G82 and E46 side by side

[01SG]

I meant grand scheme of things. Compared to the boiled plastic they sold in the 90's. Plus last i heard the Camaro drives better than the M4.

Agreed regarding the past decade, I'd buy the c7 or GT350 over the new F/G series without question. But as of now everyone's going the same way towards automatic, turbo/electric, all-wheel drive. Eventually BMW was going to sell out anyway. I think being a smaller, independent company means they have to make harder decisions and take on less risk.

The 911 is undoubtedly one of, if not the, best selling and most profitable sports cars. Which is all the more reason for BMW to avoid excess spending for competition in the same, still relatively tiny market share at this point, when there are such drastic changes to be undergone. Furthermore, it seems motorsport and racing aren't as important to sales or image these days; the investment makes less sense. People just want effortless driving and a status symbol, not involvement.

[Obioban]

Modern BMW lost me with the G-chassis 330i loaner we got while our E91 was in for service. It was a fat, numb slug. It sat in the driveway while I waited for my wife to come home in her 2012 Civic so I could take that food shopping without having a high pitch blind spot nanny spiking my blood pressure every time a plastic bag floats across the highway.

And yet the Gwhatever drives way better than the F30 did 🤣

[lemoose]

Cars are growing through the release of newer generations not the creation of new cars.

I still dont understand your point. If BMW truly enlarged the 3/4 series solely for meeting safety requirements, then how much sense does it make that theyre also making the 2 series which is smaller than the e46. People just want bigger cars. Its not more complicated than that really

[m3nt0s]

Modern BMW lost me with the G-chassis 330i loaner we got while our E91 was in for service. It was a fat, numb slug. It sat in the driveway while I waited for my wife to come home in her 2012 Civic so I could take that food shopping without having a high pitch blind spot nanny spiking my blood pressure every time a plastic bag floats across the highway.

[bmw m3 s50]

If this were the case, then smaller cars like the 2 series wouldnt exist. Its not as though smaller cars get more slack when it comes to safety- they have to conform to the same standards.

Cars are growing through the release of newer generations not the creation of new cars.

[CachacoE46]

I'm excited about the Lotus Emira. Light, simple, manual and last Lotus with 100% combustion engine. Supercharged i assume. I used to have an Elise and I still remember exactly how that car felt. Just unreal. Incredibly impractical but the steering, suspension. Hopefully under Geely ownership Lotus thrives.

[lemoose]

At the end of the day, the crash and crumple zones are the main reason all cars are growing in size. That’s not changing due to all the safety regulations in place. Car manufacturers have to conform to these regulations, they don’t have a choice.

If this were the case, then smaller cars like the 2 series wouldnt exist. Its not as though smaller cars get more slack when it comes to safety- they have to conform to the same standards.

[chapmans]

M3/M4 is how it is to appeal to the Chinese market. We can only hope that the M2 (which is the real M3 lets be honest) adheres more to traditional BMW design as a bone thrown to the die hard fans.

[bmw m3 s50]

I think the smoking tire podcast said the new bmw m4 is larger then the e63 m6, which is crazy. At the end of the day, the crash and crumple zones are the main reason all cars are growing in size. That’s not changing due to all the safety regulations in place. Car manufacturers have to conform to these regulations, they don’t have a choice.

As for bmw styling I think it boils down to, they have to distinguish themselves from other manufacturers. All manufacturers have high performance models compared to the late 90’s. During the late 90’s to early 2000’s there was only few performance sedans and coupes. Now, there are tons of options. Unfortunately, the aggressive styling bmw is going with does not sit well with the more conservative enthusiasts.

[Icecream]

Chevy dropped the manual, I don't see how they've changed for the better.n.

I meant grand scheme of things. Compared to the boiled plastic they sold in the 90's. Plus last i heard the Camaro drives better than the M4.
I also can't see the .08% counts A5's and M4's. Haven't looked at the numbers but i feel like 911 sales would eat up a lot of that .08.

[TexaZ3]

Local dealer didn't even let my buddy drive it. Pulled up in his Porsche too. Apparently some dealerships are treating it as if it were that desirable....lol

Helps when you bought 10+ cars from that dealer and know GM well enough to have a beer with
Some dealers just don't have allocations yet. All they have is one car.

[Toby22]

I usually love these modern cars but damn that’s ugly

[jbfrancis3]

Local dealer didn't even let my buddy drive it. Pulled up in his Porsche too. Apparently some dealerships are treating it as if it were that desirable....lol

That's consistent with BMW customer approach of late. Good luck to 'em

[ra2fanatic]

Saw the car multiple times in person, drove it. Its drives....fine. I didn't have a chance to really push it, but it drives like any turbocharged car - powerful, numb steering, very cushy. Reminded me of a lot of AMG models. It looks like a complete garbage, though.

Local dealer didn't even let my buddy drive it. Pulled up in his Porsche too. Apparently some dealerships are treating it as if it were that desirable....lol

[01SG]

Lol this has nothing to do with progressive ideology- albert biermann himself has stated that the move to turbo was driven mostly by (im paraphrasing here) lazy engineering. Bmw was done with M spending so much money on bespoke engines that on paper were less powerful than what the competition was putting out. I believe they call this the free market. It has countlessly been proven that turbo engines arent any more economical or environmentally friendly than their NA counterparts. They are, however, a cheap way to make power and cut R&D costs- especially in a market when people are buying cars basically off spec sheets.

the real culprit here is that many cars nowadays are designed by focus groups rather than engineers. So were ending up now with dozens of flavors of the same generic formula that does just about everything but nothing well. This is a profit motive. The reality is that many manufacturers have realized this is a more profitable strategy than to cater to the apparently small demographic that cares about driver engagment or whatever we want to call it

I agree, BMW is simply catering to the market and accountants. According to a quick Google search, sports cars in Europe circa 2019 accounted for a grand total of 0.08% of new car sales, the smallest segment aside from the Rolls-Royce class. And I'm pretty sure among those sports cars, they count things like a garden variety Audi A5 or Z4. SUVs accounted for 36.8%. And this is in Europe...Sports car sales account for 1.4% of revenue globally. Relatively, we're an ever dwindling market that doesn't make financial sense to invest in. Reputations are long established, they don't need the cachet anymore. It's sad, but inevitable.

Chevy dropped the manual, I don't see how they've changed for the better. The c7 was the modern peak. Notice Ford isn't bringing back the GT350. Only Porsche is holding out, but they're more upmarket, they're a more marketable brand in the sports car hierarchy, and they're part of an enormous conglomerate; a very different situation from BMW. And still, the Boxster/Cayman don't sell, and I'm sure that horrible Panamera and the SUVs make more than the 911.

From a financial standpoint, BMW is surely doing the right thing. From a driving standpoint, well, has anyone heard the new "Ultimate self-driving machine" tag? It's over Johnny, it's over. I think the end came sooner than it had to, though. We should have had one last great naturally aspirated M3 in the F80. I will always tie the downfall to the retirement of Paul Rosche. I think that's when the Motorsport division lost all its political clout within the organization, and was subsequently forced down a new path all too soon.