Finally, the weather and work, and a host of other things were aligned and I could take the Fiver out for some miles. I ended up driving it to work, which is a 150 mile roundtrip of almost all highway driving. A typical workday this time of year starts in the dark and ends in the dark, so you get to exercise the lighting system. It is also rather chilly, so you get to exercise the heating system. It was the dawn of a beautiful if cold day, so to begin the test, I fully opened the sunroof, and turned up the heat. The last sunroof car that I had was another BMW, a 320i (see moonbathing). It was a nice sensation to have the roof open in the dark. The heat more than compensated for the cool air.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the car was new-car flawless. The only dissapointment was that it seems rather thirsty. According to the onboard computer, it averaged 23.8 MPG for the trip. Pretty low for highway mileage, so I checked the specs and the forums. The EPA highway number was 25mpg, so it is not far off the mark given my heavy right foot. In the forums, real world mileage is frequently cited as in the teens, so I guess I should be pleased !! The mileage however, does not tell you anything about the experience. The car is smooth and quiet, and you have to pay attention to the speedo or you will get into license-confiscation territory very quickly.