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Good, Bad or Ugly - Current and Future styling trends of BMW
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btw pontiacs are copying bmws front ends, not the other way round.
does chrysler have that weird boxy trunk also? i dont think so
carnaught: looks and beauty are relative, different comments in different minds out there, like cheez said "beauty is in the eye of the beholder. i own a 330i myself and i dont like the new 5er and the future 3er myself
All in all while some people come flat out and say their ugly, in my eyes BMW did a wonderful job with them. Their distinctive and handsome.
What I think the issue with the 5-series is the the way the 5-series prices get up into the stratosphere without trying very hard.
Perhaps is is just a bit too aggressive for some of the buyers. I have heard that roadsters are often bought for women drivers. I think the aggressiveness of the design might be putting some of them off. Of course pricing too does not help the Z4.
best interior so far is new 5er's dash, hate the doors design though...
One is planning on leasing a Mercedes 300C and the other is looking at the upcoming Cadillac STS, which according to a recent road test in Car & Driver appears to have BMW chassis dynamics - and is a good looking car.
I wonder how many other long-time BMW owners there are out there who are put off by the Bangle-bungle styling direction BMW has taken and will switch to other brands because of it.
While I know a lot of people that don't like it, a number of people are also thinking to jump on the BMW bandwagon now that the styling is less conservative. In other words the styling has attracted new customers.
The fact that BMW has become even more premium to me would have a more of a negative impact than styling. The fact that a loaded 530 E60 starts to approach $60K has more of an effect than the styling.
The new 7 series is different but not bad. The new 6 series has much smoother lines. The Z4 is a beauty. A bit too aggressive in styling than the typical rounded convertible/roadster out there, but with harmony. The E60, however, was the pinnacle of Banglization.
I know more than a few people who have bought different cars because of the styling. They are folks who had made up their mind to buy Bimmers but were really put of by the styling.
I think the price inflation in the E60 also did not help its sales either. The only thing most people can afford right now are the 3 series cars. Unfortunately they are too small for many.
MB is doing very well in the styling of their vehicles. Their styling distinguishes vehicles from different classes (C/E/S), but still provides continuity in styling. There is a lot harmony in the MB styling. A C2xx can be had for less than $30K and looks awesome.
The 5 series needs to come down in pricing and move up in styling before cross-shoppers will flock to it.
Why didn’t I know all this when I bought my 530? I coulda had a Tiburon instead!
Oh, c'mon. Neiman-Marcus could sell out 50 special edition Cadillac Allantes in 7 minutes. I know people who budget for monthly, quarterly and/or yearly big-dollar Neiman-Marcus Purchases just for the sake of it.
I agree that new Cadillac's are poorly styled. However, with the 2005 STS Cadillac has finally got the styling right.
I think it will steal more that a few sales from the 5 series.
glaker: come on, man its not fair to compare a bmw with a hyundai well, not that i have kids to worry about though...
http://www.bmwboard.com/news/view.asp?linkid=415
i wont deny it though, the fact is i like the design elements separately. what makes me hate the newer beemers is because when the elements are put togethers theres no unity to the look, just like what saugatak said in another forum.
i agree w/ parrish about audi and mercs styling, theyre doing great.
However, I think the issue is price. A fully loaded 530 for $60K?, when you can get a 2005 RL for the upper $40s. (Although here is where I agree with fellow posters about not trusting the reliability of any new model). People are put off by the price, not by the lines. People have more praise for the 5 series than designman thinks.
For a few $$$ more I would buy a 3 series over a G35. But I wouldn't spend $10K more for a 530 over an RL. I would spend $10K more for a 545 however.
My wife used to like the new Bangled 5 series, but as she saw it more and more, she decided she didn't like it. Before she said it looked like a shark, now she thinks it looks like a mishmash.
There are too many people with excellent design sense (like designman) who dislike the 5's bold style. I at first hated it, then thought it was OK in dark colors, and now as I see more of 'em, I hate 'em even worse than ever.
I think price is probably the biggest factor in the 5's declining sales b/c most people are sheep and would just fork out the $ for the propeller, but there are enough discerning car buyers who are put off by the style to negatively impact sales.
Also, everyone's talking about the Bangled exterior, but where's the discussion on the interior? The new 5's interior is just plain ugly.
the interior is, like you said, rather ugly, and the i-drive screen stuck permanently on the dash just makes it even worse.
But, when you start getting over $50K for a sedan, that is a big barrier..
I, too.. do not understand the move away from the "cockpit". Unlike you, however, the exterior is growing on me.. (like fungus?).
regards,
kyfdx
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lol thats funny, the exterior is growing on me as well, to "acceptable" level.
the interior somehow looks cheaper the more i look at it, particularly with the amount of plastic they use at this price.
and last but not least the i(diot)-drive, still sucks big time.
