Vrrrrrrroooooommmmmm
Now i'm not going to lie to you, this is not the first M series BMW i've driven. When I was a kid I used to work for the BMW dealer in my hometown. I worked in the detailing department and was responsible for getting new BMW deliveries cleaned and ready to go after they've come off the truck. That meant cleaning off the brake dust, vacuuming the interior and making sure there wasn't a single smudge on the glass. One of the favourite memories was driving a BMW M3 from one dealership to another, it was about 35 kilometres and I loved every minute of it. Fast forward about 10 years and I get to drive one of my favourite automobiles again.
There's just something about a BMW, i've always thought it's the perfect balance between a sporty, kind of stiff feel and a smooth luxurious feel. Some cars feel like the steering is just too assisted, like you're not really connected to the car, that's not what a BMW feels like. A BMW makes you feel like you're part of the driving experience and I like that, I like to have to do a little work. The BMW M550 is a beautiful piece of machinery, it's got all the latest bells and whistles like gesture control (you wave your finger in the air to turn the music up or down), heated a cooled seats and massage capabilities. BMW has also said this is the fastest 5 series of all time boasting a 4.4 litre V8 engine capable of 456 horses at 6000 RPM, needless to say it's fast.....real fast.
I felt like I could park this beauty anywhere, might as well park right out front.
We got to take this beautiful car to a beautiful area of Ontario, Niagara-On-The-Lake to visit a few wineries and eat a delicious meal. We spent the night at the Prince of Wales hotel right on the downtown strip. We quickly dropped off our luggage and jump on a bus to do a tour of the wineries. Of the three we visited my favourite was definitely Konzelmann Estates. They have a signature peach wine that was perfect for the 30 plus degree weather that day.
The grapes weren't ready yet.
Wine tasting at Konzelmann Estates.
We had dinner in the hotel that night, I started with a Smoked Trout Salad and had the New Zealand Lamb for dinner. The meal and wine pairings were absolutely exquisite. Dara unfortunately wasn't feeling great so we had an early night, I was fine with this because it meant we'd be up earlier and I'd get back in the car sooner. The next morning we slowly made our way back to Toronto taking our time looking for some cool places to shoot this beast. All in all it definitely wasn't enough time with the M550, BMW if you'r reading this I'd love a one year lease :D. Till next time!
Brett
