DriveNow is BMW’s car-sharing service in the vein of Car2Go and ZipCar. While those services are often popular with inner-city residents who don’t own a car but may occasionally need one for, say, a shopping trip, they can also be great for tourists as I discovered while visiting Berlin.
Registering is pretty simple. Complete an online application, pay a one-off fee of €29, and then go and visit one of the numerous registration centers with your passport and driver’s license (I brought my international driver’s permit, too, but they didn’t seem to need it). DriveNow is in nine European countries, in major cities such as Berlin and Vienna. My friend Andy had told me about it and it certainly appealed to me more than Car2Go, a rival service that uses only poverty pack Smart ForTwos that don’t even have wheel covers. Those cars are easier to park but DriveNow has more options: the BMW 1-Series hatch, 2-Series convertible, 2-Series Active Tourer and X1, as well as the entire Mini range.
To reserve a car, you open the DriveNow app and find one on the map nearby. Click on one of the bubbles to find out what kind of vehicle it is – you’ll notice the pictograms are different for BMW and Mini models – and then press Reserve. You have 15 minutes to get to the car. Once you’ve reached it, slide the Unlock button on the app and the car will unlock. There are no keys whatsoever. Then, use the infotainment controller to enter your selected PIN and hit the Start/Stop button. Easy!
When you reach your destination, you can choose to either hold onto the vehicle or, as we did, check it back in. Doing so is basically identical to the unlocking process. The cost of the rental is 33 cents per minute which includes insurance and fuel (no need to fill it up!) Street parking is also included – you just can’t park in any places that are clearly restricted (e.g. disabled bays, private parking lots). That saved a lot of translation hassles.
The weather may have been pleasantly warm but we didn’t drop the top of our first rental, a BMW 220i convertible. Why? Well, despite thinking I’d gotten the last of my winter sickness out of the way a week or so before leaving for my trip, I’d managed to get congested and sore again – and so had my brother. The last thing I wanted was a cool breeze.
It was a pity as the 220i was the first convertible I’d ever driven and, astonishingly, my first BMW. I’d come close to driving one before – a 4-Series through Turo – but I had to make a last-minute change. I’d long admired the 2-Series (formerly 1-Series) coupe and convertible even before our Brendan Saur bought one so it was great to finally get behind the wheel.
Our destination was the old Tempelhof Airport. Constructed in 1923, the airport was dramatically expanded by the Nazi government during the 1930s. Unfortunately, we had neglected to research the tour schedule and so we only saw a bit of the airport. The complex is sprawling, as you can imagine, and many of the old runways have been mostly converted into sporting fields and picnic areas.
The terminal buildings themselves are now mostly occupied by government facilities, including a refugee processing center, although you can still explore arrival halls and other airport interiors.
Much as our Tempelhof experience had been too scant, so too was our experience with the 2-Series. I wanted to drive it more as, from my limited drive time, I found it a delightful car to drive. There was plenty of power from the 2.0 turbo four (181 hp, 214 ft-lbs). The steering was tactile and direct and the car seemed eager. I’ve often gravitated towards larger vehicles and have been tempted by vehicles that are larger still but my brief experience with the 2-Series made a compelling case for my next car to be something compact and sporty.
As for the interior, it looks as a BMW should and indeed as all BMWs do. Build quality is solid with soft-touch plastics on the top half of the dash and unpadded plastics below – the norm for a lot of entry-level luxury cars and even for larger luxury cars like the Lexus IS and RX. There’s a rear seat but if you want to actually carry more than one passenger, you’d best look at a Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
For some inexplicable reason, I didn’t take interior photos of any of the DriveNow vehicles. Every car we drove had a black interior which is unfortunate as you can get some very lively color schemes in each of these cars. As an aside, I can understand why rental agencies would purchase cars with black interiors but I’ll never understand why Australians flock to this color scheme, especially considering how hot and sunny parts of Australia can be. It’s a challenge even finding cars with tan interiors here!
