaker 1>fits your needes. They have both options and you get

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<v Speaker 1>the exact same car essentially. And maybe it comes from

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<v Speaker 1>being a little gun shy after building something like the

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<v Speaker 1>BMWi three, which launched about a decade ago, carbon fiber structure.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a purpose built EV. It was super practical,

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<v Speaker 1>It had some quirkiness that people sort of expected of evs,

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<v Speaker 1>but it just didn't sell. So this this might be

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<v Speaker 1>a reaction against that. That must have been a pretty

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<v Speaker 1>expensive mistake.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the I three was super exotic. The interior was incredible.

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<v Speaker 2>It had suicide doors, these tiny little sort of bicycle tires.

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<v Speaker 2>They built a concept car that was actually pretty affordable,

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<v Speaker 2>didn't have a ton of range, and it sort of

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<v Speaker 2>looked like a science experiment.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, did you ever look at the rear end of

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<v Speaker 1>that thing? It looked like it was swallowing a nine

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<v Speaker 1>to eleven. If you look at the rear bumper of

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<v Speaker 1>that car, it looks like it's just a nine to

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<v Speaker 1>eleven has driven into the I three and just you

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<v Speaker 1>can just see the bottom of its tail.

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<v Speaker 2>Like, I'll have to take a look. But they are

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<v Speaker 2>sort of gunshy, I would say.

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<v Speaker 1>And EV adoption, the timeline has kept changing. Having two powertrains,

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<v Speaker 1>an electric and a gas one on the same platform

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<v Speaker 1>allows them to have flexibility. So if the market is

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<v Speaker 1>turning away from eves, if the market's turning towards gas

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<v Speaker 1>or vice versa, they have some flexibility to move more

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<v Speaker 1>evs or more gas cars. And I think that makes

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<v Speaker 1>total sense. Yeah, that's right.

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<v Speaker 2>You can scale production of one model based on consumer

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<v Speaker 2>demand instead of shoving this stuff down people's throats, you know.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think that's been a lot of that EV backlash.

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<v Speaker 2>It's been due to people saying, you know what, I

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<v Speaker 2>still want an internal combustion car. The ultimate freedom is

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<v Speaker 2>choice and BMW allows people to have that freedom. And

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<v Speaker 2>the five series is really an icon of the sports

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<v Speaker 2>Sinanan World and the E thirty four version, the E

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<v Speaker 2>thirty nine version. These were sort of seen as the

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<v Speaker 2>pinnacle of the mid size sports sedan, and so I

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<v Speaker 2>think the question before us today is is the electric

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<v Speaker 2>a better sports sedan than the gas version.

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<v Speaker 1>So today we have the top of the five series ranges.

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<v Speaker 1>We have the top gas engine car, which is the

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<v Speaker 1>five forty I X drive, and then we've got the

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<v Speaker 1>I five M sixty. So we've got the top ones

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<v Speaker 1>until the M five shows up. The five forty in

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<v Speaker 1>traditional BMWA has terbocharged in line six, and I want

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<v Speaker 1>to see how that compares to the I five M sixty.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, the I five M sixty has a lot

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<v Speaker 1>more power. It's got five hundred and ninety three horsepower.

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<v Speaker 1>It's also got a lot more weight. Yes, it is

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<v Speaker 1>a bit heavier, but it is. It's also more expensive.

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<v Speaker 1>It's close to twenty thousand dollars more expensive than the

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<v Speaker 1>more but it got a lot more power. You got

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<v Speaker 1>more than two hundred more horsepower.

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<v Speaker 2>And there's three levels to the I five. Right, there's

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<v Speaker 2>the rear drive you know, base car, which is three

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<v Speaker 2>hundred and thirty five horse power, which is plenty quick

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<v Speaker 2>the three hundred and eighty nine horse power Extrive forty version,

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<v Speaker 2>and then this top Dog, which, as you say, is

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<v Speaker 2>almost six hundred horse power, which is you know, adequate.

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<v Speaker 2>They really look very very similar. You'd be hard pressed

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<v Speaker 2>to see which is the EV and which is the

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<v Speaker 2>ice version. But let's go out into the parking lot

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<v Speaker 2>do a little walk around and see what those differences

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<v Speaker 2>really are.

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<v Speaker 1>We're standing in front of the I five Eddie and

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<v Speaker 1>the five forty. I can't see the badges. Which one's

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<v Speaker 1>the gas one, which one's the electric. It is extraordinarily

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<v Speaker 1>hard to tell. They're the same.

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<v Speaker 2>They're the same. I mean they both have the same

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<v Speaker 2>plastic grill. One has an M badge, so maybe that's

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<v Speaker 2>the gas one. But then I look at the BMW

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<v Speaker 2>rondel and it has a blue ring around.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, that's the Oh and it's got that on

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<v Speaker 1>the wheels too.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, so that's but the wheels are exactly the same. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>the height of the cars are exactly the same, the

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<v Speaker 2>size is exactly the same, The body is the same.

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<v Speaker 1>They've got the same body kit.

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<v Speaker 2>If you look at the five forty, it has that

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<v Speaker 2>sort of thick rocker section you go, oh, that's the evy. No,

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<v Speaker 2>it's the exactly the same.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this one just doesn't have a battery in it

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<v Speaker 1>in that space. That's basically it. I mean, if you

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<v Speaker 1>look really close, the tires are different. It's the same

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<v Speaker 1>kind of tire, but the I five has a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit more tire. It's a wider tire. Yeah, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>got the new HL rating for tires, which is for

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<v Speaker 1>heavy load. Because this is a big boy at like

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<v Speaker 1>over fifty two hundred pounds. Oh my god. And so

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<v Speaker 1>what is the five. It's also a big boy. I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's around forty three hundred pounds. Let's walk around

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<v Speaker 1>the back. Okay, they don't even show off the exhaust pipe,

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<v Speaker 1>so you get this like pseudo diffuser on both cars,

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<v Speaker 1>but you can't even see the exhaust.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh difference, different license plates and one is red and

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<v Speaker 2>one is blue. But other than that, it's nothing. And

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<v Speaker 2>I do have to say these are some of the

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<v Speaker 2>least grotesque is coming out of the Doctor Font's laboratory.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah, they've been edited for sure.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, looking at you, XM, these look like proper luxury cars,

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<v Speaker 2>high reard.

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<v Speaker 1>Deck, the proportions are right, it's got the long dash

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<v Speaker 1>to axle, which is the distance from the middle of

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<v Speaker 1>the front wheel to the windshield. That shows it's not

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<v Speaker 1>a front wheel drive car basically exactly. They're pretty.

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<v Speaker 2>They do have that kind of angularity and some of

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<v Speaker 2>the graphics that is so popular these days.

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, it's not the brick that the I seven

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<v Speaker 1>and the seventh series are. It looks more like a

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<v Speaker 1>five series has always looked. Here's another Easter egg. Oh

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<v Speaker 1>on the B pillars A five middle post of the cars.

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<v Speaker 1>A little five. That's cool in case you forget what

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<v Speaker 1>you're driving.

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<v Speaker 2>How do we feel about the electric wearing the M badge?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I mean it has almost six hundred horse bar,

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<v Speaker 1>so I feel okay with it. Okay, I can make

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<v Speaker 1>I can make.

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<v Speaker 2>Peace with it. Well that's the xterior. Let's talk about

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<v Speaker 2>the interior.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's up inside. Would you hear that? It's got startup music.

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<v Speaker 1>We're looking at carbon fiber trim. It's got this huge

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<v Speaker 1>center screen, which is a touch screen. I like this touch.

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<v Speaker 1>When you turn the hazard lights on, illuminates.

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<v Speaker 2>The the whole hype lights.

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<v Speaker 1>The whole hYP lights up, so you can't just leave

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<v Speaker 1>your hazard lights on. It's got the M sports seats,

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<v Speaker 1>which are really comfortable. It's got the M steering wheel

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<v Speaker 1>with a little red piece of leather in the middle,

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<v Speaker 1>so you know what the top is, which is kind

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<v Speaker 1>of hilarious.

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<v Speaker 2>Decently upright windshield for cars these days.

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<v Speaker 1>That's very true. Yeah, and this one's got a big.

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<v Speaker 2>Hud head up display, which, yeah, exactly always turn off.

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<v Speaker 1>I hate those. Oh you don't like those. I'm a

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<v Speaker 1>big fan.

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<v Speaker 2>I find it so distracting. I'm not a toimecap pilot.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not Maverick. I don't need it. I'm not even Goose.

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<v Speaker 1>It has the latest version of I Drive. BMW still

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<v Speaker 1>has eye drive. I think it's like I Drive thirty

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<v Speaker 1>seven point two. But yeah, so you still get the

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<v Speaker 1>big knob, you still get the big control now. But

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<v Speaker 1>you know, mercifully, BMW puts a touchscreen into this thing too.

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<v Speaker 2>And I like the width of this car. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>it's so a little less closely coupled than the I four.

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<v Speaker 2>It feels a little bit more luxurious. There's tons of

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<v Speaker 2>leg and knee room. Yeah, it's super comfy. This would

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<v Speaker 2>be an amazing cross country cruiser if it wasn't an EV.

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<v Speaker 1>Although it can fast charge pretty quickly, not as quick

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<v Speaker 1>as some of the fastest cars. It is a DC

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<v Speaker 1>fast charger which can do up to two hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>five kilowatts. It's a four hundred volt system, which isn't

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<v Speaker 1>you know the eight hundred volt system of a pors

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<v Speaker 1>Of ty Can or some of the Hyundai cars, So

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<v Speaker 1>it can't fast charge quite as fast as those.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's really the state of the r right now,

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<v Speaker 2>the eight hundred. And it's funny that, you know, portion

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<v Speaker 2>Audi have it and so does Hyundaikia Genesis, right, yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>I know. Well it's incredibly quiet at idle.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes it has. It has a really nice idol. But

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the in our testing, the five forty is

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<v Speaker 1>only like two or three decibels louder than this at idle.

