The wife and I participated in the BMW Ultimate Drive this past Saturday at IG Burton BMW in Milford DE. We drove the 328i vert, X3, and 750il. The drives were nice, even if a little short (12.8 mile route). I hate to complain about a free event whose proceeds go to charity (the main reason we went) but I will voice one complaint. On site, the event was pretty disorganized. We had signed up online for the 328 and X3 and had confirmed timeslots. When we arrived and signed in, we found out that they were just placing names on a list (first come first served) so we had to wait around to get to drive the cars we had signed up to drive. Other than that, it was a good event and kudos to BMW for supporting such a worthy cause.

As for driving impressions, we were very impressed with the X3. For the $$ it seems to be a very capable compact SUV. It handled well and seemed to be very planted around the few curves on the pre-set course they had mapped out. It could use a few more HP and would be a very interesting drive if they put the 335 powerplant in there at a later date.

The 750il was in a word RIDICULOUS. I'd never driven one before so I wasn't prepared for the luxo-cruiser appointments in the interior. The seats were amazing (heated/ventilated/massaging). I really wish the ventilated seats were available in the 3'er as this would help me tremendously in the warm/hot weather. Overall a nice ride with plenty of power, but it'll be a few (i.e. 20) more years before I'm ready to graduate to something that large.