Our 2-Series was still available when we set off for our next destination but I thought I’d take the opportunity to drive something else. A Mini Clubman was parked just a block away so we reserved it and hopped in.
I’ve never much cared for Minis and their flamboyant retro styling. Most of all, I despise the interior design of the Mini range. The actual build and material quality is quite good – perhaps slightly inferior to the mechanically related BMW 2-Series Active Tourer, albeit barely – but the huge circle in the middle of the dashboard is daft. The speedometer is now in the “right” place but the central circle a few years back was re-purposed for the infotainment system. There’s a strip of lighting that will change color in certain situations (e.g. it turns partially red in sport mode) but the whole appearance is, in my eyes, more kitsch than charming. But with Minis, you either love them or hate them and that’s arguably the appeal to Mini buyers – not everyone wants a conservative Volkswagen Golf. Our Clubman’s interior was drab black-on-black which didn’t suit the whimsical design at all; more colorful trim combinations are thankfully available.
We set off to Schloss Charlottenburg, the beautiful palace commissioned by Sophie Charlotte, the wife of King Friedrich I. Originally called Lietzenburg, it was named for Sophie Charlotte following her passing in 1705; construction was completed in 1713. It’s a vast rococo masterpiece.
The drive there was too brief to really get to know the Mini but my seat-of-the-pants driving impressions were that ride quality and noise suppression were slightly inferior to the 2-Series Active Tourer we drove next. More noticeable was the oddly oversized steering wheel. Our Clubman was a Cooper D, its 2.0 diesel four producing 150 hp and 258 ft-lbs.
To get from Schloss Charlottenburg to Alexanderplatz and the DDR Museum, we rented another 2-Series. This was the confusingly named 2-Series Active Tourer, a compact MPV on the front-wheel-drive UKL platform shared with the Mini range. Think of it as a Clubman in a more conservative, tailored suit.
It was a bit strange chirping the front tires in a BMW but the 2-Series Active Tourer wasn’t an unpleasant car to drive. There’s a bit more body roll than in the RWD 2-Series but our 218d’s 2.0 turbodiesel four was gutsy, producing 148 hp and 243 ft-lbs. BMW has been criticized for introducing front-wheel-drive models but, frankly, I don’t think it’s a problem. Anybody who has sat in the back of a rear-wheel-drive 1-Series hatchback can tell you BMW’s smallest RWD models are hardly space efficient with their imposing transmission tunnels. At this end of the market, especially in a market like Germany, front-wheel-drive is desirable. Remember, in Germany brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz aren’t nearly as exalted as luxury brands, something the fleets of yellow E-Class Berlin taxis bears out.
My problem with the 2-Series Active Tourer is the name. It’s the same complaint I have with BMW’s weird hatchback models, the GTs. Odd numbered Bimmers are supposed to be sedans and hatchbacks while even numbered ones are coupes and four-door coupes (“Gran Coupes”). The same rules apply for the crossover range, where the more rakish models use even numbers. And yet, here’s the 2-Series Active Tourer, an MPV wearing the same nameplate as a mechanically unrelated coupe and convertible. Mind you, this is a minor complaint and from behind the wheel, the Active Tourer looks much like the convertible.
The 2-Series Active Tourer seems to have missed the height of the compact MPV craze by around a decade but there’s still a market – in Europe, if not anywhere else – for a tall-boy wagon like the Active Tourer. It’s a solid effort by BMW, boasting an airy cabin and perky dynamics. The only fault I could find in my brief test drive was the lousy navigation interface which was low-resolution and confusing – why is land blue?
Parking in Berlin wasn’t the nightmare I expected it to be and we found a spot next to Humboldt University. Although this was our last car rental in Berlin, it wasn’t the end of our automotive sightings. At the DDR Museum there were two cars on display, one of which was this Volvo 264TE which belonged to Bruno Lietz, the Minister of Agriculture of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
Playing on a television display in the trunk was footage of ministerial vehicle testing. Note the Citroën CX also being used.