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<v Speaker 1>So they've really masked the machinery.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, it's going to be interesting to dry these

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<v Speaker 2>things because motor is right in the middle of the

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<v Speaker 2>name yep, and for the longest time that meant engine YEP.

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<v Speaker 2>Now it means actual motor.

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<v Speaker 1>And it meant in in line six for the longest time,

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<v Speaker 1>which at least they still have it. They still make it.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, you can get a four cylinder turbot with

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<v Speaker 1>the five thirty I, and then you can get the

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<v Speaker 1>five forty I, which has you know, the traditional inline

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<v Speaker 1>six at PMW has been making for els. God bless them.

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<v Speaker 1>I caught half of the twelve it is. It basically is.

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<v Speaker 1>It's so smooth, it's so quiet, it's so refined, but

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<v Speaker 1>you still get sound. You don't get the sound in

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<v Speaker 1>the electric Yeah you don't. Let's go step in the

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<v Speaker 1>five forty and see if we can pick out any differences.

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<v Speaker 1>Sounds good. So here we are in the five forty I.

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<v Speaker 1>What do you not first? Yeah, it doesn't have the

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<v Speaker 1>carbon fiber trim, but otherwise it's identical. It doesn't have

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<v Speaker 1>a little red stripe on the steering wheel either, so

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<v Speaker 1>that's I'm not buying this one. Start it up. Let's

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<v Speaker 1>see what it sounds like. Okay, okay, it's very quiet.

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<v Speaker 1>It's got a nice little hum to it.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but everything is exactly as it is in the

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<v Speaker 2>electric version.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's exactly the same. It's it's really kind of freaky.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh you get it's a cometer. Oh right, it's acometer

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<v Speaker 1>instead of a power percentage gauge. How do you feel

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<v Speaker 1>about those gauges? Remember the old BMW gauges. They used

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<v Speaker 1>to take such pride in having large, clear, round analog gauges,

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<v Speaker 1>and now this is what the companies doing. No, it's

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<v Speaker 1>been a.

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<v Speaker 2>Long descent from the days of video and Jaeger gauges,

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<v Speaker 2>or as they say in the Watch World, ja ja.

0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.720
<v Speaker 1>That's what they watchers say. This looks like you remember

0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:18.720
<v Speaker 1>that that video game Tempest. These are the Tempest where

0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:22.680
<v Speaker 1>you're it's Tempest. And the designers must have played Tempest

0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:24.520
<v Speaker 1>at an early age and decided that this is what

0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.600
<v Speaker 1>they want in their gauges. And it's not. They're not

0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:28.480
<v Speaker 1>as clear, they don't work as well.

0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.400
<v Speaker 2>Look, this is an Apple Watch versus a Rolex argument,

0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:34.360
<v Speaker 2>right right right once you rather have the analog thing,

0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.000
<v Speaker 2>you know, especially in an analog seeming car or a

0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.720
<v Speaker 2>car that is old school internal combustion.

0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.360
<v Speaker 1>I want real gauges. All right, let's try.

0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.520
<v Speaker 2>I think what BMW is trying to do here is

0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:52.840
<v Speaker 2>normalize the EV version as just another powertrain choice.

0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.600
<v Speaker 1>Oh interesting, Yeah, it's kind of like it's no different

0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:57.720
<v Speaker 1>than when they offered a diesel in a gas There's

0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.680
<v Speaker 1>really no difference exterior or into or your wise. You

0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:03.120
<v Speaker 1>just have a different decometer, and that's basically the difference here.

0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.000
<v Speaker 2>You want the four, you want the six, or you

0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:09.000
<v Speaker 2>want the uh you know the battery?

0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:15.199
<v Speaker 1>Oh that engines so smooth in the inline six is

0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.240
<v Speaker 1>it doesn't matter if you're at one thousand rpm or

0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:20.280
<v Speaker 1>six thousand rpm. It's just a slightly louder thing, but

0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.480
<v Speaker 1>you feel no vibration coming through the car. It's just

0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.120
<v Speaker 1>isn't an amazing It's so wonderful.

0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:31.080
<v Speaker 2>I love that they've stuck with it, and I think

0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:36.400
<v Speaker 2>our mission today try to figure out which is the

0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:38.400
<v Speaker 2>best sports stand between.

0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.320
<v Speaker 1>Two Yeah, which one has more E thirty nine ers

0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.840
<v Speaker 1>full late nineties early two thousands five series, which I

0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:45.760
<v Speaker 1>think is the high water mark. I do to think

0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:47.160
<v Speaker 1>it's the high water mark. I do too.

0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.599
<v Speaker 2>That car is great, But you know that car weighed.

0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:57.280
<v Speaker 1>Six thirty seven. I mean we thought it was heavy

0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:59.160
<v Speaker 1>at the time. I know it was heavy because it

0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:00.439
<v Speaker 1>was heavier than it's pressor.

0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:04.280
<v Speaker 2>But as when the engines so went everything else in

0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.920
<v Speaker 2>that car. It was just so incredibly smooth and progressive

0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.360
<v Speaker 2>and predictable, and you knew where you were at all times.

0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.800
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, BMW's pumping in some engine sound that's coming

0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:18.840
<v Speaker 1>out of there speakers. Yeah sounds good. Though it does

0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:20.360
<v Speaker 1>sound good, it sounds real.

0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:26.439
<v Speaker 2>So much of the car's personality is in the engine.

0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:28.880
<v Speaker 2>It's the heart of the car, you know.

0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:31.040
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you just lose it. You just lose it and

0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.600
<v Speaker 1>you gain acceleration. They're fun. I mean, electrics are super fun.

0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.800
<v Speaker 1>But yeah, I mean the personality of a BMW was

0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.000
<v Speaker 1>a lot of it was built out of the inline

0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.640
<v Speaker 1>six and how flu it was and how different it

0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:46.200
<v Speaker 1>was from every competitor V sixes and even from competitor

0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:47.480
<v Speaker 1>inline sixes. Yeah.

0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:50.559
<v Speaker 2>And my beef with evs when you drive a bunch

0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.440
<v Speaker 2>of them back to back is they all start to

0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:55.199
<v Speaker 2>feel the same. I don't care if it's like a

0:13:55.280 --> 0:14:00.320
<v Speaker 2>Lucid Sapphire or an Ionic five from Hyundai. They all

0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.120
<v Speaker 2>have the same power delivery and they all really have

0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:04.240
<v Speaker 2>that same character.

0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.280
<v Speaker 1>They try to fake it with the fake noises which

0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:10.280
<v Speaker 1>sort of sound like, you know, anywhere from like the

0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:15.319
<v Speaker 1>Jetson's car to an angry robot, but it just doesn't

0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.240
<v Speaker 1>do it for me, and it doesn't really. Since there's

0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:20.520
<v Speaker 1>only one gear, you're not going through the gears, there's

0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.920
<v Speaker 1>no change in the experience you've taken such an important

0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.800
<v Speaker 1>part of driving a car out of it an important

0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:29.520
<v Speaker 1>part of a brand's personality too.

0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:33.440
<v Speaker 2>Yes, So what's the differentiator at that point between evs.

0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:40.120
<v Speaker 2>It's brand whatever that means, it's styling its interior. I

0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.520
<v Speaker 2>will say, However, there are some edge cases to this, Okay,

0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:48.880
<v Speaker 2>like the Porsche Ti Kon. Somehow that thing still feels

0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:49.600
<v Speaker 2>like a Porsche.

0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:51.400
<v Speaker 1>It does, and for me, you sit in it and

0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:55.360
<v Speaker 1>it feels you're sitting so low. They really played that up.

0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.480
<v Speaker 1>You can see the front fenders. They really did it

0:14:57.600 --> 0:14:59.800
<v Speaker 1>right so that you feel, even though you're in a sedan,

0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.040
<v Speaker 1>it feels like you're in a sports car. Yeah, let's

0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:09.160
<v Speaker 1>do a quick launch. Okay, Oh, it's pretty hard. My

0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:13.320
<v Speaker 1>lobships watch is super hard. Oh my god.

0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:16.200
<v Speaker 2>Nauseating, great, nauseating.

0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:17.720
<v Speaker 1>That's fantastic.

0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.040
<v Speaker 2>You know, humans weren't engineered to go to accelerate that quickly.

0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.280
<v Speaker 1>It's like, if you travel faster than a horse, will

0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:33.480
<v Speaker 1>you die? Maybe? Yeah. Now we're on the highway. I

0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.800
<v Speaker 1>mean it's really quiet as uh, you know, as you

0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:37.360
<v Speaker 1>expect from a mid sized BMW.

0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.560
<v Speaker 2>At the five series Tony, there is a v sun

0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:43.760
<v Speaker 2>Rogue ahead of us with a neurbur ring track sticker

0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:44.600
<v Speaker 2>on the back of it.

0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:52.400
<v Speaker 1>Will you catch up to him? Check this out? Oh,

0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:57.080
<v Speaker 1>it's so good. It's so wonderful. And there's no change

0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.360
<v Speaker 1>in like, you don't feel any bad vibes coming through

0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.360
<v Speaker 1>the car at all. It's just magic. It's just a wonderful,

0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:13.280
<v Speaker 1>wonderful magic in Line six still has a ton of

0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:16.040
<v Speaker 1>grip on the skid pad. It was about the same

0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:20.960
<v Speaker 1>as the as the I five. And it's so balance.

0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:24.040
<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's not understeering, it's not oversteering. You know.

0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:28.160
<v Speaker 1>The all four tires are working equally hard, it feels like,

0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:31.080
<v Speaker 1>and this one doesn't have the fifty to fifty balance

0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.200
<v Speaker 1>that BMW's used to be famous for. It's a little

0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.600
<v Speaker 1>bit nose heavy, but you kind of stepped away from that. However,

0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:41.680
<v Speaker 1>the electric is fifty to fifty weight distribution, and.

