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Bryan Cranston Is Doing Some Really Weird Things With His BMW X5 on "Your Honor"

After kicking serious behind on "Breaking Bad" many years ago, Bryan Cranston went on to star in multiple blockbuster movies before recently working on a brand-new TV series dubbed "Your Honor" on Showtime. He plays Michael Desiato, a New Orleans judge who will resort to anything in order to protect his son.
Bryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your Honor 39 photos
Photo: Video Player screenshot
Bryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your HonorBryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your HonorBryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your HonorBryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your HonorBryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your HonorBryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your HonorBryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your HonorBryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your HonorE70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5E70 BMW X5
Sounds pretty good, right? Well, it was. Cranston is amazing in his role and the show is definitely worth binge-watching. However, if you’re a car enthusiast and you know your BMWs, you’re going to have to temper your expectations during certain driving scenes because Judge Desiato kept acting as if his second-generation E70 BMW X5 was actually a much newer car.

The series of inconsistencies kicks off almost immediately during the show’s first episode. While driving, he receives a call in the car via Bluetooth, which he then rejects by fake-pressing the iDrive screen. That gesture was so out of place it’s comical. BMW didn’t introduce a touchscreen feature on its iDrive displays until 2016 when it launched the iDrive Professional NBT EVO system.

In a later episode, he calls his son, Adam, while driving fast with both hands firmly on the steering wheel, uttering the phrase “Call Adam.” Again, that’s ridiculous. If you wanted to use voice commands in the E70 X5, you first had to press a dedicated button on the wheel, which the character 100% did not do in that particular scene.

These are some really weird production choices. It means somebody, either a director or executive producer, told Cranston to act out these scenes as if to make them more relatable to current times. Side note: a latest-gen Mercedes E-Class Coupe was also used in the show, so it’s not like they couldn’t get any modern-day cars.

Of course, the inconsistencies did not stop there. There was at least one scene where I could swear Cranston acted as if he had to turn a key to stop the engine, when in fact, the E70 X5 comes with a push-button start function. Even without the Comfort Access feature, where you need to insert the key inside a slot next to the button, there’s no twisting or turning motion you need to make.

Bryan Cranston driving an E70 BMW X5 on Showtime's Your Honor
Photo: Video Player screenshot
Now, the most hilarious scene involving that car had nothing to do with either the key or the iDrive system, but rather the gear selector, which you all know is a joystick-like device positioned on the center console, next to the iDrive wheel and in front of the armrest. What did Cranston do? During one scene, he acted like he had a steering wheel column lever, gesturing a fast upwards like motion behind the steering column before exiting the vehicle.

Again, why would the production crew or the director make such an odd choice? Is it because it looks more dramatic to “visibly” put the car into ‘Park’ when you’re in a rush? That sort of makes sense, but it’s not like it made the scene any better or more dynamic.

To someone who is really familiar with the E70 X5, or that era’s BMW models in general, all those moments were ridiculous to watch. It doesn’t reflect poorly on the show, mind you, but whoever decided to make that X5 seem way newer than it actually was needs to reevaluate the meaning of the word “compromise”. If a new car is essential to the production of a TV series, why not just get a new car? Why not use the fourth-gen G05 X5 or at least the third-gen F15 model – it would have had a touchscreen.

Then again, according to Indeed, a judge’s yearly salary in the U.S. hovers around the $100,000 mark on average. So having a newer, more expensive ride may have been unrealistic for different reasons altogether. Still, there was absolutely no need to fake all that stuff. Come on, Showtime!

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About the author: Sergiu Tudose
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Sergiu got to experience both American and European car "scenes" at an early age (his father drove a Ford Fiesta XR2 supermini in the 80s). After spending over 15 years at local and international auto publications, he's starting to appreciate comfort behind the wheel more than raw power and acceleration.
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