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Old March 11th 05, 04:12 AM
Daniel Arrepas
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"Michael Low" > wrote in message
oups.com...

> I don't think you fully understood what I wrote.


It wouldn't be the first time. And let me thank you for understanding that
my english is not all it could be at this point, and trying to understand
what I wrote earlier rather than assailing my intentions as the other fellow
did. I had no wish to offend anyone.

> .Let me explain.
>
> My contention is that BMW is trying to court a new, broader set of
> customers at the expense of its traditional customers as well as BMW's
> traditional appeal - that of refined drivers' cars in a luxury package.


> The current BMW design philosophy is more like "jarring new shapes
> delivered at lower costs with a preference for electronics and over
> engineering".
> There is actually nothing inherently wrong with people preferring the
> "new BMW design philosophy".
> However, promoting the new look will destroy the old BMW, the one that
> stood for refined drivers' cars in a luxury package.
>
> IMO, there isn't another maker who can do the "refined drivers' cars in
> a luxury package" as well as BMW used to. We already have many funky
> makes who can do performance - Alfa, Citroen, Nissan, Suzuki, ...etc.
> We don't need BMW pretending to be one of them. BMW is killing the
> goose - North Americans bought BMWs because they weren't like North
> American or Japanese cars. Now BMW is behaving just like an American
> car maker. That's why traditional BMW owners don't like it. When you
> throw so many strange and different design cues into the market (i.e.
> "shotgun approach") you lose much of the brand equity that BMW
> tradition has earned. The shotgun approach to marketing is
> well-recognized as a Japanese approach.
>
> To be fair though, I think BMW may be simply suffering from its own
> success - when you are small you can dictate and stick to your own
> design philosophy. When you are big - to stay big you have to dumn
> down to the market at large. That's why BMWs now look more like
> Japanese cars. BMW is also going after new customers in China and SE
> Asia.


On the whole I don't disagree with you other than to say:

1) there are people who like both the old and the new. Not everyone who
likes the new designs necessarily "prefers" it over the old designs. For
many people, and I do mean BMW afficianados, it isn't as polarizing an event
as it is in Usenet and magazines.

2) BMW still delivers the best driving sedan, "refined" as you accurately
described it. But some people are so tainted by their dislike for the look,
that they allow it to bend their perspective of how the rest of the car
functions.

3) Given the overwhelmingly improved chassis, suspension, and powerplants I
cannot agree with your suggestion that they are now allowing technology
overcome their engineering expertise. Though there is no doubt they, and the
other german makes, have gone goofy with computers and software in cars. But
the core goodness of BMW's remains true to their predecessors. If some
magazine guy/girl says it feels "detached' from the driving experience I
don't really care. I myself haven't had that reaction to the new cars. The
only truly unfortunate thing, other than Active Steering, is the weight. But
with new safety demands and coming regulatory demands, these cars can't help
but get heavier and have their exteriors somewhat predicated upon the
systems that will be required by law to fit in the cars.

At least they allow you to turn of most of the intrusive programs. Although
I think when you put a 2 ton car on the road capable of incredible speed and
acceleration it is incumbent upon you to develop systems that will save a
driver from themselves. You know, not everyone drives as well as us
newsgroup experts ha ha!

In the end I am not ready to give up on BMW. I never liked the look of all
their cars, and with this new crop of cars I am still in the same place. It
will all straighten out and as always there will be some BMW's I really like
and some I wouldn't even consider.

So while I can understand your opinion about the luxury quotient (though I
think that a plus since I like the staid plain interior rather than the Audi
wonderland of color), I am not ready to agree with your comment that the
cars have lost the "refined" driving capabilities of those they've replace.



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