WHITBY FREE PRESS, DURHAM MOVES, AUGUST 31, 1988, PAGE A3 BMW 635,CS1:,. Status. symbol of the first rank. By Alex Law As. fate would, have it, during the, time I was. driving the BMW 635CSi two fiends had dhigh school, reunions, and I had my annuel family picnic. It was commonly feit that it was a perfect car to take te the family, picnic. It wes further commonly- felt ýthat,, it, was a shenîie th at my friends, had - not' agedte attend their reunions since the Bimmer. was the, perfect car for thein to show up in.,. I tell you these things to show, how widely held is the opinion that a BMW is a status symbol of the flrst rank, that it is seen as, being almost exclusively a status symbol, and that it 15 worthy of aspiing te for no other reason than its value as a status symbol. Which is just as well, since on intrinsic value. alone no car is, worth $7Ë,000. It is myjudgment that a car that cen do just about anything you' rieed it te do --in comfort and style, with good mileage. and, a terrifie warranty --cen be had for. about $25,000. Beyond that point you are driving deeper into-Symbol City. 1Now I -have some problem with spending more than you need te on a car. It's one of those arees where the ant in me takes over; in other, areas, such as -buying boioks and -clothes, :the grasshopper part of me takes control. I cannot, however, find any philosophic or moral reasons that would Cause, me te. denounce the buyers of a car like the 635081, which"]rm sure filîs themn with relief. I do, however, find such Idisplays of conspicuous. consumption interesting. . Clearly, you buy a BMW to say certain things. If you buy an entry level 325,'for instance, you * teIl the world that you know the sc ore, are -upwardly mobile, and have a taste fôr the finer things. A 635CSi says two of the same things but indicates that the top is now in sight,. if not yet in grasp, The extreme ststement la the purchase of a 750iL, which says you are most definitely on tep and the view from up there is damn fine, thank'you. This week let, us consider just what it is the 6350Si 18 trying te Aride in te Shiro By Alex Law, I was not one of t hose, people,, who 'fell for the Datsun- Z car when'it was first introduced al those years ago. No, I had the decency to wait for the 280 before dropping my affections et the car's tires. Needless te say, the attraction for the car bias not waned in the intervening . ye ars. Other people said that when it became the Nissan 300 ZX it was starting to look a little'pudgy. But since I, too, am middle-aged I have more sympathy. I prefer to think of theSOO ZX body as Ilubenesque. I particularly like the look of the car from the front, since the helf-veiled headlights give the car the sleepy look of an animal that IiiQws 'ttlhas fewc hallerrgers. Yoýu, of 'course,ý have your'own opinion of they way the car looks, and it.may not be as effusive as mine- , I, am here toda to tell you whatJ thin k of they way the car runs. 1Fiist I h ave to advise.you thet the'version of the car I drove was the "Shiro",- which sounds exciting but is actually only Japanese for white. What Shiro 'means in English is a' faster, more responsive car than the.,stock niodel4.-And considering that -the stock 3400 ZX is already a rocket, the Shiro. is another good step along thet path* Only 75 Shiros have* been imported into Canada, and they each have a plaque on the dash telling you which niodel you're in. Mine was #16. The more important number, in my view,, is $34,163.85, which is of course the price. That makes it not the most expensive30 ZX in Nissan's fleet, but still not an economy car either. Aside from being its own peculiar shede of white, the Shiro bas the following goodies separeting it from its siblings. --A special high-performance engine with revised electronic management system. --A five-speed transmission with viscous limited-slip differential --European-specification tuned suspension. --Deluxe sport-seats by Recaro. --A special spoiler, elloy wheels and detail trim. Ail of this makes the Sh-iro a great looking and a distinctive riding car. Notice my careful selection of words to describe the suspension. On almost any kind of road the suspension ia like what Fred and Barney must have ridden on while driving te work et the que1 rry. (If we were Americans I might have made a joke about the princess and'the Z, but we're not, so I won't.) Ini other words, you feel ever'y bump right up'through your backside. This cen be quite tiring and, occasionally, a little distressing. .Coing