Last year I sold a 2005 Pontiac GTO for a client, Rob, that he had placed on consignment with me. He was in Russia at the time, doing some work and needed to sell it, so I helped him sell his vehicle as I’ve helped hundreds of people do over the years. I got an email from him back in September that after several years in Russia, the company he was working for was transferring him to North Dakota.

Russia and North Dakota have the same type of climate, so someone at his company must have a sense of humor.  He said he was going to a place in the middle of nowhere in North Dakota – it’s a big State.  He wanted something fun to drive on those long road trips and that was also reliable.  He decided on a BMW – “The Ultimate Driving Machine”.

He asked me to help him get his new vehicle and he was kicking around between the BMW 135i or the 335i with Xdrive, formerly known as the 335xi.  We landed on the latter and I tracked him down the exact vehicle that he wanted with all the features he was going to need for living in North Dakota.  He only had about a week to get his vehicle before he was off to North Dakota and he wanted the window tinting done and a clear bra, but I got it all wrapped up for him within his deadline.

I met him at Murray Motors in Denver with my friend Bob Oetjen to deliver the vehicle and after the delivery I asked him to send me some photos of his very cool new car.  This morning he wrote me the following and sent along the photos you see in this post…

The Sweetest Thing the movie “Hey John,

Here are some pics of the BMW with the tint. Let me know if you want bigger versions of the pics for your website. The car is awesome and a blast to drive. Very happy with it. No snow yet here in North Dakota, but it is cold. So the heated seats and steering wheel get used all the time.

Thanks again for doing a great job helping me find the BMW.

-Rob”

Nice job Rob!  Glad you love it and it’s keeping you warm.

His BMW 335i is probably my favorite production vehicle with the twin-turbos and you can’t argue with the great looking lines of this car that so many car companies want and try to duplicate.  It’s definitely a blast to drive!  I can’t say that about every BMW, but the 328i with the straight six cylinder and the 335i with twin turbos rock!  The Xdrive is an added bonus giving them all-wheel-drive handling and great performance in all driving conditions.

335i Sedan

More detailed specifications

3.0-liter, 300-horsepower, dual overhead cam (DOHC), inline 24-valve 6-cylinder engine with aluminum engine block, Advanced Turbo technology, piezo direct injection, and Double-VANOS steplessly variable valve timing

Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), including Brake Fade Compensation, Start-off Assistant, Brake Drying, and Brake Stand-by features, with Dynamic Traction Control (DTC), xDrive all-wheel-drive system, 4-wheel ventilated anti-lock disc brakes with Dynamic Brake Control (DBC), Twin-tube gas-pressure shock absorbers, Engine-speed-sensitive, variable-assist power steering, Double-pivot type front suspension with dual forged-aluminum lower arms (328i xDrive and 335i xDrive have steel lower arms and a steel subframe, plus an aluminum thrust plate), Hill Descent Control, Chrome-plated exhaust tips

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

Hey Cool Car Fans,

I was at the car wash last week and while I was there I spotted this sweet 2009 BMW X6 that had come through the wash and was being dried off. I couldn’t help but ask the owner, who’s name was Char (I’m assuming that she spelled her name kind of like Cher only with an a instead of an e), if I could take a few photos of her ride. She said she didn’t mind and she told me that she had owned six BMW’s and this was her favorite one of the bunch.

If you’re not familiar with this vehicle, let me share with you a little bit about it. The BMW X6 was based closely on the popular X6 Concept vehicle. BMW launched the X6 coupe-crossover for the 2009 model year, but don’t be fooled because it’s really a sedan on steroids.  They have called it a “Sport Activity Coupe”, which is really the first of its kind. It’s for people who want the functionality of an SUV, but like the performance and styling of a sedan.  Along with the wild exterior comes an all-new twin-turbo V8 that will find its way into other new BMWs in the coming years.

