BMW 7-Series and my Austrian “adventure”

The BMW 7-series was always one of my favorite large sedans, ever since I first spotted a 728i parked in front of the Pichlmüle hotel in the small and beautifully situated village of Nußdorf am Attersee in Oberöstereich. It was 1981 and God only knows why the good people of Austria placed refugees from the communist paradise Poland in this picturesque little hotel with breathtaking views of the Attersee lake, surrounded by even more breathtaking mountain tops.

All the nearby villages were squeaky clean and connected by a network of superbly maintained roads. We were also very close to the A1 Autobahn, which connected Vienna and Salzburg, and where I was treated several times to 200 km/h + dashes by crazy Austrian pilots while hitch-hiking to some Regierung office in Vienna. The local boys and girls learned how to drive on these snaky black tops and not much scared them. Most of them also had nice well handling cars, while the local Bundesgendarmerie drove old Beetles and were nowhere to be found outside of office hours. No speed traps anywhere and somehow nobody died, even though there was no public transit connecting the local pubs and the villages, if you know what I mean.

Back to the BMW. The 7’s biggest secret is the availability of the B7 Alpina model. Although the package costs a scary $47,700, you get most of the options available on the regular 7 sedan, so the real differnece is around $25K. You also get a set of beautiful 21“ 20-spoke wheels, rich body and interior trim, and a 100 more hp. Not bad.

There is also talk of bringging the diesel option for 2013. With that, the 7 offering would almost be complete. Good work BMW. Now get going on improving the reliability of the 3-series and I will be a fan again.

The clearnace pricing of the 2012 model is nothing short of amazing and leasing offers are very attractive. If you thinking about one, call me. We’ll get you an excellent deal and you can still enjoy the full dealership expierence BMW offers.