GOOGLE MY CAR
With increasing delays at airports (both due to security, weather, and, more recently, entire fleets of aircraft grounded due to safety compliance checks), more business travelers are taking to the road in lieu of flying.  Now you can use Google to send your destination(s) to your car’s satellite navigation system as well.
Introduced by BMW in early 2007 in European markets, both Mercedes-Benz USA and BMW of North America now offer drivers the ability to send a destination, including street address and telephone number, to a satnav-equipped vehicle from …

Business travelers have long known that travel takes its toll on body and soul.  But the toll it takes on our planet is rarely considered.  Every step of a business trip has an impact on the environment.  How much varies based on choices made, miles or kilometers flown or traveled, food consumed, and items purchased.  You may think this all beyond your control but the extent to which you can lessen the impact may surprise you.
Although I always believed I had a fairly highly developed sense of awareness about environmental …

The luxury sports-sedan segment is one of the most competitive in the auto industry, as car makers try to outdo each other with cars that provide luxury features and sporty handling.  From Acura to Cadillac to Mercedes-Benz, each manufacturer tries to one-up the competition with improved handling and new features.  But they all have one car in their sights when they design a new model: the BMW 5 Series.
BMW invented the sports sedan category in the 1960s with the legendary 2002, BMW helped create the luxury sports-sedan segment as well …

The challenge: fly 6000 kilometers, pick up two cars, drive almost 4000 kilometers, stay at seven different hotels, attend two all-day events, nine meetings, and five dinner meetings, and fly back.
The beginning of article comes to you from Brugge, Belgium, at least that’s where I think I am.
On October 15, I found myself on Lufthansa Flight 411 to Munich, arriving in time for the October 17 opening of the new BMW Welt (see BMW’s Brave New World), BMW’s new €500 million “experience and delivery center.”  Just a year ago, …

I’m writing this from Hamburg, at least I think that’s where I am.  Sometimes trips can be just plain boring.  This one was most decidedly not.  In a 16 day whirlwind tour I would stay in seven hotels and would span 9 cities to cover, however briefly: Munich, Vienna, Munich (again), Hamburg, Flensburg, Sønderborg, Brugge, Düsseldorf, Bremen, and Bremerhaven.  Countries: Denmark, Germany, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
Normally my trips last four to five days.  With meetings and events spread out across half a month, this trip would be more than …

Visitors to Munich have always thought of the city as a kind of BMW world.  Not only is the automaker headquartered there, but the cars themselves are as ubiquitous as the beer and are even used as police cars and taxis.
As a company, BMW has always presented a distinctive image, from its logo, a stylized spinning propeller against a blue sky, to its buildings, which include the Vierzylinder (Four Cylinder) headquarters designed by Karl Schwanzer, which reopened last summer after being closed for a top-to-bottom reconstruction for over two years …

Our love affair with the automobile, despite dramatic swings in oil prices, continues to intensify – as does the amount of technology in the vehicle.  The first computer appeared in the 1968 Volkswagen 1600, controlling the air-fuel mixture in an electronic fuel injection system.  Since then, automotive computers have become ubiquitous, in fact cars even have local networks which allow different computers to communicate with each other.
One of the leaders in automotive technology, in fact a risk taker, has been BMW.  Not only was BMW the first car maker to …

Business travelers frequently bring home a souvenir or two for family members when visiting interesting destinations.  Twice in the past year I’ve brought home something a bit different – and much larger – but I couldn’t pack it in my rollerboard.
In recent years, savvy business travelers have joined the thousands of Americans who each year take a trip to Munich, Germany with one goal in mind.  Unlike other tourists, they are not there for the beer, the Schnitzel, the museums, and art galleries.  The real reason for the trip: …

THE 2426 KM DRIVE
In 5 days, I covered 2426 km and four countries (Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Italy). I crossed international borders 22 times.   I planned each day’s drive the night before, choosing my destination primarily based on the promise of good weather.
11. November – 460 km, Germany, Austria, and Italy
Friends Rich and Jill joined me for breakfast and soon enough, we were on the Autobahn in two 2006 3er Series BMWs.  Our itinerary: drive across the Brennerpaß into Italy and then head back north to Berchtesgaden.  I wonder if …

FOR FORTY YEARS, AMERICAN BMW BUYERS HAVE BEEN TAKING THEIR BRAND-NEW CARS ON A FINE VACATION
Since the 1960s, several thousand Americans each year have taken a trip to Munich, Germany with one goal in mind.  Unlike the other American tourists, they are not there for the beer, the Schnitzel, the museums and art galleries, and the Gemütlichkeit alone.  The real reason for the trip: to pick up a new BMW at BMW’s factory delivery center.
For years, BMW has been among a handful of European automakers that offer Americans the option …