bavaria bmw

• Passat Sedan's Sibling a Stunner

MUNICH, Germany -- The 2009 Volkswagen Passat CC (Comfortable Coupe) swells the growing ranks of this new four-door, four-seat genre. BMW's X6 and the Mercedes-Benz CLS are the other players. As with those two, the CC's only concession to the coupe thing is its sweeping roofline, which is 50 millimetres lower than that of the regular Passat sedan. It is an elegant-looking piece to be sure, as was witnessed by its sheer road presence on the drive through Bavaria. If you ride in the Passat CC, the place to be is up front -- there is plenty of space and a very nice view. Just when I think I have found the best interior (the Mercedes-Benz CL 550), along comes a car that trumps it. The CC's interior is stunning, especially if you opt for the two-tone black/beige finish and its wood and alumi...

• Winnipeg Free Press
• August 26, 2009

• Bmw Series a Beautiful Statement of Luxury... Which Might Have Been Its Undoing

What BMW couldn't have possibly imagined A classic BMW was born. A classic BMW CSi that had the option of BMW's "M" sport performance

...was brewing in Bavaria in 1981, long before the. E31 platform (as it was ...

• Winnipeg Free Press
• October 01, 2009

• Caddy's Not Lacking

So, along with the new leather seats is a stitched leather dashboard. This last detail, in fact, sports the CTS's only interior foible. For stylistic reasons, the entire covering is held together by French stitching. Elegant, yes, but the stitching stretches all the way into the door and, in my tester, the transition from dash to door wasn't exact. The actual discrepancy between the panel gaps wasn't that large, it's just that the overt stitching emphasized the fact that things didn't quite line up. The rest of the car's interior is quite elegant. The wood trim is tasteful, nicely highlighted by some additional metallic trim. The switchgear, one of the original CTS's serious weaknesses, is extremely well done, and the optional audio/navigation system package delivers superb sound. Caddy...

... as the Cadillac that thinks it's made in Bavaria. My tester was equipped with the mid-range FE2, wh...

• Winnipeg Free Press
• August 21, 2009