This shift has been evolutionary over the years with some wondering who wants an automatic BMW? To why upgrade the radio in a BMW? To I-drive? All of this to increase volume at the expense of the niche market fanatic. These additions may be necessary (?) on cars at a certain price point. Did this begin at the introduction of the new 7 Series or the introduction of the 3 Series in the 70s?
I am sure BMW will sell more cars, but at some point the market will change BMW, to also sell more cars. The fanatic thinks this has already happened.
The long-term risk to BMW in this chase for volume is in the theory of threes for mature markets. When the global auto market matures will BMW-Ford-Honda-whatever comes out of China be headquartered in Munich, Dearborn, Maryville or Peking? And what will we be driving then?
IMHO, the new 5 and current 7 series are plain ugly. Every time I see one on the road, I stare at it not because I'm at awe with it; it's because of how hideous and out-of-proportion it looks. Not only is the exterior a nightmare, the interior looks like a creation from a Frankenstein movie. There's no flow to it at all; worst, the materials used are sub par to Lexus and Audi in almost every aspect. But don't worry, at least it's better than Infinity (cheap plastics everywhere) and equal to Mercedes-Benz. Thank goodness the new 3-series is a bit toned down, but I still wouldn't buy one either.
BMW's reliability has been slipping of late big time because of this I-Drive stuff.
kyfdx wrote:
"I was looking at pictures here on Edmunds (Inside Line?) from the auto show... Is it just me, or do both the Acura RL and the new Toyota Avalon have a touch of the Bangle Butt? Not that they look BMW at all, overall... just that one feature..."
I then wrote:
"kyfdx, you are quite right in your remark, in my opinion. Also, the exterior style of all of the sporty Alfa Romeo new series (don't forget European cars aside from BMW, MB and Audi) has even more touches of the Bangle Butt: in fact, they look like as clearly inspired by it! May be we all must wait for another one year or so to see more and more of these Bangle-inspired-but-not-acknowledged 'intercontextualities' erupting in many other car brands. May be not. The style that is to be seen nowadays in the majority of the cars was only a tendency pointed to by very few of them some years ago. There are people that follow the trend, others anticipate it. (Others feel they don't follow any, but few of these are really originals.) Everyone is O.K. because life is diversity. But now I thank BMW for taking risks instead of follow the path.
I say now that this former commentary of me should be applied not only to the styling (both exterior and interior) but also to the mechanical and electronic developments inside the new 5 series. Driving is an endless pleasure. Interior is minimalist—that is, it is not overcharged with so many buttons that you don't now, while driving, which is to be pressed, as in other cars happen. I-Drive is made mostly for pre tunning the car, before starting driving, to your preferences. When driving, you should only have left yourself to deal with the little choice of buttons placed along the steering wheel and dashboard to easily control the major features of head lighting, inside-climate, phone, radio and navigation. Of course, not everything in the new 5 series is blessed with perfection but, on the whole, I feel it is a step towards it. I should eventually say that indeed I love other cars in addition to the BMW 5 series (e.g, Citroën has been for many years ahead on mechanical gadgets that now are present in other cars—like the active suspension with active roll stabilization, the headlights adjusted to the steering and others). But this is another topic.
i have been waiting for the 5-series to grow on me... still waiting.....
everytime i think i might be getting used to it, i look at that nose, and i'm back to loathing it!
same thing with the z4, don't know why anyone would want one over a boxster.
the 7 series has grown on me and i like the 1er....go figure!!
They were not stagnating. Or, at least very, very few were saying that they were stagnating. The 2001-2003 530i is still one of the best BMWs ever made.
I HATE the interior of the new 5 series. Not even the $85,000+ M5 has a decent interior. The grey plastic around the Shift-My-Gears knob screams cheap. The new M5 doesn't even have four-piston caliper brakes. Car magazines are reporting brake fade from the M5. Given the problems with the current M3's engine, I'm not so sure about the M5's engine.
I can't wait for the next-generation M5 with a 10-speed transmission! LOL!
BMW had record sales in 2004 along with a record number of recalls/service actions.
The BMW X3 isn't even made at a BMW factory. LOL!
The new 3 series looks boring because if they gave it the styling of the 5 series or 1 series, people would be even more furious.
The grille of the new 5 series looks like the grille of a Pontiac. The taillights of the new 5 series look like the taillights of a 2001 Kia Rio.
The taillights of the new 3 series look like the taillights of a Nissan Primera.
When the new 5 series came out, I thought it was better than the 7 series, but after seeing it in person along with the previous 5 series it looked nasty.
Why do the new BMWs have so many electronics? Do we need computers with wheels?
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The new interiors with the I drive you crazy are a complete letdown. Has anyone sat in the interior of the new X3? They must be kidding. Honda has a nicer interior.