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      08-20-2012, 10:52 PM   #38
crowed
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Drives: 2011 E92 M3
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Bay Area, CA

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BMW customers are consistently happy with how their cars perform, and are willing to pay the premium for it. It's a package-- the looks, the performance (high 4s for 0-60 times in a car thats sub 55K?), the roundel, familiarity of the interior, and maybe even relationships with a dealer that have been developed over time. I'm glad that Audi stepped up their game in recent years and is giving BMW something to think about. I am an engineer in the auto industry and BMW / Audi are in constant communication with each other and other manufacturers. They are competitors, but they learn from each other. If I was BMW, I wouldn't play the price game with Audi and I don't think they will. BMW needs to come up with better technology, or differentiate itself from Audi with coming up with the same technology but make it more reliable (BMW working with Toyota anyone?) They need to please their core customers by making it possible to get the old BMW feel (steering, throttle, exhaust note, etc) and also make it flexible for the everyday customer (comfort mode, lighter steering, better MPG.) I haven't researched the Audi as much, but at that price point, does it have flexible driver options like this?

I am all for switching over to a better car, but honestly, I just don't like how Audi cars look. This is coming from someone that would have never bought the E9X sedan because of their (arguably) ugly backs-- really it looks like someone had a good design for a bigger car, and then tried to make it into a 3series frame. It's a good argument though when you realize that a decked out F30 335i costs north of 60K-- maybe the S4 should be looked at then, or even the F10, but in all honesty, some people like smaller cars that get better mileage without compromising performance. The F30 really is several cars in one and I think BMW is on the right track. This was more about the 3series than the 6series, and I definitely think that BMW is banking on the looks too much when the performance is so similar to the A7-- they should have priced it more competitively. My 2 and a half cents

Last edited by crowed; 08-20-2012 at 11:01 PM..
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