My first drive in The Ultimate Driving Machine.

As a married college student and a father of a diaper decimating three-month old it's no surprise to often find me behind the wheel of a budget friendly beater.  Currently my trusty steed is mostly green 1997 Honda Accord LX with a 5-speed gear box; I say mostly green because just like many other late model Accord's it's losing it's clear coat in   all the usual places.  It may not be the prettiest car on the road but for now it must do and fortunately for me it is reasonably fun to drive, it being a 5-speed and all.
    Considering my circumstances and taking into account the fact that I am a very dedicated car enthusiast, it's no surprise that I take advantage of every opportunity to drive other cars no matter the make or model.... mostly.  So it's no surprise that when my boss at work asked me to take his courtesy car back to the dealer and swap it out for his personal car which had been in for some transmission work, that I jumped at the chance.  The fact that his courtesy car was the new BMW 128i had me chomping at the bit and it was a laborious work to hide my over exorbitant  enthusiasm.  After taking it for a spin I've found that my enthusiasm was not misplaced in any sort.
   I've read hundreds of articles, played dozens of video games, and watched several movies depicting BMW's as "The Ultimate Driving Machine".  Throughout the my life as I've read through automotive magazines and admired how journalists convey their experiences with the cars they've driven, I've often imagined what it must be like to drive them.  Because of where I grew up and the financial circumstances that I've always been in I haven't had much experience with driving most of the immortalized rides that grace the pages of such magazines as Motor Trend and Car & Driver.  That is why I have been left to my own scheming practices of test driving cars that I could in no way afford at this time or my relying upon the good graces of those that have them who are kind enough to let me take them for spin.

   This particular 1-series, although it wasn't the 135i  it's 300 hp twin-turbo six, was an exquisite experience from the moment the key fob was placed in my hand.  The 1-series, while smaller and less expensive than the rest of it's siblings is distinctly BMW and that is what you have to love about it.  The 128i starts out at around $29,500 which for a brand new BMW is quite a bargain.  BMW's have been around for a long time and for a long time BMW's have had a reputation, a very good one at that.  Nearly every sports sedan on the road today has been built with BMW's in their crosshairs; BMW is the benchmark when it come to luxury sport sedans and many sport coupe's.  The new 1-series did not disappoint with it's distinct BMW character lines and kidney bean grille; thick boston leather covers the seats and the thick steering wheel feels like the perfect fitting glove when you wrap your hands around it.
   I'm the kind of guy that could drive all day just for the joy of it, even in my well worn Accord; so you can imagine how hard it was to pull the 1-series into the dealer lot to relinquish my keys.  The 128i that I was driving was a real pleasure do drive, without the twin-turbos it generates 230 hp and 200 ft-pounds of torque.  Just in case your wondering that is plenty to have a good sporting time with, I only got to drive the 128 for about 20 minutes but it was 20 minutes of pure heaven.  Extremely responsive steering, communicative handling and quick acceleration helped to convince me that the BMW 128i lives up to the BMW name and legacy.  What impressed me was the fact that 2007 BMW 525i that I drove home felt just as good.  I may not have driven a great deal of the competition but in my opinion BMW truly is one of the premium brands in the automotive world.  If I have things my way, my man cave will most definitely have something from Bavaria and if its the budget 128i you'll be hearing no complaints from me.