It’s not just any twin-turbo, but one that delivers 300hp in the X6 xDrive35i and 400hp in the xDrive50i.  This ride fetches $55,900 and $66,650 respectively, depending on how the model is fully equipped.  Each of these vehicles get around 18 – 20 mpg on the highway.   So, you can get performance with gas mileage that is similar to an SUV, but how many SUV’s do you know with a twin-turbo 4.4l V8 and 407hp at 5,500 RPM’s?  Talk about a cool car that drives like a road worthy rocket ship that will go from 0 to 62 mph in about 5.4 seconds.

Even the xDrive35i has a twin-turbo 3.0 V6 with 307hp is a fantastic option and plenty of performance for most drivers.  BMW is the first automaker to bring such an SUV to market, but I’m sure other automakers will be planning similar coupe-like utility vehicles as more people spot these on the road. Land Rover recently unveiled its LRX coupe-crossover concept that looks interesting, but it’s hard to beat the BMW for all around quality and performance at a great price.

If there is one shortfall of this vehicle it’s that it only seats four people instead of five like the X5 model.  However, the rear seating is on the same level as the front seating with incredible amenities in the vehicle.  This includes Google to car features that allow you to send a map to the car from Google through your computer, along with sport and steptronic manual shift modes, and steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters to name just a few.  You get luxury with fantastic performance and just an all-around very cool vehicle for Colorado or any location with a change of Seasons.

Cool Car Guy Rating: Extremely Cool

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Auto Consultant – John Boyd: The Cool Car Guy

John is an auto consultant with his license at a car dealership in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle! jboyd@coolcarguy.com or Twitter @coolcarguy

Hey Cool Car Fans,

I delivered some pretty cool cars in December of 2006 to clients, including this sweet, low mileage and hard to find, red BMW X5 4.8is just in time for Christmas.

This car is really cool, super fast and a blast to drive. The X5 is based on the mid-size 5-Series sedan platform with the X5 being the larger of BMW’s two “Sports Activity Vehicles” or SAVs. The X3 is based on the smaller 3-Series platform and I delivered several of those vehicles as well this past year, but the X5 is the “Mac Daddy” of the two BMW’s.

In 2005, this vehicle had a base MSRP of $68,800 and I’ve seen them loaded for as much as $96,500! This baby had it all, including the $1,800 Navigation option, which is always a nice feature on a high-end vehicle. Standard features on the 4.8is in 2005 were a 6-speed automatic transmission, digital compass mirror, panorama moon roof, rear door window sun blinds, ski bag, heated rear seats, park distance control, rain sensor, adaptive headlights, and a premium sound system. There were dozens of other features and amenities on this baby – it lacks nothing!

Under the hood in this X5 is a 4.8-litre, 355-hp, 32-valve, V-8 engine making 369 lb-ft of torque at 3,500 rpm. Valve lift is controlled by the Valvetronic system eliminating the need for a throttle butterfly.

Electronically controlled valve timing is done through the Double-VANOS system, flattening the torque curve, minimizing fuel consumption and reducing emissions. This is one of the reasons why the 4.4 and 4.8 litre engines are as good on gas mileage as the smaller 3.0 liter without having to sacrifice performance. In 2007, BMW has eliminated the 4.4 and is only offering the X5 in the 3.0 liter and the 4.8 liter engines.

The new owners will need to make sure that they use Premium fuel in the 24.3-gallon tank that will give them about a 400-mile range, but that shouldn’t matter. Not when you can go from 0 to 60 in about 5.9 seconds, which is almost as fast as my 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX and the X5 has a top speed that is listed at 153 mph. The X5 4.8is gets between 16 and 21 mpg, which means that they should average around 18.5 mpg and that’s pretty darn good for a vehicle of this size.

Bottom line on the 2005 BMW X5 4.8is is that it’s an extremely cool car.

What do you think?

Cool Car Guy Rating:
***** – Extremely Cool

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Auto Broker – John Boyd “The Cool Car Guy”
John is an automotive consultant with JFR & Associates in Denver, Colorado. He can help you save time and money on any make or model, new or used, lease or purchase – nationwide! Call or email John about your next vehicle!
jboyd@coolcarguy.comTalladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby dvdrip