Lake Tahoe

I live in Sacramento, CA. I drove up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains (Lake Tahoe/Reno) over the weekend. The range of elevation is 25 feet above sea level to 7000+ feet above sea level. The new 2012 BMW 328i handled it with NO struggle what so ever. I drove Sport Mode & Comfort Mode. I averaged 26 MPG going up and 39 MPG coming down.

Originally Posted by Carlos Thomas

I live in Sacramento, CA. I drove up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains (Lake Tahoe/Reno) over the weekend. The range of elevation is 25 feet above sea level to 7000+ feet above sea level. The new 2012 BMW 328i handled it with NO struggle what so ever. I drove Sport Mode & Comfort Mode. I averaged 26 MPG going up and 39 MPG coming down.

Carlo, We love Lake Tahoe !!! My Parents lived in Northstar at Tahoe for over 25 years after they retired. They lived on the 7th Fairway of Northstar Golf Course . We could play golf in the Summer and ski in the Winter. It is truly one of the most beautiful sites to see in the US. There are also so many fun and Scenic Roads that a Bimmer Driver can go crazy for miles The Mountain and Lake View are Spectacular as you well know. Nice Mileage !! Keep having fun with your new Baby !

I made that drive about this time last year for a wedding in Tahoe. Beautiful place.

Spent many thanksgivings at my uncle lakeside cabin up there. gorgeous. of course getting behind too many slow pokes on the way up = hell on earth.

Originally Posted by Carlos Thomas

I live in Sacramento, CA. I drove up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains (Lake Tahoe/Reno) over the weekend. The range of elevation is 25 feet above sea level to 7000+ feet above sea level. The new 2012 BMW 328i handled it with NO struggle what so ever. I drove Sport Mode & Comfort Mode. I averaged 26 MPG going up and 39 MPG coming down.

What did you expect? The Alps surrounding the southern part of Germany has the same elevation characteristics, if not more extreme. This car was built for that

But still, nice ride and nice pics!

Turbos are great in higher altitude areas. They can cope with the loss of air higher up much easier than a N/A engine which will be down on power significantly

Beautiful car, btw...

Nice looking car. BTW - How'd you do all that driving with no tags?

Originally Posted by Princeton3

Nice looking car. BTW - How'd you do all that driving with no tags?

CA is very peculiar in that they don't give you a paper license plate to put on the trunk or in the rear window while you're waiting for your 'proper' plates. Instead, new cars have a tiny 4"x4" clear pouch up on the front windshield in the lower passenger side corner that holds the paperwork. How on earth the cops are supposed to know from behind that your temporary registration is still valid, I have no idea. It's strange.

Also, honestly, it's hard to get pulled over by the CHP. They're so few and far between, and when you see them, they're sitting by the side of the road, can't be bothered to actually drive around in traffic looking at license plates

I bet I could drive a year without plates on a 5 year old car and never get pulled over.

Why the heck would they want to be out in traffic, when all they're going to do is sit parked in bumper to bumper with the rest of you guys?

I kid! I kid! Well, not really.

Originally Posted by reidconti

CA is very peculiar in that they don't give you a paper license plate to put on the trunk or in the rear window while you're waiting for your 'proper' plates. Instead, new cars have a tiny 4"x4" clear pouch up on the front windshield in the lower passenger side corner that holds the paperwork. How on earth the cops are supposed to know from behind that your temporary registration is still valid, I have no idea. It's strange.

Also, honestly, it's hard to get pulled over by the CHP. They're so few and far between, and when you see them, they're sitting by the side of the road, can't be bothered to actually drive around in traffic looking at license plates

I bet I could drive a year without plates on a 5 year old car and never get pulled over.

Depends on the area. In downtown LA and San Diego the meter maids will get you fast. They are always looking for reasons to ticket...

CHP, they don't care.

FWIW, I remove the license bracket and paper plate from the dealer too. Nobody gets free advertising on my cars. My first BMW they noticed that when I returned for something and slapped on a new one. I promptly removed it and on the next visit told them to stop wasting their brackets in our landfill...