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Good, Bad or Ugly - Current and Future styling trends of BMW
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Comments
The new M5 doesn't even have four piston caliper brakes! what a joke!
Here is the new M6 in all its shame with lines going all over the place.
and here is the new Aston Martin DB9 which has a chassis twice as rigid as the DB7.
Here is the DB9 Volante.
The Aston-Martin DB9 is imo the best looking production car in the world today.
A different behind is in order for the BMW.
M
This is what happens when you read too many magazines, instead of driving real cars...
Stats don't make great cars... but, great designers and engineers do..
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They stated the tire size and the size of the contact patch of the tire is what determines stopping distance, not the amount of pistons.
I'm sure too that the M5 will outbrake the E/CLS55 or XJR or any S-series Audi with ease.
M
I think the new 6-series looks good...well, acceptable, anyway. The Aston is a beautiful car, but its design is predictable.
The rear treatment of the new 6 is not bad and I think BMW should refine it more to make it look like a $70,000 car. As it is now, the rear end looks a bit like that a certain Chrysler car whose name I don't remember.
I've seen the Aston coupe and it looks much better than the convertible. I've never really cared much for open top cars. Maybe that's why I can't warm up to the 6-series convertible. The 6's drop-top looks too much like something from Detroit.
The new M5 will just be a rich man's Subaru WRX...fast but it has zero taste and class like the old M5s.
Since the M5 has side vents but the M6 doesn't, why does the M5 need them?
The new 5 series looks like a Pontiac.
all the interior designs are real mess, what happened to the good ol cockpit style? at least they can use better plastic at these prices, especially on the x3.
Here is Hartge's modified BMW 6 series. 100 % revolting! Notice the poor panel gaps.
From an engineering perspective, I believe it would be enlightening for you to share your opinions with the M5 development team... well those engineers responsible for braking systems at a minimum. I'm sure the transcripts from such a session would provide inspired reading to all the folks here.
BTW, how about offering your design and engineering quals to explain your "knowledgeable" disdain for BMW and the M5 in general?? We need to be impressed when we take in your thoughtful insights.
I post here because this is a message forum. I won't stop posting this until BMW makes cars with higher quality than they have now, builds the M5 by hand at the M factory like the first two generations of M5s, stops building suvs, offers a manual transmission for the M5, and...
Nah. Sounds like just another normal person who is torqued off at the jerky styles and direction coming from BMW.
I think they will learn their lesson and dump the Bangle design nonsense, greatly simplify the idiotic I-drive, and once again build sensible cars.
When that happens, I may be in the market for one.
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/02/01/019432.html
As XMF says, BMW is passing through a wacky period.
Jose
The first time I considered buying a BMW 5 series was in 2001, but I hated the look of the old E39. I love my Audis, but when I saw the new E60 last year, I had to have one. 7000 miles later, I still love it like the day I picked it up from the dealer, and the I-drive is fun too. I must admit, I don't fool around with it when I drive; I preset everything before I get on the road.
I wonder the people who criticize the I-dirve are the ones who have it, or the ones who just read about it.
It's a definite improvement from the first edition of the Bangle-designed 7, but still a disappointment.
Maybe the awkward design of the 7s rear end made it too difficult to execute a good looking posterior without major surgery.
So any computer-type control or NAV system is likely to get roasted by a tester who has only a couple of days to drive and evaluate it.
It has been proven that we are attracted to people who shared a mathmatical symetry and precision of facial shape.
Bangle has lines that are disjointed, syncopated, convuluted, and sometimes very interesting. I like the new Z4 very much.
The current generation of the 3 series is so right to my eye that the new body style just misses the mark. It is somewhat nondescript and derivative of many designs.
A shame because I really want to buy a BMW but cant get past the design for the new 3 series which would be my car of interest. Z4 is too small.
And the competition is producing some very nice designs. I like the pics of the new Lexus iS and the new Infiniti M35-45. Very nice.
Maybe they can do a better job the upcoming 3 series coupe.
BMW is about progression, innovation, we aren't in the market to do what everyone else is doing.
BMW invented ABS, traction control....I-DRIVE....which is , in case you didn,t notice, showing up in other high end brands.
Maybe less expensive(cheaper) vehicles out rank us on the odd test here and there.....we are not for everyone...at these prices. You get what you pay for.
That come together to form a work of art. If one looks at pointillism an individual dot means nothing. But as a whole pointillist painters have produced classics.
Opinions vary on who invented traction control (depending on whether it uses brake or throttle control) but Robert Bosch's name comes up most often.
Ten million monkeys playing with CAD systems invented iDrive.
M
José
Regards,
José
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Unique, yes; better, no. I mishit way too often and have to look at the switches way too often.
Trivia (yawn) - The first operational ABS was used in 1858 in an attempt to lay a telegraph cable across the Atlantic. Apparently the cable kept snapping whenever the brake was applied to the cable feed spool and a form of ABS helped prevent this.
Kyfdx: I would love to hear your suggestions.
