Haven’t done a holiday themed unicorn blog yet, but it’s Veterans Day, and thought I should pick out a special unicorn for those who have served. Didn’t take long to punch in the requirements. Had to be 4WD/AWD, of course – don’t want to be restricted to asphalt. And diesel. The third world thrives on diesel. Run flat tires – not stoppping if we can avoid it. Room for four shooters and all their gear. Low profile color. And 21st century troops need technology – heads up display to stay focused on the horizon, rear view camera and blind spot monitoring to track bogeys, Bluetooth to communicate with Hqs, and a killer sound system for when off the net.  Cold weather package because pretty much everywhere in the world it gets cold at night, and the US military owns the night. Bummed I could not find something with all this and night vision, too! And just in case you read no further, thanks to all who have served in the armed forces in defense of this great nation. Check out Jason Isbell’s tribute, “Tour of Duty”, for those who came home safe.
Only one vehicle had pretty much everything needed, and at first I was bummed it was not a Humvee (there’s one at the bottom of this page as a back up plan. Military folks always have a back up plan). It’s a BMW!. But then I thought after all our troops have been through, this would be a really sweet ride. And having been to Iraq and Afghanistan, I know our Special Operations Forces are not unfamiliar with BMW’s, and BMW is not unfamiliar with tough places either – especially armored BMW’s. (Somewhere in a shoe box, pre-internet days, is a picture of me driving a lightly armored BMW 320 in the Middle East!).
At $34,998 this 2016 BMW 535 dxi would be a really nice unicorn for any road warrior. I was actually surprised to find a two-year old car with low miles, still under factory warranty. Means MaxCare will be really cheap and take this car to 2023 and 150,000 miles without paying for a repair. The diesel will only be getting broken in by then! The expensive electonic gizmos would all be covered, though, and well worth it.
The in-line, twin-turbo six-cylinder diesel puts out 255hp and 413 ft-lbs of torque, and with an eight-speed automatic is good for a mid-5 second 0-60mph run and get this, a 550 mile cruising range on a tank of diesel! Stole some of that from the great Car and Driver review in 2014 (car was unchanged for 2016), where they estimated a fully optioned AWD 535d would run close to $90,000. If that was the price tag for this California leased car, here it is at a deep discount two years later at almost a third the price. I love me some depreciation. The 2015 model was named the Diesel Car of the Year. Even the great and candid Jalopnik reviewer dug it. This is a car I could learn to love on road trips. Owned an E34 1992 BMW 525i in-line six when I lived in Germany and could pull off 600 miles on a tank, and comfortably cruise as long and as far as the bladder could handle. Find this car here in San Jose, California. 
Continue reading “The (Nearly) Perfect Unicorn for Veterans – AWD Diesel F10 BMW. You Earned It.”