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      05-30-2009, 07:35 AM   #14
mapezzul
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PM3 View Post
Reason why i am getting a csl...these things along with the current m5 and m6 will one day become classics as beeing the last of the greats.

Dont get me wrong...bmw currently is putting out the best products on the market - the current 3 beeing top of its class,same for the new 7, the x5 is perfect, again best of its class, the current five is getting better reviews compared to the brand new e merc and contrary to what most of you think I actually believe the 5GT will be a good sucess for bmw because its a great product - i dont like it but it is - the question in the end, and what i have been trying to say is: should bmw be the carmaker to put out these products?

hands here who think bmw should make a GT5 instead of cls 4 door competitor? who thinks bmw should build a X5 or X6M instead of a m3 csl? and who here believes bmw should spend billions developing a 7 series hidrogen instead of R8 competitor?

BMW build a reputation for beeing a premium brand with a focus on sportiness and fun cars to drive and lately I just feel this isnt the case.

You probably think i am a pessimist...not so. I am a perfectionist. Always have been. And thats why i get so frustrated with the way bmw does things these days.
I will give small examples: the current m3 - it is the best car compared to the rest of the competion (amg and audi and a few others) all carmagazines agree on this (and having driven on on two different ocasions i totally agree. BUT, everybody else had a feeling they could have done better, specially regarding the steering. My opinion is that the car was just to good and they taken it down a notch to make way and reason for a csl but in the end it just got cancelled.
Another example: the 135 (i was actually torn between this and the csl for my weekend twisted roads). It is an excellent machine. This could have been a car that we would still be talking about in the next 20 years like we still do regarding the E30 m3. it was small, nimble, with agreat engine and then...the steering lets it down...shit some carmagazines (and i havent driven one so im taking there word) say that even the front wheel scirocco has more feel that the somewhat lifeless 135 steering..Why??

I will say it again, bmw currently does some of the best cars, if not the best in the premium sector but apart from the naturally aspirated Mīs i dont think bmw does a car today that we will still be talking about in the next 20 or 30 years time. Everyone of us here will still remember the r8 or the e30m3, or the e46 m3csl in two or 3 decades but let me know if you still remember the gt5 or the short lived x5m
You have some good points but are forgetting one key ingredient- emissions regulations and the fact HALO cars do nothing for brands; GM and all the others failing have proven that. BMW does not need an R8 competitor; the M3 is darn near close enough. The thing people also need to remember about VAG and the R8 is that many of the pieces are Lambo and VW shared so development was not as costly as it would be for BMW.

The X ///M vehicles were designed to show what could be done with the technologies BMW possesses- While they may not make enthusiasts happy there is a reason for the madness: to reduce development costs across models and the anticipated market read when the X6 was developed was that these things would sell well . If BMW is to remain independent they need to do this.

As far as the CLS goes- BMW has never sold many and the last model was a break even product but the energy focussed on it could have been spent elsewhere, the main focus in the BMW camp is emissions, efficient dynamics and the like. The hydrogen 7 is a long term project (not costing billions) and has received subsidies. It is a better concept than the plug in hybrids that are getting the main stay of attention these days.

BMW will be launching 20+ models in the next 2 years, and many things may surprise you- such as 3 cylinder motors, triple turbos, hybrids for more power rather than efficiency and true two-mode hybrids.

The GT-5 looks better in person and personally I rather see soccer moms driving something like that than a SUV- The PAS concept is the foreshadowing of fading of SUVs, the X1 is along the same lines.

There will be styling differences from the 5er and the GT, the interior of the 5 will be more along the lines of the GT than the 7 and there are differences between the 7 and the GT, so I am not sure why everyone things they are the same?

When you see the car in person I have a feeling you will view things differently.

The 1 series steering is a bit disappointing but on the other hand it does not surprise me as the system was never intended from the start to be for such a performance model- the N54 was designed after the hatch and the coupe was an after thought. The next generation will be designed to accommodate more derivatives.

From what I am hearing some of the next gen cars will even feature SPARE TIRES and BMW will fade out RFTs! we will see but that is a distinct possibility as the tire brands have not fulfilled their obligations and promises.
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