It begins with an overview of the WebSphere Messag
Finally the time of thinking is over, a decision is made. I had a 116i once as a rental car and was not really impressed by its weak and thirsty engine, so I thought I have to give the 1-Series a second chance and test drive its more powerful brother the 120d. I played around with the car configurator at the BMW website quite a while but always ended up with an amount around 40.000 € for the little 120d - a horrible amount of money for such a little car, we are still talking about the entry series for BMW. The test drive was such an overwhelming experience compared to the 116i that I immediately fell in love with its torque, the chassis and its low fuel consumption. The test car was equipped with the M-Sport package and some other features, but not as equipped as I would like to have it. The test ride was quite close to digital driving (I/O) and merely full throttle than off throttle. Despite the fact of ridiculous sporty driving and max speed testing the fuel consumption was never more than 7 L/100KM - very impressive. Back at the dealer I became attentive on an special offer; 120i/d with M-Sport package, Advantage package and half of the Comfort package for a surcharge of only 400 €! What should I say – my decision was made. 
I ordered the 120d in sparkling graphite metallic with some more extras to fit all my needs - hopefully. The date for delivery is the first week of November, puh it’s really a pain to sit and wait for a new car.
Some tech specs for the interested:
Top speed (mph) 137 / (km/h) 220
Acceleration 0-62 mph (sec) 7.9
Acceleration 50-75 mph in 4th (sec) 6.6
Max output (kW/hp/rpm) 120/163/4000
Max torque (Nm/rpm) 340/2000
Fuel consumption (Imperial)
Urban (mpg) 36.7
Extra-urban (mpg) 61.4
Combined (mpg) 49.6
Fuel consumption (Metric)
Urban (ltr/100km) 7.7
Extra-urban (ltr/100km) 4.6
Combined (ltr/100km) 5.7
CO2 emissions (g/km) 152
Tank capacity (ltr) 50
…is sold! Still can’t believe that I did it but finally the head took over the heart and then I realized it is time to sell it. You maybe have read my thoughts about environmental cars earlier at my blog (http://aixpi.com/archives/2006/05/26/ar-etanol-framtiden/) so the next car should have an engine with low emissions and a better fuel economy than my previous 535i with its V8 engine. I had this car for 3,5 years now and what should I say, I really loved it. It was the perfect balance between comfort and sportive – a real journey car. Quite stupid of me to change the whole interior earlier this year when now selling the car. Hopefully the new owner will take care of it with the same enthusiasm as I did.
Finally it was time again for one of the yearly highlights in the West Coast Chapter, the drivers training. This we had semi-professional instructors from the BMW Sport Club for the first time – a real lift compared to the last year’s events. Matz and Mia from BMW SC helped us with the track, the exercises and gave us many interesting and useful tips and hints from their experiences in race driving.
Matz really rocked the track with his Z3 coupe.
Thus many wanted to see Magnus’ “Moby Dick” on the track he was not willing to take his white whale (Alpine-White 750iA E38) out on the track for a ride.
After many exercises in the morning and a quick lunch at the fast food restaurant nearby we extended the track and a more super stage like track was set up. Most of the participants had the big smile in their faces all the time, not so strange with this event in mind. 
I didn’t want to expose my 5-series to that stress quite near the sale of it so it was left in the car lot this weekend. Last year I blasted my water pump at Vårgårda so I thought it’s best to let it rest this time. Jonas gave me a lift in his mint condition 325i E30 so it was an even better experience compared to riding “the Elephant” on the course. Thanks to all participants, it was a great day!
