Scott Stevens
BMW Manufacturing Co. in Greer is expanding the paint shop (background) for the coming X4 model. A conveyor system (above, right) is in place with another to be built beside it to transport vehicles under production to work stations.
So, why does the sports guy have a car column?
Well, it’s a long story that began in 1994 when I began writing such columns for the Island Packet on Hilton Head Island that I continued to write for the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News and for CNHI-Indiana Newspapers in Indianapolis.
When I joined the staff at GreerToday.com, we took a look around and were reminded quickly that our area has become a hub of the automotive industry. Greer’s BMW Manufacturing Co., facility will produce about 300,000 vehicles this year and employs some 7,000 people. Its regional suppliers employ thousands more in the industry.
Add those together with the dealerships located along Wade Hampton Boulevard in Greer and my reviews seem like a perfect fit.
Future entries in Auto Focus will critique all different makes and models of new vehicles.
But Auto Focus No. 1 will focus on how I didn’t die on Thursday.
First, I did not roll a BMW X5 off the top of a hill despite having one wheel off the ground.
Second, I was not the victim of a fiery crash in a BMW M3 coupe during a hot lap at the Performance Center on the BMW campus.
Third, I did not die in a zombie attack.
It was a good day.
The X5 is one of three models produced at the Greer manufacturing facility (along with the X3 and X6). The new X4 is to join that lineup at a later date.
Myself and GreerToday.com’s Scott Stevens were able to take the X5 on a couple of circuits around the off-road course, which included suspension tests, uphill power and showed off some of the vehicle’s technical advances.
Those advances included a hill-hold button, which is essentially a high-powered emergency brake, and the hill-descent control that presets a speed for downhill maneuvers.
Let’s be honest, the X5 family of vehicles isn’t really going to see a lot of off-road action in the hands of their buyers, but our X5 appeared more than able if asked.
So was BMW driving instructor and veteran road racer Donnie Isley, who took Scott and me on our respective hot laps in a 414 horsepower M3 coupe.
I have long been a fan of the M series, the soul of BMW’s motorsport division and the quick lap that showed the M3’s brutal power coupled with its taut handling capabilities mixed speed and drifting in the hands of Isley.
The coupe as driven is no longer in production as BMW readies to shift the model away from the normally aspirated 4-liter V8 to a turbocharged power plant for 2013.
Turbos or not, it’s hard to imagine it getting much better than the M3.
And Isley didn’t kill me either.
Again, a pretty good day.