Review: 2025 BMW 320d xDrive M Sport Pro

If German trains can't run on time, what hope do the Italian ones have?

At least that was my thought when planning my recent trip to Italy. Rome has an extremely convenient direct rail link from the airport to the city center, but when looking at transit options from there to the Amalfi coast, it was...less confidence inspiring.

Review: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA250 4Matic

One of my best friends doesn't 'get' cars.

Don't get me wrong, he isn't willing to spend money on some random piece of crap. He will do the needed research to buy a quality car, quality tires, where and how to get quality maintenance done, etc. He even has a dream car (Audi A8).

But a car is just a "vehicle" to him. As such, if he even chooses to rent a car at all during vacation, he'll pick the cheapest option that lets him do whatever he needs to do.

Pragmatic and reasonable, of course, but it's in stark contrast to my approach.

Review: 2024 BMW X5 xDrive40i

I still remember when BMW unveiled its iDrive infotainment system. Instead of hard buttons for all functions, the new-for-2002 7-series buried many of them in layers of on-screen submenus only its designer could find intuitive, and the system was panned by everyone as a result.

The pleasant surprise in all this was that BMW didn't pull a Steve Jobs "you're holding it wrong", and actually listened to all the negative feedback. Later iterations of the system became the best in the business, making screened functions easy to find, while all the basics retained the hard buttons they used to have.

Fast forward to today: we have the system's eighth iteration fitted to almost all new BMW's, and it's 2002 all over again. Instead of further refining what worked, they went kamikaze and took out almost all of the remaining buttons, leaving us with a giant smartphone on the dash.

With things again being buried and hard to access, the system is quite literally a high-resolution user experience regression. It's as if they made the industry's best infotainment by fluke.

First time living with an EV (2023 Polestar 2 Review)

With so many differing opinions on whether EV's make sense or not, I figured the best way to find out for sure was to try it for myself. So, during a recent trip to Toronto, I rented a 2023 Polestar 2 dual motor for a week. I then did the same thing again when I got back home, trying it out on home turf.

Now, this isn't a discussion of ethics. Yes, EV batteries are made in a dirty, non-environmentally friendly way, and EV's are subsidized by governments. Not the direction I want to take this post in, however – this is about real-world livability from a car guy's perspective.

With that out of the way, let's begin.

Waiting in the Shadows

Not long after the final chunk of driving before the pandemic started, I drove my little Zastava the hour or so to my mechanic's shop. The aim was to fix a plethora of leaks, change the belts, plus to finally get it to freakin' start reliably, before another driving season would occur.

The car ended up producing some sort of worrying, clutch-like smell about 30-45min in (it's been so long now, I can't remember exactly why). With a strong desire to not have to call a tow truck, I pulled onto the hard shoulder of the highway and waited for the smell to subside before continuing. Eventually, we reached our destination, but not before the brake pedal suddenly got as hard as a rock.

So I Changed My Game Plan

My little Zastava is in the shop, getting all its gaskets replaced (among other things). I always say that hopefully this is the last shop visit before it's fully driveable, but I won't say that this time. No, I think I'll change my game plan and only talk about what's already been done, ignoring its intended impact on the car's future.

Aside from dealing with the Fića's return to form, I've also spent the last five or six years looking for a modern performance car. The basic criteria was a powerful engine, rear wheel drive, two doors, and most importantly, a manual transmission. Extra points if it's brand new.

Easier said than done.