0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:46.120
<v Speaker 2>You can still control the cornery attitude of these cars

0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:47.240
<v Speaker 2>with the throttle.

0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.280
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the steering is pretty asleep. You're not getting a

0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.080
<v Speaker 1>ton of feel through the steering, and even in this

0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:56.960
<v Speaker 1>sport mode, it's really really sort of overly light and

0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:01.200
<v Speaker 1>that's a shame. Okay, want to hear my theory about

0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.280
<v Speaker 1>BMW's I do.

0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:07.720
<v Speaker 2>They're always moving on to the next thing. They're always

0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:13.040
<v Speaker 2>putting their deepest talent in the next technology. You know,

0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:18.359
<v Speaker 2>when Europe was making great sports cars, they focused on

0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:22.440
<v Speaker 2>sports sedans. When everybody caught up and started making great

0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:27.199
<v Speaker 2>sports edans, they had shifted to making great SUVs, and

0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:30.960
<v Speaker 2>the sports dans suffered a little bit, and they weren't

0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:32.600
<v Speaker 2>quite as good as they had been.

0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:35.560
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, because X five was sort of like the first

0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.960
<v Speaker 1>great driving suv see right.

0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:43.080
<v Speaker 2>Okay, and they made great SUVs and even the X one,

0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.280
<v Speaker 2>the front drive one, the rear drive one was incredible,

0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.840
<v Speaker 2>but even the front drive one was good, much better

0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:50.800
<v Speaker 2>than the Mercedes equivalent.

0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:53.960
<v Speaker 1>You think they put all the talent into what's next?

0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:55.240
<v Speaker 1>I do? I think.

0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.359
<v Speaker 2>You know, they've moved a lot of people from what

0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.320
<v Speaker 2>I understand, off the M cars and in to the

0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:04.640
<v Speaker 2>I cars, and they're really like front loading a lot

0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:06.320
<v Speaker 2>of their talent into what's next.

0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.760
<v Speaker 1>That's how I four feels. I four feels like the

0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.560
<v Speaker 1>best people at BMW, the people who had all the

0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.040
<v Speaker 1>institutional knowledge of how to make a car handle, how

0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.520
<v Speaker 1>to make a car steer, or put on that car,

0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:20.280
<v Speaker 1>and then they brought back some of that magic. It's

0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:25.320
<v Speaker 1>really really great. Oh so good, I mean so smooth.

0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:28.360
<v Speaker 1>If somebody said there's a V twelve under the hood,

0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:31.720
<v Speaker 1>you'd be like, oh, yeah, totally, exactly, totally, it's so smooth.

0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.439
<v Speaker 2>And all the piped in engine noise in the world,

0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:39.240
<v Speaker 2>which there is some can't really replace that, or the

0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:41.240
<v Speaker 2>feel under the ball of your foot.

0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:44.480
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and just being able to downshift a few gears

0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:47.600
<v Speaker 1>and just bring the engine alive because it is sort

0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:49.679
<v Speaker 1>of a living thing. I totally agree.

0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:53.200
<v Speaker 2>Like, you know, this is the closest that man has

0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:57.960
<v Speaker 2>come to creating an animal. The internal combustion motor car

0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.480
<v Speaker 2>and the engine is the heart of it. The thing

0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:07.240
<v Speaker 2>is growling. You have to kind of innate connection to

0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.639
<v Speaker 2>it because of the sounds it's making. But there is

0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.960
<v Speaker 2>an opacity to an ev you know, there is that

0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:17.719
<v Speaker 2>like what's really going on here? You know there is

0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.800
<v Speaker 2>a motor. There's a motor that's moving, but it feels remote.

0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:25.080
<v Speaker 1>It does, it's not the same. Let's see if.

0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:29.840
<v Speaker 2>You know BMW in the I five can give us

0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:30.639
<v Speaker 2>some of that feel.

0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:33.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, let's take this five point forty back and go

0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:43.119
<v Speaker 1>step into the I five and see what happens. Okay,

0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:45.960
<v Speaker 1>now we're inside the I five M sixty.

0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:48.040
<v Speaker 2>Let's start it up and see what it sounds like.

0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:56.640
<v Speaker 2>Who foreboding? Does Industrial Light and Magic get a royalty

0:19:56.720 --> 0:19:59.560
<v Speaker 2>for I was going to use a really dated reference.

0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.679
<v Speaker 2>It's close encounters. I think I beat you with that. No, No,

0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:05.959
<v Speaker 2>close Encounters is like eighty three or something.

0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.679
<v Speaker 1>I think it's like seventy eight. Oh, okay, all right,

0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:13.359
<v Speaker 1>let's get go on. Put it in drive. Sounds good,

0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:16.000
<v Speaker 1>Oh it's silent. I know.

0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:20.120
<v Speaker 2>BMW spends a lot of time and energy on the

0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:23.960
<v Speaker 2>sounds that its cars make, from the turn signals to

0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:27.840
<v Speaker 2>the door chimes to all that stuff. And I'm sure

0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:29.920
<v Speaker 2>they got some tricks up their sleeve when it comes

0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:31.959
<v Speaker 2>to ev sounds.

0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:36.000
<v Speaker 1>But we'll see. Well, it has this iconic sounds which

0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:38.080
<v Speaker 1>the other car also has. You can sort of turn

0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:40.440
<v Speaker 1>that on and off to see how or to make

0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.040
<v Speaker 1>it louder or quieter. What you want to do?

0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:48.000
<v Speaker 2>Does it sound like a batmobile? So car Driver, whenever

0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:51.680
<v Speaker 2>it tests a car, it produces a track sheet. And

0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:55.000
<v Speaker 2>I'm looking at the one from the I five sixty

0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:59.080
<v Speaker 2>X drive right now, and I'm looking at curbweight. Okay,

0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:04.920
<v Speaker 2>it's five two hundred and twenty five pounds, almost perfectly

0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:06.600
<v Speaker 2>distributed front rear.

0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.040
<v Speaker 1>Yep. But you can do that with the electric car,

0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:12.680
<v Speaker 1>and I used to be such an important part of BMW's.

0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:16.760
<v Speaker 2>That was a huge part of their brand, but you know,

0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:20.240
<v Speaker 2>a lot of it was marketing. Oh oh man, that's

0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:27.639
<v Speaker 2>brutal acceleration. Okay, So crazier acceleration from this car, just

0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:32.240
<v Speaker 2>in that little little run from a much heavier car. Okay,

0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:35.400
<v Speaker 2>the five point forty I'm looking at the trackshet that

0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:40.200
<v Speaker 2>weighed forty three hundred and sixty five, not a lightweight,

0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:44.479
<v Speaker 2>fifty four point two percent of its masses on the front,

0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:48.679
<v Speaker 2>forty five point eight percent on the rear. So this

0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:51.720
<v Speaker 2>is a much heavier car, but it's also much much quicker.

0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:53.760
<v Speaker 1>But I bet the center of gravity of this car

0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:56.159
<v Speaker 1>is lower because you've got the battery pack in the floor,

0:21:56.200 --> 0:22:00.000
<v Speaker 1>so you've got that mass all in the floor. Yeah,

0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:02.440
<v Speaker 1>So it'll be interesting to see how it handles compared

0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:05.480
<v Speaker 1>to the other one. The extra weight in a good

0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:08.960
<v Speaker 1>place isn't necessarily a bad thing. They put a little

0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:13.119
<v Speaker 1>more tire underneath to compensate for the extra weight, but

0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:17.320
<v Speaker 1>both are about point nine g. I do miss the

0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:21.080
<v Speaker 1>little vibrations of the engine. I miss the intake noise.

0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:27.160
<v Speaker 2>This feels very clinical and anti dine in comparison. The

0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.200
<v Speaker 2>noise is such a huge part of that car, the

0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:34.280
<v Speaker 2>five forty, I mean, such a great sound it it

0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:35.119
<v Speaker 2>engine makes.

0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:37.439
<v Speaker 1>And then having I mean this is a one gear.

0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:40.800
<v Speaker 1>I have one gear here. I'm always in the right gear. Yeah,

0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:43.920
<v Speaker 1>and I've got a ton of torque. It's got amazing

0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:46.920
<v Speaker 1>accelerator response. Notice I'm not saying throttle response.

0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:51.040
<v Speaker 2>Let's do an acceleration run and see how it stacks

0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:52.040
<v Speaker 2>up to the five forty.

0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:54.879
<v Speaker 1>You guys ready instantaneous torque.

0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:59.040
<v Speaker 2>Oh that's a lot of mass moving real quick.

0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:05.479
<v Speaker 1>Oh man, yeah, sixty and three three I think it was.

0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:08.359
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Okay, let's look at the numbers. Sixty in three

0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:13.080
<v Speaker 2>three versus the five forties sixty in four seconds.

0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:15.960
<v Speaker 1>Which is still remarkably quick. The quarter mile they really

0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:18.320
<v Speaker 1>start to separate. That's where you really see the difference

0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:21.040
<v Speaker 1>in horsepower in the quarter This one did eleven and

0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:23.880
<v Speaker 1>a half at one twenty four and the other one

0:23:23.920 --> 0:23:26.480
<v Speaker 1>I think it was twelve and a half at one eleven. So, yeah,

0:23:26.560 --> 0:23:28.560
<v Speaker 1>that's right. Gap. It just keeps growing. The gap just

0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:31.000
<v Speaker 1>keeps growing as you accelerate harder and harder. It's crazy.

0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:33.600
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, at one hundred and fifty or one hundred and forty,

0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:36.720
<v Speaker 2>the gas car is at twenty two point one seconds.

0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:42.600
<v Speaker 1>How quick is this one fifteen point four? It's crazy.

