As a matter of fact, at least M-man and I aren't whining. I have bought 11 cars in last 10 years from BMW, currently have a Z8 with 8k miles on it, a Mini, and just had dealer buy back my wife's E38 750iL since it puked coolant and stranded her despite 5 10-14day visits at the dealer. I-drive is an annoyance at best, I never had problems with buttons, etc. If one are too stupid to use buttons and read manual, there are cars out there for you. I won't buy ugly cars, or cars that I'll HOPE will look better after 5-6 months. Fungus ''grows on you'', not good design. No, their sales will not survive the combination of failing electronics/poor programming, inefficient dealerships, poor resale from same, and lastly myopic, arrogant designers, who believe if you don't subscribe to their view, you're wrong. Look at the sales figures...the emperor has no clothes, or at least ugly ones. Gaining conquest sales with new designs by alienating your loyal customer base is foolish or arrogant, or both.
I thought BMW was positioned to overtake VW in sales this year. No? Of course doing it with rebates and cheap leases/financing is a hollow victory at best. I love(d) BMWs. Had an E36 M3. Still have a beater E28 and E30. The dealers around here in NJ (Circle & King) are pricks though, and will never see any money from me. I'll never understand their way of doing business. Circle blown $500k in revenue out the door over the years just from people I personally know who either went to another BMW dealer or bought an MB. King was getting a lot of the overflow for a while but I'm hearing that they've headed down the same path.
i'm not referring to bmw owner's or others that embrace the new designs. I stick to my statement that bmw will continue to do fine. The cars have retained the "ultimate driving machine" aura. These designs will grow on people...I'm sure of it. I recall when the E36 came out...consumers thought that was hideous too. I saw a new jaguar xj whatever...and the front end looked remarkably similar to the new 7. The grill looks like the 7's kidneys...so I guess the car's aren't so ugly because some new luxury cars are using some of the design cues from bmw.
http://myfilelocker.comcast.net/fdmeloan/BMW_Group_Sales.pdf Above link goes back 4 years. Compare E38/39 to E65-6/E60. I loved the E36, had 2 M3's and a cabrio. I personally have spent over 600k with them, and friends who are nowhere near as brand loyal as I have spent multiples of that, and WON"T be back. Just had discussion with close friend who has no idea what to buy...got burned by early E38 in 95, E-class benz debacle, and his E60 just dumped it's tranny. Will prob buy Lexus, just to minimize service woes...he knows he'll be bored to death, but better than being pissed at poor quality and service for life.
Dunno. Just got an '04 M3 SMG II put about 2K on it so far. Runs great, looks great, goes like stink, has a better SMG than the (oh, dare I say it) Maseratis that I test drove for about 50 miles. Doesn't have any of the Bangle-izations to it. My dealer has always helped me with any issue on the 4 previous BMW's I had, even going so far as to help me unload a 528 that got rear ended and bent up pretty bad. Walked away from the car with 2 yrs left on the lease by trading the car and the insurance payment. On the BMW board I frequent, seems everyone has multiple dealer horror stories, and reliability issues. To date, I have not. As to the rest of the models. GAAAAHHHHHHHKKK. I think I just lost my lunch. They are just ugly, plain and simple. The 6 doesn't do it for me, the 5 looks like a Maxima with a steroid problem and the 7 just came in last in a five car comparison in Motor Trend. Until they mess up the 3's, that's the only car to get.
Oh my...what will you guys do when it's time to buy a new car??? Maybe go to Lexus (boring), Mercedes (not bad...though reliability sucks), or Jaguar (boring). Dealers are independent of bmw corporate in the way they run their dealerships so customer service may be lacking at some dealers...though i'm positive it's the minority rather than majority. Everyone has a right to their own opinions...and trust me...eventhough I don't agree...I do read everyone's responses and get other points of view. Somebody please join my side...hahaha.
I loved the E39 much more then the old E. Today, the E class looks much nicer inside and out from the new 5. Yes it both sickens and pains me to say this, but it is true.
I am on your side. I'm also hoping that by the time my M3 gets promoted from everyday driver to more exhalted weekend warrior status, Bangle has been put out to pasture and BMW has re-worked some of the designs. In the mean time, I'll drive my M. Image Unavailable, Please Login
There are only three BMW's that I like enough to consider buying one. M1 3.0 CSL 2002 I had a '98 M3 and it was a great car but in the shop more than I drove it (traded it on a Lexus after 5 months). The new ones are just plain goofy looking. If I want so-so reliability and poor dealer service, maybe I should buy a Jag and have something decent to look at while "enjoying" the experience...
A review of the 6 a few weeks ago in the NYTimes (yeah, i know) pretty much summed it up for me: to paraphrase, the writer explained that the cars for a long time had modest aesthetics, but appealed to the hard-core driver. That, as time went on, BMW was able to juggle the market between cosmetic appeal and driver appeal, with the balance always coming out on the side of the driver, but that in the new 6, they have tipped, and the car is only about style and fashion, with a very disconnected driving experience. There are a few folks around my 'hood with old 2002's;i took a close look at one and the simplicity of its dashboard was a stark reminder of how unnecessary most of the gimmicks are; i know the 7, and its I-drive, sought to clean-up the dash by electronic means (which, as we all know, created a nightmare of different proportions), but go back and look at the older cars. The lines are good, if not beautiful, everything is pretty simple and straightforward. We currently own a pair of 3s (an M3 cabrio with SMG and an all-wheel drive sedan) and both cars are far closer to the original formula that the 5,6 or 7 currently on the market. Our old 740i Sport was a fantastic car and i haven't written BMW off entirely. But, for a long time, i was put off by the number of cars out there being driven by folks that were far from enthusiast drivers; its seems they had the thing, rather than an MB or Lexus, simply because of everything other than the driving experience.
I've pretty much struck BMW off my list of "approved car vendors". I dislike the goofy look of their cars. I dislike the IDrive concept. I dislike the lousy service I've received from every BMW dealer I've been to so far (five) in connection with my Mini Cooper S. I used to be a happy BMW owner many years ago. They took a wrong turn somewhere as far as I'm concerned!
It might have been me (see pic of 1988 750iL E32 below The E38/E39/early E46 is the last line of the great driver BMWs. The current crop might well be deisgned by rappers.