By the way, if you’re visiting Berlin you must visit the DDR Museum. It seems like a small museum until you realize how many interactive exhibits there are. There’s also a replica of an authentic East German apartment – including bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen – in which you can open every cabinet and drawer. It’s almost exhausting how exhaustive it is!
In the museum, you get to see how East Germans lived. You also get to see what they drove (if they were lucky) – an actual Trabant! My brother and I had planned to do a Trabant tour but the company didn’t get back to us. This was the next best thing. The Trabant exhibit was interactive, allowing you to steer through a video game quasi-replica of East Berlin by moving the steering wheel in the Trabant..
Near Tiergarten, we did see what we believe were Trabants belonging to the tour company. That would have been a lot of fun but it would have been the polar opposite experience to the one we had with DriveNow.
Berlin is certainly an easy city to get around thanks to an expansive and rather intuitive public transport system – including the excellent U-Bahn underground – but if you want to just get behind the wheel and explore, DriveNow is a very user-friendly option. The same applies for travellers to other cities like London and Helsinki. There are no hassles with filling up or parking (other than finding a spot) and you get to drive some great new metal. Why not?
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Great review of an interesting in-town option, thanks! Could you rent one to take from in town to the airport and leave it there? At some point it even makes financial sense vs other options for that.
That BMW 2-Active Tourer likely frightens some US-based BMW product planners – bring that sorry looking thing over here and poof the whole BMW “mystique” vanishes. I’m sure it’s a fine vehicle and I’m on board with why they have it in the range (a sale is a sale), but…(wait for the inevitable M version I guess.). Maybe they’ll put sliding doors on the next generation.
The Trabant tour looks great, if/when I ever get back over there I will need to look into that. It’d make for a great Driving Impression piece and looks to be a lot of fun.
Lastly, I’m surprised you’ve “never” driven a convertible prior to this! Wow! Surely you’ve been in one as a passenger though, right? Or maybe not…
You could indeed! There’s a special DriveNow parking lot at Tegel airport where you just pull in and leave it, which also means you can obviously get right off a flight and right into a car.
The more I read the site, the more I realised how cleverly thought out it was.
There is a a long-wheelbase, three-row Gran Tourer… No sliding doors though.
Yes, the Trabant tour would’ve been perfect for a write-up. Oh well..
Finally yes, I’ve been a passenger in one. I believe only one though. A friend of my father’s took me for a drive in his MGB… at night, up the highway, when I was maybe 10 or so. It didn’t endear me to convertibles and I’ve just never seen the appeal. Maybe that’s also because I’m very aware of how prevalent skin cancer is in Australia and I just don’t want to needlessly expose myself to the sun further. And the wind messes up your hair!
I thought all those folding metal hardtops were clever but then they all seemed to disappear overnight… The subject of an upcoming article.
Good to see that you’re wary about skin cancer in Australia, William; some younger guys just don’t seem to get the message. Our sunlight is harsh. I was never one for working outside much, but had to have cancers removed from my scalp every few years since my mid-fifties. But I don’t have hair to get messed up any more!
Jim, my experience was I rarely saw convertibles in Australia.
I remember reading a comment that it’s bizarre how many British manufacturers offered multiple convertibles in the 50s and 60s because British weather is so terrible, but you get far more “top down” days in the drier parts of Britain than you do in the hotter parts of Australia.
My only ride in a convertible was also in an MG when I was about 10. Our next door neighbour had a Midget identical in every way to the one featured today, and he took me to the chippy. No legroom issues.
I recently rented a Jump electric bike share bike, when someone parked it in front of our house, and even got an Uber account this month, to get a ride to a doctor appointment when I (briefly) couldn’t drive. I guess I should try car sharing next. And a good tip to use it for travel. We often visit family in Portland which has Car2Go, formerly with BMW and Smart but now apparently Mercedes GLA and CLA. Time to join the 21st century 🙂
However, I’m glad to see that it’s not just old guys like me that struggle with the Mini’s dash layout and aesthetics. I drove a Mini convertible this summer; lots of fun with the pedals and steering wheel on a very twisty road, not so much fun trying to figure out how fast I was going, what gear and mode I was in etc.