0:23:43.240 --> 0:23:45.920
<v Speaker 1>You feel the torque, you feel the power, but it's

0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:48.639
<v Speaker 1>just one linear blast. You don't get the change in

0:23:48.680 --> 0:23:51.520
<v Speaker 1>the engine revolutions. You don't get the gear shifts. And

0:23:52.080 --> 0:23:54.280
<v Speaker 1>there's drama in that. I mean there's drama in this

0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:57.120
<v Speaker 1>because you're pressed so hard into the seat, but there's

0:23:57.200 --> 0:23:59.360
<v Speaker 1>drama in those gear shifts. There's real character.

0:23:59.600 --> 0:24:02.479
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it does it a certain way that you have

0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:06.400
<v Speaker 2>to appreciate. You know, it's a lot harder to make

0:24:06.520 --> 0:24:09.359
<v Speaker 2>a gear change that smooth. It's a lot harder to

0:24:09.440 --> 0:24:13.960
<v Speaker 2>make all those reciprocating parts move in concert that way.

0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:16.640
<v Speaker 2>And I think you innately just appreciate that.

0:24:16.880 --> 0:24:21.000
<v Speaker 1>So for me, when a machine works hard is when

0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:25.000
<v Speaker 1>I find it most rewarding. Electric cars don't ever feel

0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:28.119
<v Speaker 1>like they're working that hard. They just do it, and

0:24:28.160 --> 0:24:31.000
<v Speaker 1>they do it like sort of blindly, like a with

0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:34.440
<v Speaker 1>a flat face. It just gets it done, and it's

0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:38.199
<v Speaker 1>brutal and it's quick, but a GASCAR really feels like

0:24:38.240 --> 0:24:39.600
<v Speaker 1>it's working to do it.

0:24:39.600 --> 0:24:43.080
<v Speaker 2>It's uncanny Valley, it really is. You know, this thing

0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:46.320
<v Speaker 2>is robotic. Now, let's see if you can change the

0:24:46.359 --> 0:24:49.959
<v Speaker 2>cornery attitude in this car the way you could with

0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:54.320
<v Speaker 2>the five forty.

0:24:55.000 --> 0:24:57.200
<v Speaker 1>I mean it feels similar. I feel like it feels

0:24:57.240 --> 0:25:02.640
<v Speaker 1>a little bit heavier. The steering actually feels a little

0:25:02.720 --> 0:25:06.600
<v Speaker 1>nicer than the gas car. Yeah, definitely, mean what the

0:25:06.600 --> 0:25:09.720
<v Speaker 1>tires are doing. You can feel what the tires are doing. Yeah,

0:25:09.760 --> 0:25:15.600
<v Speaker 1>a little bit. The steering feels nicer, there's more feedback,

0:25:15.840 --> 0:25:19.320
<v Speaker 1>there's more waiting. It just feels like a bit more

0:25:19.320 --> 0:25:21.520
<v Speaker 1>connected in a way that the other steering didn't. It

0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:23.679
<v Speaker 1>also speaks to your theory that maybe they've got the

0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:26.280
<v Speaker 1>best people on the electric car.

0:25:26.920 --> 0:25:30.479
<v Speaker 2>What about breaking, did you get a sense of you know,

0:25:31.200 --> 0:25:36.080
<v Speaker 2>break field modulation. You know, because this has a both

0:25:36.119 --> 0:25:38.600
<v Speaker 2>regenerative and friction braking system.

0:25:38.240 --> 0:25:41.160
<v Speaker 1>It's blended beautifully. A break pedal feels just as good

0:25:41.160 --> 0:25:42.359
<v Speaker 1>as it does in the five forty, And the five

0:25:42.480 --> 0:25:45.479
<v Speaker 1>forty has a really nice break pedal, super predictable, really linear,

0:25:45.840 --> 0:25:48.960
<v Speaker 1>it's not doing anything weird and grabbing as the handoff

0:25:49.040 --> 0:25:52.000
<v Speaker 1>from the regenerative breaks to the friction breaks happens. I

0:25:52.040 --> 0:25:54.560
<v Speaker 1>can't really discern a difference. I mean, it feels really great,

0:25:54.960 --> 0:25:57.439
<v Speaker 1>well tuned. Huh. Yeah, we've used five percent of the

0:25:57.440 --> 0:25:59.840
<v Speaker 1>battery just in the time that we've left the office.

0:26:00.280 --> 0:26:03.000
<v Speaker 1>That's crazy. A couple of short acceleration blasts and that's

0:26:03.000 --> 0:26:05.960
<v Speaker 1>what happens. But yeah, I mean the immediacy of the

0:26:06.000 --> 0:26:09.320
<v Speaker 1>response of an electric car is intoxicating. I do have

0:26:09.359 --> 0:26:12.880
<v Speaker 1>to say, like in passing in our five to sixty tests,

0:26:13.080 --> 0:26:14.760
<v Speaker 1>basically what we try to do in the five to

0:26:14.800 --> 0:26:17.520
<v Speaker 1>sixty test is recreate what happens on the street. In

0:26:17.560 --> 0:26:19.480
<v Speaker 1>the street, you're not setting your car up for launch control,

0:26:19.480 --> 0:26:22.800
<v Speaker 1>you're not doing all that nonsense. You're just matting the throttle.

0:26:22.880 --> 0:26:25.600
<v Speaker 1>So we roll at five miles an hour, stomp on

0:26:25.640 --> 0:26:29.480
<v Speaker 1>the accelerator, and the difference between the gas car and

0:26:29.520 --> 0:26:32.680
<v Speaker 1>the electric car is remarkable. The gas car does it

0:26:32.760 --> 0:26:36.000
<v Speaker 1>in five seconds, so it adds a second to its

0:26:36.040 --> 0:26:38.919
<v Speaker 1>zero to sixty. In the electric car, I think you

0:26:39.000 --> 0:26:41.720
<v Speaker 1>only add three tenses, yes, three, six, yeah, So I

0:26:41.760 --> 0:26:45.040
<v Speaker 1>mean this thing you can line up to anyone at

0:26:45.080 --> 0:26:47.840
<v Speaker 1>a dragstrip. You don't have to do very much to

0:26:47.880 --> 0:26:49.560
<v Speaker 1>prepare the car. You really don't have to do very

0:26:49.600 --> 0:26:52.359
<v Speaker 1>much more than just stomping on the accelerator and flooring

0:26:52.359 --> 0:26:54.120
<v Speaker 1>it and making sure that you hold your foot down.

0:26:54.440 --> 0:26:55.719
<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's just that simple.

0:26:55.760 --> 0:26:59.960
<v Speaker 2>I can say anecdotally that EV drivers, EV sedan drivers

0:27:00.720 --> 0:27:04.240
<v Speaker 2>drive like complete maniacs. They're going for all the whole shots.

0:27:04.520 --> 0:27:07.400
<v Speaker 2>I mean they're put in the accord and ultimate guys

0:27:07.440 --> 0:27:07.879
<v Speaker 2>to shame.

0:27:08.080 --> 0:27:09.600
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well you can do it. I mean you just

0:27:09.720 --> 0:27:12.200
<v Speaker 1>you just squeeze the you squeeze the accelerator. You're always

0:27:12.240 --> 0:27:15.200
<v Speaker 1>in the right gear. You have this all this immediate torque,

0:27:15.720 --> 0:27:19.520
<v Speaker 1>and the car just delivers the acceleration. Let's try it now.

0:27:19.560 --> 0:27:22.119
<v Speaker 1>Let's let's try it if we shut the iconic sounds

0:27:22.160 --> 0:27:26.160
<v Speaker 1>off and accelerate. Okay, oh yeah, that's even more robotic.

0:27:26.240 --> 0:27:29.800
<v Speaker 1>It's just it doesn't even make any noise. It's soulless,

0:27:31.880 --> 0:27:35.680
<v Speaker 1>but it's quick. I mean it snaps your head back. Yeah,

0:27:35.720 --> 0:27:39.960
<v Speaker 1>it does, go back to iconic sounds. I'm not hating

0:27:39.960 --> 0:27:44.040
<v Speaker 1>it that much. In this car, the iconic sounds. This

0:27:44.160 --> 0:27:47.480
<v Speaker 1>actually sounds like an internal combustion engine. They've really faked it.

0:27:47.920 --> 0:27:51.000
<v Speaker 2>I think it sounds more like, you know, a kind

0:27:51.000 --> 0:27:54.000
<v Speaker 2>of ev sounds signature, which I appreciate, like it.

0:27:54.000 --> 0:27:55.320
<v Speaker 1>Should sound like what it is.

0:27:55.920 --> 0:28:01.080
<v Speaker 2>There's a little grit at the bottom end. But I'm sorry,

0:28:01.480 --> 0:28:05.120
<v Speaker 2>sitting in the passenger seat, I like the experience of

0:28:05.440 --> 0:28:06.160
<v Speaker 2>the five forty.

0:28:06.280 --> 0:28:10.479
<v Speaker 1>Bet you were more involved too. I mean, anytime you're shifting,

0:28:10.520 --> 0:28:14.080
<v Speaker 1>even if it's through the paddles of an automatic, you're

0:28:14.119 --> 0:28:15.520
<v Speaker 1>still taking control of the car.

0:28:16.320 --> 0:28:21.920
<v Speaker 2>And that's ultimately what a sports dance about. Feedback sensitivity.

0:28:22.680 --> 0:28:25.760
<v Speaker 1>Joy. Although I gotta say I'll take the steering of

0:28:25.800 --> 0:28:28.480
<v Speaker 1>this one every day of the week. It's really sweet. Fair.

0:28:30.040 --> 0:28:32.280
<v Speaker 2>They gotta do something to keep you involved.

0:28:32.760 --> 0:28:35.960
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, what do these things cost? Oh? Yeah, that's a

0:28:36.000 --> 0:28:38.840
<v Speaker 1>good question. I think this one starts around in the

0:28:38.920 --> 0:28:42.920
<v Speaker 1>high eighties for the electric and there aren't too many options.

