Trunk Impaired

I completely agree, BMW has completely lost it's way. It needs to be contracting it's line and working on refining the cars it already has instead of trying to appeal to a wider consumer base that doesn't exist. I think the start of this was when they released the X3, they already had the X5 and the X3 is barely smaller and barely cheaper and yet they use almost completely different parts. The best decision they've made in the last 5+ years was releasing the 1 series, yeah it's mostly for idiots that use it as a statusmobile but for some people it's also a throwback to the days when BMW made cheaper, light, performance oriented cars. For me there's no reason for the 6 series, X3, whatever that Gran Coupe is, that 5er Accord Crosstour looking abomination, or the X6. But yeah BMW has been losing it for years now.

terrible advice

I mean, I don't want to seem braggadocious here, but people forget about BMW's options list when they judge the 1 series. Sure, a base model 128 is low 30s, but an optioned out 135 convertible is pushing $50k. It's not like the ugly as sin C230 coupes of olde that people bought for the badge. For christ's sake, you could get them with cloth interior. IMO, you see more badge-whoring when people buy CPOd base model 3 series or C class vehicles. There's a guy rolling around churchland/western branch with an early generation e46 325 who stuck BMW roundels on his mirrors, etc. I don't know if I could be THAT proud of a cheap 9 year old car with more problems than you can shake a stick at.

It's like falling in love with a worn-out lifetime prostitute that practically wrote the book on STDs and parading her around like a pageant queen. Everyone knows.

phyber

This was also the top of the line, entry level model. Overpriced, and hasn't been in demand since.

Trunk Impaired

lol there's still one at my local dealership since like 2006, with a price tag of $30,000, as much as a brand new Accord.

terrible advice

eh, apples to oranges.
the Mugen Si wasn't really different enough from the standard Si to incur its $30,000 price tag. I'm not saying BMWs aren't overpriced, but there's a pretty clear difference between a fully loaded 1 series and a base model one.

marlinspike

Beginning of the end for BMW was the X5.
I like the 6...the e24 6.


I don't know about you guys, but I don't really care if a model is range topping or bottom of the line, I just judge the car individually. I'll take the current C over the current E any day. I'd buy a 135i before I bought a current model M6.

Trunk Impaired

I don't mind the X5 just like I don't mind the Cheyenne in Porsche's range, it's just that there are too many SUVs, we don't need 3 different models. And yeah the 6er was great, but they shouldn't have brought it back.

coryface

I've been saying this since the e90 came out. The stock e90 3 series has the same stock horsepower and weight as my car... but with a smaller interior. The "sporty" concept of the 3 series was replaced by the 1, and BMW lost alot of my respect.

There's several very good reasons why I refuse to purchase a newer car... one of which is the life expectancy... another is the size. Bigger is not always better.

marlinspike

They should have brought it back properly. That means not a convertible, weighing under 3500lbs, and driver oriented. Are they even canting the stereo etc towards the drive any more? They should just sell the company to someone who cares about the brand.

marlinspike

+rep when I can. Somehow, in my old S-Class, my view is blocked by the trunks of other cars. Why is the top of the rear bumper on a Camaro at eye-level when I'm in my S-Class? Why does a Camaro SS weigh 200lbs more than my S-Class. Why does a new S-Class weigh ONE THOUSAND POUNDS more than my S-Class? WTF Is going on with the world?

Old cars ftw. I never get tired of mentioning that the brochure for a 1985 Mercedes S-Class says when you are in an S-Class are you "not in the soft lap of luxury" and that a car "is not a lounge or a living room." I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the 90s/00s they wrote in an S Class language that it is the lap of luxury and you feel like youre a in a lounge.

My dad actually offered to buy me an e46 or whatever the then-current Audi A4 was when I was younger, and I turned him down.