The new thing seems to be razor scooters people can reserve. Walking around LA neighbourhoods like Venice, they were everywhere, parked haphazardly on the sidewalks and curbs like they’d been abandoned.
“Ick bin keen Berliner” but I visited the City several times even prior to the wall coming down. This was a real memory jogger for me! “Ick danke Dir!”
Bitte schön!
There are so many innovative ways to get a car springing up here and there. This sounds like a great way to rent while on vacation.
And what a kick in the head – your first convertible, a nice day, and you feeling ill. Major bummer, as we used to say.
I suspect Brendan will provide us with the counterpoint on the Mini? 🙂
Well, now that you’ve brought it up, I guess it’s as better as ever a time to let the CC community at large know that I no longer work for MINI.
A great opportunity to work for a local little Land Rover dealer nearby presented itself this past summer, one I couldn’t pass up. My three years at MINI were wonderful, rewarding, and a great experience, it was just time for a change.
I’ve been here at Land Rover Hanover just about a month now and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. The brand is really exciting, my general sales manager is awesome and my finance manager is actually one of my best friends who presented me with the position, and the clientele is cool.
Best of all, a lot lower-pressure environment and business is strong and steady.
Well congratulations! I have never been in car sales but I would imagine that selling expensive cars is probably an entirely different thing from selling less expensive cars. When do we start getting some classic Land Rover CCs? 🙂
Thank you! And there are many differences brand-to-brand and dealer-to-dealer, but of course numerous similarities. So far I really like what’s different!
And absolutely! I can’t wait to do some CCs/Reviews/general sharing of experiences here!
Congratulations Brendan! I noticed that your Infiniti CC from a few days ago was photographed at a dealership in Hanover, so I guess that’s your new home. Maybe you’ll have a new pool of interesting trade-ins to write up now too.
Thanks Eric! I actually spotted that Q45 at the Infiniti dealer right up the street while out on a test drive and drove over to get some pictures on my lunch break. No plates makes me believe it had been a trade from earlier that morning. But excellent eyes!
So far I’ve had a few interesting trades I’ve never had before, such as a 2009 Porsche Cayenne and a 2016 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE63 S coupe. The majority of trades I’ve had so far have either been previous Land Rovers, or Jeep Grand Cherokees. If you ever visit this area, you’ll come to see that the Range Rover Sport and Jeep Grand Cherokee are kind of the unofficial vehicles of the coastal South Shore.
I wonder if a SBC would fit in a Trabant? 🙂
(reference to a comment a day or two ago asking if there has ever been a car that didn’t have a small block chevy transplanted into it)
Sure! I just wonder where the driver will sit.
I always thought a Trabant looks like a ’57 Chevy that was shrunk in the wash, so this might be quite appropriate.
Enjoyable review of both the cars and the service!
I’m glad you liked the 220 convertible, as I’ve been very happy with my 228 coupe these past two years. They life-cycle impulse (facelift) for 2018 MY revised the headlights, taillights, bumpers, and dash. I will say that I prefer the look of the dash in the original design. The floating interior trim in the center just looks odd to me.
As for the MINI, it is indeed a love-it-or-hate-it car. That’s why I struggled so much with prospective clients sometimes. It is a car that many people come in not knowing much about and wanting to hate it. Getting them to like it is the easy part. Getting them to see it as a premium vehicle, how it is positioned in the U.S., is the harder part. $40,000 Countryman with no blind-spot-monitoring or heated steering wheels can be a tough sell to some.
The 2 Series Active Tourer I find intriguing. A client of mine rented one over in Sweden and was impressed. As for the nav, UKL2 vehicles sold under the BMW brand use BMW Business Navigation (aka the cheaper, less advanced nav). The interface isn’t as superb as the regular iDrive navigation found in most other BMWs, my 2 Series coupe included.
33 cents a minute seems approximately equal to what I’ve paid for Uber the few times I’ve used it. Assuming I have a specific destination in mind, if I’m in a foreign city where I don’t speak the language and am unfamiliar with the (written and unwritten) rules of the road, I’ll take the service that includes a driver.