I have a 2004 X3, and I now want to buy 2005 3-series with the following:
-BUY (not lease)
2005 325i w/:
-auto trans
-alpine white (w/ black or dark grey leatherette)
-undecided on premium package
The questions I have are:
1) for 2005 what is a good/great deal to shoot for a purchase? (I am in San Fran Bay area)
2) given that 3-series gets a total makeover in 2006 model (available in September '05), should I
- wait till September when the new redesigned models are available hoping that BMW will make discounts to clear 2005s?
- buy now,i.e. no meanigful upside to waiting till Sept.?
- buy 2006 model in Sept as 2005 would have taken a big hit due to depreciation (i.e. 1 yr older model) and due to "obsolesence" of the old 3-series styling?
I would really appreciate your guidance and insights on this matter.
Regards,
newbmr
Martin T.
This new Z4 recalls me some British MG and particularly those Triumph TR3 and TR4 of many decades ago. By the way, are those 3 & 4 numbers merely a coincidence in the BMW Z Series? In any case, such cozy cars are not to be compared with full-size/engine sport cars like Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini. I believe they belong to a different line of sports cars.
Regards,
José
If anything, the only criticism is the too-taut suspension.
But to each his own.
I have driven BMW's for the past 30 years. (3 and 5 series, I also own a 325i with Sports package) No one has evey said a word to me.
In Oct I purchased a Z4. It is incredible how much positive reaction this car generates. In a few months I have had dozens of compliments. Not to mention horn toots and waves.
I won't even get into the driving pleasure.
Sure its looks are not for everyone. That's a plus for me since I don't have to see one at every corner like with the 325i I own.
And it's no Ferrari but for 1/3(?) the price it does it job nicely.
Cool. I did say it is a challenging task picking the ugliest BMW, that's why we need a vote. So chalk up one for the X3. IMO they're all tied for second except the X3 which I think is the best looking one, mainly because most SUVs are ugly anyway and it just blends in with none of its features screaming for attention. I also happen to love the X3 ride which IMO is the best-handling SUV out there.
My vote for the most Bungled BMW is without a doubt the e60 5-series. It's the equivalent to a former beautiful starlet who's had one too many nips, tucks and, ahem, misproportioned silicon implants [hope the moderator lets this one slip through].
I know there's a beautiful car somewhere underneath all those scalloped lines and unexpected bulges, but it's tough to find.
I actually like Bangle's angel eye concept, but he really screwed it up on the 5. The eyelash is too thick, makes the eye (headlight) too droopy and IMO looks more like badly applied clown makeup instead of a proper eyelash.
But to each his own, I hate it, some people love it.
Designman's choice the Z4 is atrocious as well, but I cut it some slack because the Z4 is the de rigeur car of choice of the "midlife crisis, tan saloned, hair transplanted, 2nd trophy wife, I can't afford a Porsche" market.
That target market dose not reward taste.
IMO, the reason the Z4 is so successful in this market is that it is, without a doubt, the most PHALLIC car I have ever seen.
I wouldn't be caught dead in a Z4 because I would not want people thinking I was compensating for nonexistent inaequacies.
IMO, the debate over whether Bangle's controversial designs were worthy or whether they sucked is over.
Bangle got booted upstairs and the X3 and the new 3 series, which are BMW's bread and butter, have not been Bangled, except for the cheap interior of the X3 but honestly, that might be the beancounters and not Bungle.
It's clear to me that the BMW board gambled on Bangle, didn't like the results, and pulled back before he could Bungle the entire lineup. I think some Dutch guy Hoodvynk has been assigned to clean up Bungle's mess.
Re the I-drive debate, I've come to like i-drive not because it is any good (I still think it sucks and it's an answer looking for a problem), but because:
a. my brother is making a killing at his garage fixing all the stupid electronics and useless gizmos BMW threw in; and
b. my sister dumped her 645 for an X3, partially because she hated the i-drive, and it sits unused in my parents driveway, so I get to drive a chick magnet car every time I hit my parents home in NJ.
So thanks Chris, keep up the good work. A few more i-drive like innovations and my brother will be in the next tax bracket!
There's a lot of discussion on the exterior of Bangle's cars, but what about the interior? What happened to the classic cockpit design? What's with all the cheap crud in the new designs?
Clearly BMW has polarized the camps, which I think is great. This is what they needed to do. The new styles 7/5/3 are a great step forward. They must take care though their legendary road handling is never compromised.
My biggest problem is that I see to many compromises in the designs and just can't get myself used to them. I really wanted the new 5 series but could never really get used to the styling. I mean, it has grown on me a little, but it just doesn't jive as a complete package. From some angles the new designs look good to me but from others they look terrible and confusing.
I think this will be a time period that BMW will be seen as losing their identity in styling. The technology used inthe cars are very advanced and the ride is, as usual, awesome. The design leaves much to be desired in my book.
Take a look at older BMW's and you will see the classic look to them that has been proven over time. This new look will date itself quickly.
The new 3 series has some hope in the design department although I am somewhat concerned about the back end. I am sure it will be a blast to drive as are all the new BMW's...