0:28:43.480 --> 0:28:47.160
<v Speaker 1>And the five forty is I think it's in the

0:28:47.160 --> 0:28:49.720
<v Speaker 1>sixty six thousand dollars range base price, but this one

0:28:49.800 --> 0:28:52.400
<v Speaker 1>has at least ten thousand dollars worth of options on

0:28:52.480 --> 0:28:55.280
<v Speaker 1>it to make it basically the same spec as the

0:28:55.360 --> 0:29:00.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm sixty. Okay, what do you like better? Like the

0:29:00.320 --> 0:29:02.880
<v Speaker 1>five forty. I think I'd buy the five forty. How

0:29:02.880 --> 0:29:05.280
<v Speaker 1>about you? Eddie? You always want to buy one.

0:29:05.360 --> 0:29:07.560
<v Speaker 2>I always want one to buy one. It's a five

0:29:07.720 --> 0:29:10.280
<v Speaker 2>forty for me, Doug. I just love that straight six.

0:29:10.600 --> 0:29:12.440
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I don't really care that this is quicker. Four

0:29:12.480 --> 0:29:14.760
<v Speaker 1>seconds of sixty is quick enough, and even in the

0:29:14.840 --> 0:29:17.680
<v Speaker 1>rolling start the real world number five seconds is still

0:29:17.680 --> 0:29:20.520
<v Speaker 1>plenty quick, still quick, and it's a really enjoyable five

0:29:20.560 --> 0:29:23.000
<v Speaker 1>seconds because the car is straining, you're going through the gears,

0:29:23.040 --> 0:29:26.120
<v Speaker 1>you're hearing it. It's special and it works for me.

0:29:26.280 --> 0:29:32.000
<v Speaker 1>That's the one i'd buy. Yeah, I agree, Well, that

0:29:32.120 --> 0:29:35.360
<v Speaker 1>was fun. I know which car we would choose. But

0:29:35.840 --> 0:29:38.360
<v Speaker 1>who are these cars? Four? I mean, they're very different cars.

0:29:38.360 --> 0:29:40.320
<v Speaker 1>Who's each one? Four? Yeah?

0:29:40.360 --> 0:29:43.800
<v Speaker 2>And I think the EV world is sort of separated

0:29:43.880 --> 0:29:46.760
<v Speaker 2>into the halfs and have knots, right, those people who

0:29:46.800 --> 0:29:49.800
<v Speaker 2>have a garage or or regular place to charge it

0:29:50.080 --> 0:29:53.719
<v Speaker 2>in those who don't. For car like this, a performance

0:29:53.760 --> 0:29:57.000
<v Speaker 2>EV that's draining the battery at a pretty alarming rate,

0:29:57.720 --> 0:30:00.320
<v Speaker 2>you need a place to plug in, if not every night,

0:30:00.400 --> 0:30:01.280
<v Speaker 2>than every other night.

0:30:01.440 --> 0:30:03.040
<v Speaker 1>It totally has to work for you, and that's such

0:30:03.040 --> 0:30:05.680
<v Speaker 1>a big element of it. And it also depends on

0:30:06.000 --> 0:30:08.800
<v Speaker 1>the tire size and the wheel size. The nineteens get

0:30:08.960 --> 0:30:11.200
<v Speaker 1>two hundred and fifty six miles of range in the

0:30:11.440 --> 0:30:14.520
<v Speaker 1>EPA testing. If you go to twenty inches you get

0:30:14.520 --> 0:30:16.479
<v Speaker 1>the best range of two hundred and seventy eight miles.

0:30:16.760 --> 0:30:18.600
<v Speaker 1>But if you do what we did and have the

0:30:18.600 --> 0:30:21.400
<v Speaker 1>twenty one inch wheels with the summer tires, your range

0:30:21.440 --> 0:30:23.600
<v Speaker 1>goes all the way down to two hundred and forty miles. Yeah.

0:30:23.640 --> 0:30:27.040
<v Speaker 2>It's not just the size, it's also the compound, right, Yeah, totally.

0:30:27.320 --> 0:30:29.880
<v Speaker 2>To answer the question of who would buy the EV

0:30:30.200 --> 0:30:35.040
<v Speaker 2>over the Straight six, it's someone who welcomes our robot

0:30:35.080 --> 0:30:39.880
<v Speaker 2>overlords because that thing is dead eyed. It's insanely quick,

0:30:40.600 --> 0:30:43.800
<v Speaker 2>it's impressive as hell, but it's soulless.

0:30:44.000 --> 0:30:45.440
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah, the soul's gone.

0:30:45.720 --> 0:30:49.080
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and BMWs should be about souls definitely.

0:30:51.200 --> 0:30:53.640
<v Speaker 1>When we return, we're speaking with product planner John Kelly,

0:30:53.640 --> 0:30:56.640
<v Speaker 1>who works in BMW's US Product and Strategy department.

0:30:56.800 --> 0:31:08.000
<v Speaker 2>Stay Tuned, Welcome back to Car and Drivers into Cars.

0:31:10.000 --> 0:31:13.160
<v Speaker 2>Product planner John Kelly works in BMW's US Product and

0:31:13.200 --> 0:31:16.719
<v Speaker 2>Strategy department, and he's responsible for both the electric and

0:31:16.760 --> 0:31:20.360
<v Speaker 2>gas versions of the BMW five series. Welcome to in

0:31:20.360 --> 0:31:23.120
<v Speaker 2>the cars, John, We've driven both of these cars back

0:31:23.160 --> 0:31:25.480
<v Speaker 2>to back and we have some thoughts and questions.

0:31:25.960 --> 0:31:28.400
<v Speaker 1>Can you talk about the strategy of building an electric

0:31:28.440 --> 0:31:32.560
<v Speaker 1>and GASCAR off the same platform. The cluster platform allows

0:31:32.640 --> 0:31:34.240
<v Speaker 1>you to do that. What are some of the benefits

0:31:34.240 --> 0:31:35.720
<v Speaker 1>and what are some of the compromises.

0:31:36.360 --> 0:31:38.760
<v Speaker 3>Yes, So, as you mentioned, the current architecture that the

0:31:38.760 --> 0:31:40.840
<v Speaker 3>five series is built on is referred to as our

0:31:40.880 --> 0:31:45.080
<v Speaker 3>cluster architecture. It's actually a very very flexible architecture. It

0:31:45.120 --> 0:31:47.960
<v Speaker 3>allows us to build many different drive trains on the

0:31:48.000 --> 0:31:51.840
<v Speaker 3>same chassis. So in the US we have the combustion

0:31:51.920 --> 0:31:55.920
<v Speaker 3>engine cars, and it's not just combustion engine PEV or

0:31:56.000 --> 0:31:58.400
<v Speaker 3>full BEV, but even within those there's a lot of

0:31:58.400 --> 0:32:00.880
<v Speaker 3>complexity and a lot of variation, and this is really

0:32:00.920 --> 0:32:02.760
<v Speaker 3>important to us for us to be able to offer

0:32:02.760 --> 0:32:05.920
<v Speaker 3>the customers exactly what they want. And in this case,

0:32:05.960 --> 0:32:09.520
<v Speaker 3>we have one architecture where we have combustion engines. In

0:32:09.560 --> 0:32:11.720
<v Speaker 3>the US, we have a four cylinder and a traditional

0:32:11.760 --> 0:32:15.080
<v Speaker 3>BMWN nine six, which is really fantastic. We have the

0:32:15.120 --> 0:32:18.040
<v Speaker 3>plug in hybrid, so this is a six cylinder plug

0:32:18.040 --> 0:32:20.960
<v Speaker 3>in hybrid that comes out this summer. This car makes

0:32:21.000 --> 0:32:23.440
<v Speaker 3>over four hundred and eighty horse power. But then we

0:32:23.480 --> 0:32:25.600
<v Speaker 3>also have the fully electric variant, and even there we

0:32:25.640 --> 0:32:28.720
<v Speaker 3>have we actually have three different models, but two of

0:32:28.760 --> 0:32:30.560
<v Speaker 3>them are quite similar. So we have the forties in

0:32:30.960 --> 0:32:33.560
<v Speaker 3>re real drive with one E machine. We have the

0:32:33.720 --> 0:32:36.160
<v Speaker 3>X drive forty two E machines, one front, one rear,

0:32:36.440 --> 0:32:39.360
<v Speaker 3>and then we have our performance variant with nearly six

0:32:39.480 --> 0:32:41.760
<v Speaker 3>hundred horsepower. That's the one I drive every day and

0:32:41.800 --> 0:32:42.640
<v Speaker 3>the car is awesome.

0:32:42.920 --> 0:32:45.640
<v Speaker 2>That's what we drove too. So how do you achieve

0:32:45.680 --> 0:32:49.760
<v Speaker 2>that platform flexibility? I mean, short wave of answer asking

0:32:49.760 --> 0:32:52.000
<v Speaker 2>that question is where do all the batteries go?

0:32:53.000 --> 0:32:55.600
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and it's pretty straightforward, and actually it's something that

0:32:55.840 --> 0:32:57.840
<v Speaker 3>I hope you recognize when you were driving the car

0:32:58.280 --> 0:33:00.960
<v Speaker 3>is the batteries are below the floor, so they're between

0:33:00.960 --> 0:33:04.240
<v Speaker 3>the wheelbase, between the track below the floor. Despite the

0:33:04.280 --> 0:33:06.720
<v Speaker 3>battery being quite heavy, it gives you a nice low

0:33:06.720 --> 0:33:09.280
<v Speaker 3>center of gravity and the carstial handles like you would

0:33:09.280 --> 0:33:11.959
<v Speaker 3>expect to a mid size BMW sports sedan to handle.

0:33:12.480 --> 0:33:14.320
<v Speaker 3>But you mentioned what does it take to be able

0:33:14.360 --> 0:33:17.000
<v Speaker 3>to do this in one platform and the answer is

0:33:17.080 --> 0:33:19.600
<v Speaker 3>it's not that simple. It's not as easy as just

0:33:19.920 --> 0:33:22.840
<v Speaker 3>let's say, taking out the combustion engine. It's really quite

0:33:22.840 --> 0:33:25.360
<v Speaker 3>complex because you need to start with a platform that's

0:33:25.400 --> 0:33:29.320
<v Speaker 3>flexible enough to allow you to do this without significant downsides.