across the train tracks over Highwey 6 in Hagersville was one of those moments, end I wasn't even going fast. The car and its passengers shook and rattled- and the five-speed gearshift seenied to have been stricken with an attack of St. Vitus Dance. Very distressing. However, on long, twisting, smooth surfaces it is like being wired to the road. When you push - the Shiro up to speed you know absolutely everything that is going on beneath. It engenders a s ense of stability that 18 quite exciting. The peak moment came on a newly surfaced and empty stretch of road that intersected Highway 6 near Dogsnest. I let the- car' out 'and 'was enjoying myself so much I didn't notice that we were doing about 160 km/h. Neither did my passenger, who is-usally very conscious of that kind of thing. It is in those- situations' that the 3-litre SOHO turbo V6 is et its best,' and it is -those-moments that ZXowners must live for. And who cen blame them? As I mature, I arn more and more enamored of driving a high-performance car under some - duress. ..As for the Shiro's cockpit, it is designed as a driver's car, right down te the wonderful Recaro seats and they 'way the geuges are masked so that only the driver cen see them' without strain. .If you want to you cen even put a decent locd of stuif in the back, including two large SEE PAGE A4 BEA T THE RUSH -Order your 1989- Models toda~ *1O0.5%Financing on ail Models, New & Used Cars *Lease for Less New & Used Cars GU BRW ONICBICKLD say, exactly. As always, the promotional brochure is a good place to look for this message. The first words describing the 635CS1 and its sporty brother the M6 are: '"Contempt for corn- promise. bas just found two perfect vehicles of expression." From there the brochure is even less incined to compromise than the cars it's trying to sell. BMW avows that the 635081 "qepitomizes the' Grand 'Touring tradition. Its amenities include every luxury feature one could in good 'tse require. And its perfornce is of the calibre that can tame even the niostsinuous Alpine roads." I have to admit thet the brochure writer does for once not the truth bend. The 635CSi is an excellent car --handsorne, quick, nimble , coinfortable and other- wise estimable. As for status value, it's very high; my opening remarks bear that out. So do the various looks of envy or resentment'on the faces of other drivers, who either wish they had one or wish they had yours. The 635081 is powered by a 3.5-litre SOHO iie 6 "whose appearance alone is enough to corrupt", according to BMW. When you finish looking at it, the engine also does a fine job of hauling the car around, thanks to the 208 hp it develops et 5700 rpm. With the five-speed transmission this means that the car will go from 0-100 kmh in 7.9 seconds, e respectable rate. kt was s -rnewhat 'slower with the optional four-speed automatic with overdrive, but still good enough, to keep you in trouble with the police if you're not careful. That four-speed deserves a paragraph of its own. In the standard economy setting it is the smoothest transmisson I have ever seen; the car's engine glides through shift changes effortlessly enough to defy notice. Or :you can switch to a manual setting to get what you want. Your choice, for $1,500. Inside the 635CSi 'is luxury-plus.' It's very nice, but riothing that makes me want to drool, or not drool since every thing's covered in leether. It's solid and unspectacular, with a couple of things that need work: the passenger-side vanity mirror, which is remnarkably low-rent; and the steering column, whichi telescopes but does not tilt. This second, matter is a serlous problem, in* my books, since the wheel is very high in its only setting. It was uncomfortable -for me, but I had to keep the seat low to allow lots of iroom for the top. of my head, which clears more than six feet when I'm standing. Perhaps a standard-issue person would be more comfortable. No matter how' taîl you are, though, pulling up ifl a car as well known and as widely envied as the BMW 635CSi is guaranteed to make you seem even taller. And I know some guys who'd pay a lot for that. Like $75,000. r - ~.~-'-* - TOP QUALITY VEHICLES AT SPECIAL VALUE -PRICES ~MICRAS $7588 $RM P169 $7788, FROM $13,998 - A il new '88 Nissans '1A~j\~have 3 year 60,000km. full warranty. '~Y~ 6 year 100,000 km. power warranty. N DEDUCTIBLES - NO FEES SHOP NOW FOR BEST SELECTION Prices do flot include tax, freight., licence or options. Leases based on 48 months with optional buy backs. r, lum-