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Originally Posted by N & M
There is some real justified frustration there but I think maybe you condem them beyond what is fair.
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I don't think so. But then you're entitled to your own opinion, of course.
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Originally Posted by N & M
They do care about thier heritage as is seen by thier consistent raft concept cars that reinterpret past glory into the modern era and detractors aside the general consensus is joy and genuine enthusiasm by automotive fans and customers alike.
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They (as in the people who actually decide what is going to be produced) do not give a rat's *** about where they come from or about their "heritage".
Who gives a sh** about some concept cars, there are tons of them at each car show and 95% of them are never produced. Anyone and her sheikh/oligarch can do that, and almost never do you see any of those ever sold in a showroom or driven somewhere.
I care about things that I can actually buy, and if BMW took their - to some extent still existing and respected - brand that stands for the sportier side of automotives seriously, they would not stop at making some nice concept cars.
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Originally Posted by N & M
What mystifies me (and others I suspect) is why they show us amazing sizzling things and then slap us with cold utilitarian products that although provide great substance cover vast segments, miss the heartbeat jumping cars thier loyal fan base carves.
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You say it yourself - all they care about is profit, profit, profit and exploiting every niche in the SUV and fat-arsed crossover segment so that everyone and their grandmother can buy something with the white/blue propeller on the hood. See their X1 to X25, GT here and there, or 80+targeted 2-series van.
Anything for a real sports car fan? There is no Audi R8 or even TT competitor, even Nissan has two separate sports coupés, let alone AMG that are rumoured to bring out another smaller sports coupé. Yes, the M2 or M3/M4 are nice cars too, but in the end just pumped up versions of their mass-market sedan cousins. And no, a two-ton-plus-x M8 is not a sports car either, even if you do a Bentley on it and try to convert it to a GT3 car.
So no, BMW still builds nice cars but to pretend it's even inspired by let alone targeted at a sportier section of the market is ludicrous. And that is in the end their heritage, or rather the end of it. Such a wasted opportunity, but I guess those who have a say at BMW are number crunchers or tree huggers.
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Originally Posted by N & M
As for M and i; they are great and leaders in their respective segments but need a bit more sparkle to reach thier true best potential.
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The i brand is an epic failure, no one wants to buy these cars. The i8 doesn't know what it wants to be, and the i3 is so expensive and ugly that its sales figures are atrocious.
Just my 2c.