0:33:29.720 --> 0:33:31.440
<v Speaker 3>So if you were to just, let's say, take out

0:33:31.440 --> 0:33:34.240
<v Speaker 3>the combustion engine, you're going to have major inefficiencies in

0:33:34.320 --> 0:33:37.080
<v Speaker 3>terms of packaging and weight and so forth. But by

0:33:37.160 --> 0:33:40.640
<v Speaker 3>using our cluster architecture, which is very flexible, it allows

0:33:40.680 --> 0:33:43.680
<v Speaker 3>us to package these components in a very intelligent way,

0:33:44.160 --> 0:33:46.680
<v Speaker 3>such as having the battery below the floor. We have

0:33:46.720 --> 0:33:49.000
<v Speaker 3>what we call a heat unit, so it's a highly

0:33:49.040 --> 0:33:52.680
<v Speaker 3>integrated drive train unit, so has your electric motor, transmission

0:33:52.760 --> 0:33:56.320
<v Speaker 3>and power electronics all in one housing. And fitting that

0:33:56.440 --> 0:33:58.760
<v Speaker 3>in the front where you can fit a rather long

0:33:58.840 --> 0:34:01.960
<v Speaker 3>inline six engine not terribly difficult. But in the rear

0:34:01.960 --> 0:34:04.200
<v Speaker 3>it is where in the rear typically you have a

0:34:04.200 --> 0:34:07.920
<v Speaker 3>differential and not much else. So by using an architecture

0:34:08.040 --> 0:34:11.440
<v Speaker 3>that is adaptable and can fit these components quite easily,

0:34:11.840 --> 0:34:14.120
<v Speaker 3>you end up being able to fit them without many

0:34:14.160 --> 0:34:15.680
<v Speaker 3>downsides in terms of packaging.

0:34:16.400 --> 0:34:19.480
<v Speaker 1>I have a question about the BMWi three and sort

0:34:19.480 --> 0:34:22.279
<v Speaker 1>of how that relates to the cluster architecture in the

0:34:22.320 --> 0:34:25.560
<v Speaker 1>current five series. The I three was a pretty radical

0:34:25.880 --> 0:34:29.680
<v Speaker 1>ev carbon fiber structure. It was pretty exotic vehicle and

0:34:29.680 --> 0:34:32.520
<v Speaker 1>now it seems like you've shifted over to a conventional sedan.

0:34:32.640 --> 0:34:35.399
<v Speaker 1>Is that sort of a reaction to how the I

0:34:35.480 --> 0:34:38.040
<v Speaker 1>three did in the marketplace or was it an expense thing?

0:34:38.080 --> 0:34:40.600
<v Speaker 1>How does the I three fit into the strategy today?

0:34:41.120 --> 0:34:43.200
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's a really good question, and to be honest,

0:34:43.200 --> 0:34:45.759
<v Speaker 3>that's one that I love talking about because I've been

0:34:45.800 --> 0:34:48.279
<v Speaker 3>with the company for twenty years, and prior to the

0:34:48.280 --> 0:34:51.640
<v Speaker 3>ten years i'm in product management, I was in product engineering.

0:34:52.000 --> 0:34:53.840
<v Speaker 3>I had the pleasure of, while I was in product

0:34:53.880 --> 0:34:56.319
<v Speaker 3>engineering of working on the I three and I eight

0:34:56.400 --> 0:34:58.719
<v Speaker 3>and launching those products, so I know them in a

0:34:58.800 --> 0:35:02.440
<v Speaker 3>very detailed technical way, and the cars were very much

0:35:02.440 --> 0:35:05.040
<v Speaker 3>ahead of their times in many ways. That carbon fiber

0:35:05.080 --> 0:35:09.080
<v Speaker 3>passenger cell was spectacular, lightweight, very strong, and so forth.

0:35:09.480 --> 0:35:12.640
<v Speaker 3>A little challenging to produce, of course, but that was

0:35:13.320 --> 0:35:16.640
<v Speaker 3>I would say, a very unique example basically a two

0:35:16.680 --> 0:35:19.880
<v Speaker 3>door hatch which has a relatively small or limited market

0:35:19.880 --> 0:35:23.800
<v Speaker 3>in the US, and it used technology that was perfect

0:35:23.880 --> 0:35:26.480
<v Speaker 3>for a low volume kind of niche product like the

0:35:26.560 --> 0:35:29.440
<v Speaker 3>I three was, but it doesn't scale as well to

0:35:29.800 --> 0:35:32.279
<v Speaker 3>big volume products like what we have today with I four,

0:35:32.320 --> 0:35:33.200
<v Speaker 3>I five, I seven.

0:35:33.719 --> 0:35:35.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I three was really an exotic car.

0:35:36.120 --> 0:35:39.799
<v Speaker 3>It was, and you look at the construction, the fact

0:35:39.960 --> 0:35:43.320
<v Speaker 3>that had the range extender, it had a heat pump,

0:35:43.400 --> 0:35:46.600
<v Speaker 3>which at the time was not very common in electro vehicles.

0:35:46.880 --> 0:35:49.399
<v Speaker 3>So it really had a lot of fantastic technology which

0:35:49.400 --> 0:35:51.319
<v Speaker 3>we learned a lot from and we learned a lot

0:35:51.360 --> 0:35:53.560
<v Speaker 3>about how customers use the cars and what they expect,

0:35:53.560 --> 0:35:56.480
<v Speaker 3>and all that transfers into the future products that we're planning.

0:35:56.880 --> 0:35:59.000
<v Speaker 3>But of course it didn't make sense to continue with

0:35:59.040 --> 0:36:01.680
<v Speaker 3>that particular car when we want to scale up into

0:36:01.719 --> 0:36:05.640
<v Speaker 3>larger volume vehicles and we have such a great tradition

0:36:05.840 --> 0:36:08.960
<v Speaker 3>and fan base when it comes to our sports sedans

0:36:09.320 --> 0:36:12.600
<v Speaker 3>that that's the perfect opportunity to expand the BEV offerings

0:36:12.600 --> 0:36:15.719
<v Speaker 3>is with sports sedans, they have much more potential, and

0:36:15.800 --> 0:36:17.720
<v Speaker 3>so to do that in a way that looks similar

0:36:17.800 --> 0:36:21.120
<v Speaker 3>to the combustion engines was a great opportunity, but still

0:36:21.239 --> 0:36:23.800
<v Speaker 3>utilizing some of those learnings from the I three.

0:36:24.320 --> 0:36:26.960
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it strikes us as really a smart strategy.

0:36:27.239 --> 0:36:30.800
<v Speaker 2>So you can throttle volume on the ice cars versus

0:36:30.880 --> 0:36:34.680
<v Speaker 2>the evs with the same model line, the same sort

0:36:34.680 --> 0:36:38.719
<v Speaker 2>of marketing behind it. Effectively, the EV becomes another powertrain

0:36:38.760 --> 0:36:42.000
<v Speaker 2>option for the five series, and so what has the

0:36:42.040 --> 0:36:43.439
<v Speaker 2>model mix been so far.

0:36:44.320 --> 0:36:48.239
<v Speaker 3>It's fairly evenly split between ICE and BEV. I think

0:36:48.280 --> 0:36:50.200
<v Speaker 3>the ICE actually is a little bit higher, but not

0:36:50.320 --> 0:36:52.880
<v Speaker 3>too much, which is also, I have to say, a

0:36:53.000 --> 0:36:55.719
<v Speaker 3>pretty big testament to how good the car is and

0:36:55.760 --> 0:36:58.799
<v Speaker 3>how well it's being received, because if you look at

0:36:58.800 --> 0:37:02.880
<v Speaker 3>our overall growth with electric vehicles last quarter, we were

0:37:02.960 --> 0:37:05.560
<v Speaker 3>up sixty two percent from the same quart of the

0:37:05.640 --> 0:37:07.680
<v Speaker 3>year before, so there's a lot of growth there. But

0:37:07.800 --> 0:37:11.160
<v Speaker 3>even still, that was a twelve percent overall BEV mix

0:37:11.280 --> 0:37:13.880
<v Speaker 3>in the portfolio twelve percent we're in the five series.

0:37:13.920 --> 0:37:16.120
<v Speaker 3>It's far far higher than that, So it just shows

0:37:16.239 --> 0:37:18.239
<v Speaker 3>I mean, granted, we don't have electric vehicles in every

0:37:18.239 --> 0:37:20.680
<v Speaker 3>segment just yet, but it just shows that there is

0:37:20.760 --> 0:37:23.280
<v Speaker 3>a lot of demand there if you have the right product.

0:37:23.640 --> 0:37:27.319
<v Speaker 2>One of our favorite three Slash four series cars is

0:37:27.360 --> 0:37:30.080
<v Speaker 2>the I four and that has a lot of the

0:37:30.200 --> 0:37:34.799
<v Speaker 2>BMW hallmarks in that package. It just feels like a BMW.

0:37:35.200 --> 0:37:41.040
<v Speaker 2>And BMW's known for that driving soul, that driving you know, engagement,

0:37:41.320 --> 0:37:44.720
<v Speaker 2>and a huge part of that has been its internal

0:37:44.719 --> 0:37:49.719
<v Speaker 2>combustion engines, specifically straight sixes. So how do you get

0:37:49.760 --> 0:37:52.719
<v Speaker 2>that soul. I think you've done it with the I four.

0:37:52.800 --> 0:37:56.240
<v Speaker 2>How do you get that soul into a big car

0:37:56.800 --> 0:37:57.880
<v Speaker 2>like the five series.

