A REAL HEAD TURNER
Lauren Mabbett has her first BMW driving experience and really did not want to give back the keys...
To be honest if someone told me I’d be making heads turn in a Pak N Save carpark one day I’d assume it’s because my pants fell down while I was carrying 7 bottles of sauvignon blanc. But thanks to Coombes Johnston BMW on Hewletts Road I got to turn heads in a more dignified way. By driving through with the roof down in a brand new 420i M Sport convertible.
Whether people were car nuts or not, seeing this Arctic Race Blue sleek metallic specimen roll past was a delight to stop and ogle at unfortunately something my 1997 Nissan with the wing mirror hanging off never managed to do.
I don’t even know where to begin on listing off everything the 420i can do, but here’s a few of my highlights.
Reversing assistant. I’m pretty sure this is demon magic but I’m here for it. The car has the ability to remember the path you took before you parked. So say you live up a narrow windy driveway? No problem, hit reversing assistant and it will reverse it out for you the same way. It’ll even remember the route if you haven’t touched it in months (burn some sage up in this thing right??)
BMW head up display. An image reflected into the windscreen so you can see your speed, and the speed limit in the area, while still looking at the road. If you pop on a navigation or change the music you can also see those options there too, through the glass!
Wireless smartphone charging. No cords here! Just sit your phone on the platform and it charges - even when the car is off.
“Hey BMW”. You’ve met Siri, you’ve met Alexa, you have to meet BMW. An intelligent communication system that will deliver to you what you need just by saying “Hey BMW”. Spoiler alert: she doesn’t know any good jokes, but pretty much everything else.
Intelligent Emergency Call. If you get in a crash and the airbags are deployed, the car will contact emergency services and tell them details of the crash, including location and how many passengers. This is one I didn’t get to try thank goodness!
“My BMW”. I got set up with a profile which welcomes me as I get in the car. If I ever drive another
BMW, I can use my same profile which remembers exactly how I like everything
- including the interior lighting and the seat angle.
If that wasn’t enough, throw in some seat warmers, a neck warmer (!!), a Hifi Loudspeaker system and a seatbelt that comes forward to greet you - just so you don’t have to exert yourself by reaching back to get it. Bliss!
Whether you’re travelling long distance, or to Pak N Save, or to the tailors to get those pants fixed, the 420i convertible is an absolute joy to drive. Find out for yourself! You can see it now at Coombes Johnston BMW 113 Hewletts Road, Mount Maunganui.