BMW Certified Pre-Owned No-Cost Maintenance OR 0.9% financing offer

Über-Inspected, Certified, with No-Cost Maintenance.

What are we thinking?

We think our Certified Pre-Owned vehicles are pretty remarkable. So for a limited time you'll enjoy our BMW No-Cost Maintenance Plan. That mean you'll pay nothing for maintenance up to 6 years or 100,000 miles. Or, if you prefer, take advantage of our 0.9% financing. The choice is yours. But remember, before these exceptional offers, before the rigorous certification, and before the exceptional value, first, it's a BMW.

These offers are valid only for qualified customers who finance a Certified Pre-Owned BMW through BMW Financial Services and a participating BMW Center. Not all BMW Centers participate. To qualify, you must enter into a retail installment sale contract between February 2, 2010 and March 31, 2010 at a participating BMW Center.

*The free maintenance offer is valid for up to 6 years or 100,000 miles from the original in-service date, whichever comes first, on '07 MY 3, 5 and 7 Series CPO models using standard BMW Financial Services rates. Only certain contract lengths are eligible. Contact your local BMW Center for participation details and vehicle availability.
**Financing starting at 0.9% APR is available on Certified Pre-Owned 2007 model year 3, 5, 6, 7, X3, X5 or Z4, and on 2008 model year 3 and 5 series (M models excluded). Financing starting at 3.9% APR is available on Certified Pre-Owned 2007 M models.
***Protection Plan, backed by BMW, provides coverage for 2 years or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first) from the date of the expiration of the 4-year/50,000-mile BMW New Vehicle Limited Warranty.
Offer expires: 03/31/2010

2010 BMW 550i Gran Turismo - Short Take Road Test

This may be hard to accept, but what you see here is a BMW that’s not really conceived to please Bimmer loyalists in the U.S. That’s because this inflated version of the 5-series sedan is aimed at expanding markets where vehicle priorities differ from our own. China, for one.

If that seems peculiar, remember that the booming Chinese market is the main reason Buick survives while other GM brands have perished: We’re talking about people more interested in comfort, space, and prestige than ultimate driving.

Not that this swollen five-door is deficient in basic BMW dynamic virtues. Yes, its, uh, generous dimensions—3.9 inches longer than the 2011 5-series sedan on which it’s based, 1.6 inches wider, 3.8 inches taller—make the regular 5s look svelte. Our test car weighed almost 2.5 tons (4939 pounds), which is a staggering 891 pounds more than the last 550i we tested [November 2006].

Nevertheless, the 550i GT prances right along with its tidier stablemates, sprinting to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds and covering the quarter in 13.6 at 105 mph. That’s a wink quicker than the sedan in that 2006 test. The GT’s 400-hp, 4.4-liter direct-injection twin-turbo V-8 churns up 40 more horses than the naturally aspirated 4.8-liter in the 2006 test, but the real key to the GT’s performance is the turbo V-8’s massive torque—450 pound-feet, a gain of 90—plus instant throttle response and a very slick ZF eight-speed automatic transmission.

If the GT’s acceleration is surprising, its agility is not. BMW’s chassis engineers have already shown us remarkable skill in mass management with the M versions of the even heavier X6 and X5, and the GT is another example, albeit not as extreme. Body motions are limited, with noticeable roll-stiffness distinctions through the three suspension presets; grip is respectable, at 0.86 g; and if the optional ($1750) four-wheel active steering lacks on-center feel, it’s a welcome feature in high-speed cornering and also makes the GT surprisingly handy at parking-lot speeds.
True to BMW’s dynamic standards, ride quality is supple and braking performance is excellent (160 feet from 70 mph to standstill). Plus, the GT has specific advantages: presidential-limo head- and legroom in the aft cabin, replete with adjustable seats (part of a $3650 option package); nifty configurability to the cargo compartment and rear hatch; and exceptionally low noise levels.

On the debit side, there’s fuel economy (if that’s the right word): 15 mpg city and 21 highway per the EPA, 16 mpg in our test. The price is $65,775 for the base model (including a grand for the guzzler penalty), $4500 more than a standard 550i. And options add up at a frightening rate: Two GTs came to us for evaluation—the first was loaded to the tune of $90,925; the second not quite so loaded, at $80,425. Whew.

Source: Car & Driver

Will the Recession Change BMW for the Better? Perhaps.

Article by Car and Driver

BMW recently held a “One-Day University” program at its home base in New Jersey, intended, according to our hosts, “to begin a discussion” about the role of high-end automakers in the future of personal transportation. The six-session curriculum covered a range of hairy topics, not the least of which was the evident movement of well-heeled Americans away from conspicuous consumption to more restrained, reward-based purchasing habits.

The hour I found most interesting was entitled “What Consumers are Learning from the Recession and Consequences for Premium Products” (which I’m sure could be combined into one word in German), presented by Madelyn Hochstein, owner and president of the research firm DYG, Inc. Citing numerous social and consumer trend studies, Hochstein suggested that people are starting to take ownership of their circumstances (however bleak those may be), that they’re starting to cut back on superfluous financial expenditures, and that more and more rich people see themselves as—get this—“humble.” Also in the research was an alleged shift in the standard of success from “excess” to “ethics.” In other words, according to Hochstein, there is a “responsibility revolution” trending away from seeking “a life of riches” to “a richer life.”

So how might this responsibility revolution change the Ultimate Driving Machine? It’s tough to say definitively, since BMW people were not giving the seminar (they were actually among us in the audience). All I can infer is that we’ll see a whole lot more of this Efficient Dynamics stuff from the BMW brand, that Mini will keep kicking ass, and that the new $250K Rolls-Royce Ghost will far outsell the big, “phat” Phantom.

Source:[CarandDriver]