0:37:58.600 --> 0:38:01.359
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, so, a number of good points, and the first one,

0:38:01.360 --> 0:38:03.919
<v Speaker 3>as you mentioned, the inline six, it's iconic. It's got

0:38:03.960 --> 0:38:08.000
<v Speaker 3>sol interesting to note the current five series generation, the

0:38:08.120 --> 0:38:12.200
<v Speaker 3>five traditional six cylinder, is only for the US. When

0:38:12.239 --> 0:38:14.799
<v Speaker 3>we talked about what we're planning and why we plan it,

0:38:15.200 --> 0:38:17.200
<v Speaker 3>we look at what do we need in the market,

0:38:17.200 --> 0:38:19.640
<v Speaker 3>and of course a five forty I with a traditional

0:38:19.719 --> 0:38:23.960
<v Speaker 3>inline six traditional sports today and proportions traditional sports today

0:38:24.000 --> 0:38:27.200
<v Speaker 3>and BMW lateral dynamics and so forth is super super important,

0:38:27.719 --> 0:38:30.040
<v Speaker 3>and this was something we fought very hard for to

0:38:30.160 --> 0:38:32.760
<v Speaker 3>ensure we got it in the US. There's no question

0:38:32.800 --> 0:38:36.400
<v Speaker 3>from my side, fantastic car, the acoustics that come along

0:38:36.400 --> 0:38:39.839
<v Speaker 3>with an inline six, the smooth running characteristics of an

0:38:39.880 --> 0:38:42.600
<v Speaker 3>inline six, I mean, they're undoubted. When it comes to

0:38:42.680 --> 0:38:46.000
<v Speaker 3>combustion engines, with an electric, of course, things are different,

0:38:46.480 --> 0:38:50.719
<v Speaker 3>and our engineers have worked incredibly hard on developing the

0:38:50.920 --> 0:38:53.239
<v Speaker 3>electric drive train as well as the chassis and the

0:38:53.320 --> 0:38:55.520
<v Speaker 3>dynamics and the steering and the brakes and so forth

0:38:55.760 --> 0:38:58.840
<v Speaker 3>to ensure that you still have the best overall package.

0:38:59.040 --> 0:39:02.040
<v Speaker 3>It doesn't sound like an and as it shouldn't, but

0:39:02.280 --> 0:39:04.520
<v Speaker 3>the engineers have done a great job of giving it

0:39:04.520 --> 0:39:07.880
<v Speaker 3>its own character and its own sound, and so it

0:39:07.920 --> 0:39:10.719
<v Speaker 3>does have what we call iconic sounds. And this you

0:39:10.719 --> 0:39:12.680
<v Speaker 3>can switch on or off depending on what you prefer,

0:39:13.040 --> 0:39:16.160
<v Speaker 3>and it does give you some acoustics that, let's say,

0:39:16.160 --> 0:39:19.480
<v Speaker 3>are aligned with the power demand and the power output

0:39:19.480 --> 0:39:21.680
<v Speaker 3>of the vehicle. I've been driving an I five M

0:39:21.760 --> 0:39:25.160
<v Speaker 3>sixty every single day for the last six months or so,

0:39:25.800 --> 0:39:27.759
<v Speaker 3>and one of the things that I realized when I'm

0:39:27.840 --> 0:39:30.120
<v Speaker 3>driving this is I'm a gearhead. I always have been

0:39:30.200 --> 0:39:32.080
<v Speaker 3>since I was a little kid. I've owned many M

0:39:32.120 --> 0:39:33.920
<v Speaker 3>cars and I still have you know, ones on the

0:39:33.920 --> 0:39:38.120
<v Speaker 3>side and so forth. And despite that, I absolutely love

0:39:38.239 --> 0:39:41.320
<v Speaker 3>driving the I five M sixty. And what you mentioned

0:39:41.320 --> 0:39:44.080
<v Speaker 3>about the soul and that character, one thing I noticed

0:39:44.200 --> 0:39:47.800
<v Speaker 3>was that the other attributes tend to take over a

0:39:47.840 --> 0:39:48.279
<v Speaker 3>little bit.

0:39:48.680 --> 0:39:49.680
<v Speaker 1>And I actually drive.

0:39:49.520 --> 0:39:52.200
<v Speaker 3>The car despite somebody that likes, you know, loud exhausts

0:39:52.200 --> 0:39:55.279
<v Speaker 3>and so forth, I actually drive the car in silent mode,

0:39:55.360 --> 0:39:58.600
<v Speaker 3>and I actually spend more time honing in and paying

0:39:58.600 --> 0:40:03.440
<v Speaker 3>attention to the characteristics and the steering characteristics and maybe

0:40:03.440 --> 0:40:05.560
<v Speaker 3>exploiting them a little more than I have in the

0:40:05.560 --> 0:40:08.239
<v Speaker 3>past as well. So I think it's not that it's

0:40:08.680 --> 0:40:11.440
<v Speaker 3>a downside. I would just say it's different, right, The

0:40:11.480 --> 0:40:14.480
<v Speaker 3>soul is different, the characteristics are different, but you still

0:40:14.480 --> 0:40:16.600
<v Speaker 3>have all of those dynamic characteristics.

0:40:17.239 --> 0:40:17.640
<v Speaker 1>Well.

0:40:17.640 --> 0:40:20.440
<v Speaker 2>With that in mind, and because of the performance of

0:40:20.480 --> 0:40:22.839
<v Speaker 2>the I five, especially the M sixty that we drove

0:40:23.040 --> 0:40:26.720
<v Speaker 2>is so staggering, where does that leave the M five.

0:40:28.600 --> 0:40:32.759
<v Speaker 3>So I am super excited about the M five. I

0:40:32.760 --> 0:40:35.719
<v Speaker 3>hope my smile says it all. I can't wait for

0:40:35.800 --> 0:40:38.440
<v Speaker 3>this car. Unfortunately I can't get into all the details.

0:40:38.440 --> 0:40:41.080
<v Speaker 3>It's a little bit too early, but overall it leaves

0:40:41.120 --> 0:40:44.040
<v Speaker 3>plenty of room because here we have we have a

0:40:44.160 --> 0:40:47.200
<v Speaker 3>V eight. It's a plug in hybrid. The power is

0:40:47.239 --> 0:40:49.680
<v Speaker 3>far beyond what we've seen on the previous M five.

0:40:50.200 --> 0:40:54.680
<v Speaker 3>Performance is absolutely fantastic. And with an electric vehicle versus

0:40:54.760 --> 0:40:57.040
<v Speaker 3>a combustion engine or plug in hybrid, it's not just

0:40:57.080 --> 0:41:00.600
<v Speaker 3>about power output. It's about the overall package, the overall

0:41:00.640 --> 0:41:04.160
<v Speaker 3>feeling and the emotion that it gives you. And as

0:41:04.239 --> 0:41:06.440
<v Speaker 3>much as I love my I five sixty, it's not

0:41:06.480 --> 0:41:09.160
<v Speaker 3>an M five. It's different. It's an M performance vehicle,

0:41:09.400 --> 0:41:12.000
<v Speaker 3>not a full high performance vehicle like DM five is.

0:41:12.640 --> 0:41:15.680
<v Speaker 3>So it's something that we're really excited about and it

0:41:15.840 --> 0:41:17.600
<v Speaker 3>really is a fantastic package.

0:41:18.200 --> 0:41:20.600
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you can't wait for that as a former E

0:41:20.760 --> 0:41:23.360
<v Speaker 1>thirty nine five forty six speed owner. And that's the

0:41:23.400 --> 0:41:25.960
<v Speaker 1>car for people who don't know the internal product codes.

0:41:26.000 --> 0:41:28.040
<v Speaker 1>That was built the five series built from nineteen ninety

0:41:28.040 --> 0:41:31.759
<v Speaker 1>seven to two thousand and three. I'm curious if you've

0:41:31.800 --> 0:41:34.239
<v Speaker 1>been influenced on some of those classic BMWs, if you've

0:41:34.280 --> 0:41:37.040
<v Speaker 1>driven those classic five series and M fives.

0:41:37.760 --> 0:41:40.400
<v Speaker 3>So it's funny you mentioned that I love talking about

0:41:40.640 --> 0:41:43.480
<v Speaker 3>older BMW's and my experiences, and like I said, I'm

0:41:43.520 --> 0:41:46.000
<v Speaker 3>a gearhead. Even from the time I was a little kid,

0:41:46.080 --> 0:41:49.000
<v Speaker 3>I would always ask for automotive publications for Christmas, not

0:41:49.120 --> 0:41:51.719
<v Speaker 3>a new baseball bat or whatever, and read them cover

0:41:51.800 --> 0:41:53.200
<v Speaker 3>to cover. That was just that was my thing, and

0:41:53.239 --> 0:41:55.920
<v Speaker 3>that's what led me through engineering and into the auto industry,

0:41:56.680 --> 0:41:59.600
<v Speaker 3>and throughout all of that. I've always loved driving some

0:41:59.640 --> 0:42:01.680
<v Speaker 3>of the old cars and being inspired by them in

0:42:01.719 --> 0:42:04.239
<v Speaker 3>many senses. It's funny you mentioned the E thirty nine

0:42:04.320 --> 0:42:06.799
<v Speaker 3>because I actually just sold my E thirty nine M

0:42:06.880 --> 0:42:09.360
<v Speaker 3>five and this car was fantastic.

0:42:09.480 --> 0:42:10.040
<v Speaker 1>I loved it.

0:42:10.440 --> 0:42:13.880
<v Speaker 3>And one thing we see is that every generation the

0:42:13.920 --> 0:42:17.279
<v Speaker 3>cars change, and not just about being better or worse,

0:42:17.320 --> 0:42:19.920
<v Speaker 3>it's that they're different. So the E thirty nine you

0:42:20.000 --> 0:42:22.920
<v Speaker 3>had the V eight naturally aspirated. Then you had E

0:42:23.080 --> 0:42:26.160
<v Speaker 3>sixty V ten a V ten with it. You could

0:42:26.160 --> 0:42:27.960
<v Speaker 3>have it with a manual transmission and it revs to

0:42:27.960 --> 0:42:30.160
<v Speaker 3>over eight thousand rpm and the sounds it makes at

0:42:30.160 --> 0:42:33.480
<v Speaker 3>those speeds is absolutely spectacular. And then we went to

0:42:33.560 --> 0:42:35.520
<v Speaker 3>a twin turbo V eight and so on and so on.