But in the US I might want to drive myself around.
Interesting option to traditional car hire.
My personal experience of the MINI is not great – I didn’t really “get” the Countryman I drove, which is really a 2 series Tourer SAV in a fancy dress and the smaller cars come across as kitsch or spartan. I’ll accept the Clubman looks sharp in profile though.
I rode briefly in a 2 series Tourer last year and was slightly underwhlemed – it didn’t feel very premium to me somehow.
It can’t help that the Series-2 Active Tourer looks rather like a Ford Fiesta with a BMW grille.
I usually don’t like the “[X car] looks like [Y car]” comparisons but… omg, I can actually see the resemblance and now I can’t un-see it!
Cheers on the new job Brendan. I’m sure you will be as much of a success there as you were with Mini! So I’m guessing when the BMW comes due for replacement or Mama Saurs Mercedes for that matter we will now be guessing as to what model Rover will be the new wheels?
And as far as jobs go William, you seem to do a lot of travelling. Is this related to your occupation?
Thanks Bill! And a Range Rover in the future could be likely but we shall see. This dealer I’m at now is part of a large multi-state dealer group, enabling me to get employee pricing on cars from a number of brands including Audi, Mercedes, and Porsche. With that in mind, a new car will be occupying the driveway by next July when my lease on the 2 Series is up.
Nope, I just love to travel!
Being in a long-distance relationship also pretty much mandates regular travel.
Interesting take on my home town and the car sharing service which we have here. In Berlin, car sharing is seen as somewhat problematic since studies show that it directs consumers to use car sharing instead of walking or taking public transport. Also, since you pay by the minute not the mile, users of car sharing services are frequently seen speeding to save a buck or two. Take that plus the fact the a number of users don’t own a car and thus don’t have regular driving practice, you better keep your distance when you see one of of these vehicles approaching…..
Nevertheless, I still sometimes use the service to rent a drop top on a sunny day. Beats rolling the windows down!
William, what a pity you didn’t get to see the Berkin MotorClassics, Germany’s biggest old car show while you were here. I will do a post in that soon!
@Brendan: Congrats on the new job!
Have been to Germany before but not to Berlin. Will definitely go there next time I’m in Europe.
The 2 series active tourer is a monstrosity. Being FWD is the least of its troubles.
I really like the exterior of the Mini Clubman but the interior is totally disgusting.
I’ve never driven a convertible. I was taken for a brief drive in a Fiat 124 Sport Spider a few years ago. It was a RHD conversion and of course never sold here new. Being quite familiar with my brother’s 124 Sport Coupe, I was not impressed by the lack of rigidity in the spider.
I visit Berlin many times since it’s the ‘alternate universe’ where everything is 180° opposite of Munich: grungy, chaotic, unkempt, ‘poor but sexy’, etc.. One Berliner institution that I as a Münchner miss the most is Spätkauf (small convenience shops) that open late at night (hence, name Spätkauf — late shopping) and are everywhere.
The public transportation system in Berlin is quite extensive, and the BVG Fahrinfo Plus app makes it lot easier to navigate the system. That’s why it’s sort of moot point to hire a car to drive around Berlin in my opinion…unless you are going to Potsdam or places outside Berlin.
https://www.bvg.de/en/Travel-information/Mobile
Despite selling well, BMW announced that there would be no replacement for 2-Series Active Tourer and Grand Tourer once the current generation production ends. My feeling is that BMW is renaming them properly for the next generation…
I was in Berlin three weeks ago. I had no idea what the DriveNow cars were, thanks for clarifying that! I stick to the U-Bahn and S-Bahn whenever possible.
(Funny, my mobile just tried to correct “DriveNow” to “Drive Nowhere”)
Berlin has quite a few pieces of architecture remaining from the Third Reich. The oldest portion of the Messe (convention hall), near the Westkreuz S-Bahn haltestelle, was completed in ’37 and is quite spectacular. The style is impressive if not creepy.