0:42:35.600 --> 0:42:38.560
<v Speaker 3>So things have evolved quite a lot. And having been

0:42:38.800 --> 0:42:40.640
<v Speaker 3>in the company for a while and in the industry

0:42:40.640 --> 0:42:42.680
<v Speaker 3>for a while, you learn a lot from these in

0:42:42.760 --> 0:42:45.960
<v Speaker 3>terms of what makes people, what gets them excited, what

0:42:46.080 --> 0:42:49.040
<v Speaker 3>makes them want to buy these cars, and things evolve. Right,

0:42:49.120 --> 0:42:52.040
<v Speaker 3>So the days of having the naturally aspirated V ten,

0:42:52.760 --> 0:42:55.080
<v Speaker 3>that's behind us. But we have many other great things

0:42:55.120 --> 0:42:57.200
<v Speaker 3>coming forward, such as now with the new M five

0:42:57.280 --> 0:43:00.520
<v Speaker 3>with a V eight twin turbo with electricis cation to

0:43:00.600 --> 0:43:03.680
<v Speaker 3>support it and just enhance the overall experience. So the

0:43:03.719 --> 0:43:06.120
<v Speaker 3>short answer is yes. Absolutely. Being a fan of the

0:43:06.160 --> 0:43:08.920
<v Speaker 3>older cars, we always use them as inspiration as.

0:43:08.760 --> 0:43:11.520
<v Speaker 1>We move forward, what was your first car?

0:43:12.040 --> 0:43:14.959
<v Speaker 3>My first BMW was an E thirty before I worked

0:43:14.960 --> 0:43:17.480
<v Speaker 3>for BMW. This car was really a lot of fun.

0:43:17.600 --> 0:43:20.279
<v Speaker 3>I ended up turning it into an autocross car and

0:43:20.280 --> 0:43:22.200
<v Speaker 3>then took it to the track and so forth. So

0:43:22.239 --> 0:43:25.080
<v Speaker 3>that was my first BMW. My first ever car was

0:43:25.080 --> 0:43:26.920
<v Speaker 3>a Volkswagen Karado VR six.

0:43:27.120 --> 0:43:32.399
<v Speaker 1>Oh my god, yeah, this car.

0:43:32.719 --> 0:43:35.799
<v Speaker 3>This car was cool. I really enjoyed the car, but

0:43:36.160 --> 0:43:38.360
<v Speaker 3>as much as I enjoyed it being a front wheel

0:43:38.400 --> 0:43:41.400
<v Speaker 3>drive car, once I started driving real, real drive cars,

0:43:41.480 --> 0:43:44.799
<v Speaker 3>I really started to not just appreciate them, but just

0:43:45.000 --> 0:43:47.680
<v Speaker 3>enjoy driving re real drive cars more. And that's when

0:43:47.719 --> 0:43:50.600
<v Speaker 3>I started driving BMW's. But yeah, Karado VR six, it

0:43:50.640 --> 0:43:51.160
<v Speaker 3>was a cool car.

0:43:51.520 --> 0:43:53.360
<v Speaker 1>Not the nerd out a little, but the M twenty

0:43:53.560 --> 0:43:55.680
<v Speaker 1>in line six, the two point five liter is so

0:43:55.920 --> 0:43:59.279
<v Speaker 1>characteristically similar to that BR six engine. It's amazing, and

0:43:59.320 --> 0:44:01.640
<v Speaker 1>even the power everything is so similar to them. So

0:44:01.680 --> 0:44:04.120
<v Speaker 1>it seems like a natural that you then went into

0:44:04.160 --> 0:44:06.200
<v Speaker 1>a three twenty five. Yeah.

0:44:06.200 --> 0:44:08.320
<v Speaker 3>Actually they did make around the same amount of power.

0:44:08.760 --> 0:44:10.960
<v Speaker 3>They sounded different, but they both sounded excellent.

0:44:11.000 --> 0:44:12.360
<v Speaker 1>They're super smooth, yeah.

0:44:12.320 --> 0:44:14.240
<v Speaker 3>Super smooth, fun to drive.

0:44:14.480 --> 0:44:15.640
<v Speaker 1>That's such a cool first car.

0:44:15.800 --> 0:44:17.399
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it was really cool. It's one of those cars,

0:44:17.400 --> 0:44:19.080
<v Speaker 3>you know. I think people say this very often about

0:44:19.080 --> 0:44:20.880
<v Speaker 3>their first car, like you never should have sold it,

0:44:20.960 --> 0:44:22.600
<v Speaker 3>just even if you don't drive it anymore, just put

0:44:22.600 --> 0:44:24.840
<v Speaker 3>it away somewhere. And I feel that way about my

0:44:24.840 --> 0:44:27.640
<v Speaker 3>first BMW as well. I probably shouldn't have sold it,

0:44:27.719 --> 0:44:28.120
<v Speaker 3>but I did.

0:44:29.000 --> 0:44:29.160
<v Speaker 1>Well.

0:44:29.200 --> 0:44:31.279
<v Speaker 2>This is great, John. Thank you so much for your

0:44:31.320 --> 0:44:36.359
<v Speaker 2>insight and your passion. And keep cranking them out man, Yeah,

0:44:36.440 --> 0:44:42.920
<v Speaker 2>thank you. That interview was brought to you by eBay Motors.

0:44:43.160 --> 0:44:45.160
<v Speaker 2>Visit ebaymotors dot com for more.

0:44:47.880 --> 0:44:50.160
<v Speaker 1>Car friends. Today, we examined and drove two cars that

0:44:50.160 --> 0:44:53.640
<v Speaker 1>are very similar but also incredibly different. We asked ourselves

0:44:53.640 --> 0:44:57.360
<v Speaker 1>the question electric or gas. Although the I five is

0:44:57.400 --> 0:44:59.640
<v Speaker 1>quicker and more efficient, the sound of an engine straining

0:44:59.640 --> 0:45:03.040
<v Speaker 1>and the serial nature of combustion still captivates and delights us.

0:45:03.400 --> 0:45:05.680
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I guess I'm old school. I'll take the five

0:45:05.840 --> 0:45:09.160
<v Speaker 2>forty every day. And that's what we came here to

0:45:09.200 --> 0:45:11.799
<v Speaker 2>find out. Which is the better sports seed in The

0:45:11.880 --> 0:45:14.440
<v Speaker 2>five point forty is just more rewarding. It gives you

0:45:14.480 --> 0:45:16.520
<v Speaker 2>more feedback, It's more visceral.

0:45:16.680 --> 0:45:19.240
<v Speaker 1>For more on the BMW five forty, I X Drive

0:45:19.480 --> 0:45:22.760
<v Speaker 1>and I five M sixty. Visit carent driver dot com

0:45:22.800 --> 0:45:24.400
<v Speaker 1>and be sure to pick up the latest issue of

0:45:24.440 --> 0:45:25.680
<v Speaker 1>carent Driver magazine.

0:45:25.880 --> 0:45:27.759
<v Speaker 2>Tune in next week where we take you on an

0:45:27.760 --> 0:45:31.560
<v Speaker 2>insider's tour of Cadillac House in Warren, Michigan. We'll sit

0:45:31.600 --> 0:45:34.200
<v Speaker 2>down with the team behind the all new Cadillacs Celestic

0:45:34.320 --> 0:45:36.719
<v Speaker 2>to learn more about its design and engineering.

0:45:37.800 --> 0:45:40.560
<v Speaker 1>And then the center tunnel. We turned the pouches that

0:45:40.560 --> 0:45:43.359
<v Speaker 1>are about half the width of the car. We turn

0:45:43.440 --> 0:45:46.120
<v Speaker 1>them ninety degrees and there's two stacks of twelve down

0:45:46.160 --> 0:45:48.319
<v Speaker 1>the meddown the mount under the center console. Here like

0:45:48.360 --> 0:45:52.799
<v Speaker 1>a Fiera gas tank. I can't think of a more

0:45:52.840 --> 0:45:56.520
<v Speaker 1>elegant reference, but yes, I like a Hiera guess. Thank guest.

0:45:59.520 --> 0:46:01.880
<v Speaker 2>Thank you for joining us on Car and Drivers into Cars.

0:46:02.360 --> 0:46:04.320
<v Speaker 2>If you enjoyed the show, join us every week for

0:46:04.440 --> 0:46:07.400
<v Speaker 2>new episodes, and don't forget to rate and review wherever

0:46:07.440 --> 0:46:08.640
<v Speaker 2>you listen to podcasts.

0:46:09.360 --> 0:46:12.279
<v Speaker 1>Car Drivers into Cars is produced by Ruby Studio from

0:46:12.280 --> 0:46:15.160
<v Speaker 1>iHeartMedia in partnership with Car and Driver and hosted by

0:46:15.160 --> 0:46:18.480
<v Speaker 1>me Tony Kiroga and Eddie Alterman. And visit Carndriver dot

0:46:18.480 --> 0:46:20.520
<v Speaker 1>com for the latest car reviews and news.

0:46:20.760 --> 0:46:24.000
<v Speaker 2>Our executive producer is Matt Romano. Our EP of Post

0:46:24.000 --> 0:46:28.480
<v Speaker 2>production is Matt Stillo, along with supervising producer Sierra Kaiser.

0:46:28.840 --> 0:46:31.840
<v Speaker 1>This show was edited by Sierra Spreen special thanks to

0:46:31.840 --> 0:46:35.440
<v Speaker 1>our location sound recordist Matthew Sisco. Thanks for listening. We'll

0:46:35.440 --> 0:46:36.160
<v Speaker 1>see you next time.