RE: BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe: Review

[ogrimwood]

The BMW 28i engine is a really poor engine, despite the alleged 0-62 time it both sounds gruff and feels weak. Why you'd pick the 28i over lets say the 25d or for a little bit more the famous 30i, I don't know. The 25d in 1/2 Series spec is a pocket rocket with a great mix of performance and economy.

[kambites]

Is there still an x30i?

[Wills2]

ogrimwood said:

Why you'd pick the 28i over lets say the 25d or for a little bit more the famous 30i, I don't know. The 25d in 1/2 Series spec is a pocket rocket with a great mix of performance and economy.

That famous 30i isn't made anymore.

[B17NNS]

3 series hatch

[Rickpw1]

Too much choice ... are we meant to feel more individual when we pull up next to another BMW?

[Burnham]

FFS BMW, just stop it. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Enough's enough.

[k99]

Rickpw1 said:

Too much choice ... are we meant to feel more individual when we pull up next to another BMW?

It's about brand image not exclusivity. Think of Apple.
BMW will sell as many cars as they can in as many sectors as possible as long as they don't dilute the brand and the profits keep rolling in. Why wouldn't they?

[derin100]

Agree!

I'm totally lost now.

Can anyone actually give me a complete rundown list of which cars/models BMW actually make these days, please?

[BlueMR2]

derin100 said:

Agree!

I'm totally lost now.

Can anyone actually give me a complete rundown list of which cars/models BMW actually make these days, please?

They make

The ugly
The really ugly
The what the fk
The what the fk +
The wannabe gangsta but can't afford it 4x4
The drop your kids of at school and need to ram the curb 4x4
The want to be in the bigger heavier car when they cause an accident 4x4

Small diesels
Small petrols
Big V12 model with some engines they have left over

Probably all be fwd by now if they didn't offer most as 4x4 in other countries.

[TheFinners]

ogrimwood said:

The BMW 28i engine is a really poor engine, despite the alleged 0-62 time it both sounds gruff and feels weak. Why you'd pick the 28i over lets say the 25d or for a little bit more the famous 30i, I don't know. The 25d in 1/2 Series spec is a pocket rocket with a great mix of performance and economy.

It is no straight six but the 20/28i engines are a lot smoother and more refined than the 20/25d engine (though I don't doubt the performance/economy combination is good for the diesels), they even rev well for a modern turbo engine!

[derin100]

BlueMR2 said:

derin100 said:

Agree!

I'm totally lost now.

Can anyone actually give me a complete rundown list of which cars/models BMW actually make these days, please?

They make

The ugly
The really ugly
The what the fk
The what the fk +
The wannabe gangsta but cant afford it 4x4
The drop your kids of at school and need to ram the curb 4x4
The want to be in the bigger heavier car when they cause an accident 4x4

Small diesels
Small petrols
Big V12 model with some engines they have left over

Probably all be fwd by now if they idn't offer most as 4x4 in other countries.

[Debaser]

kambites said:

alock said:

It's to score better on the official test. Manufacturers don't care about real-world MPG any more.

To be fair, manufacturers only don't care because customers don't care (probably mostly because they don't understand).

Manufacturers most definitely care about real world fuel economy!

[kambites]

Debaser said:

Manufacturers most definitely care about real world fuel economy!

Only in so far as it helps to sell cars; which at present is not very much (at least in the UK).

[Debaser]

kambites said:

Only in so far as it helps to sell cars; which at present is not very much (at least in the UK).

It's a huge issue in the UK. Manufacturers are putting a lot of effort into improving real world fuel economy.

[Sampaio]

Everyone's mad about it but Audi has been doing this for a few years with the 5-door A5...

I'm more upset about the 3 GT to be honest

[kambites]

Debaser said:

kambites said:

Only in so far as it helps to sell cars; which at present is not very much (at least in the UK).

It's a huge issue in the UK. Manufacturers are putting a lot of effort into improving real world fuel economy.

I'm interested to see your source for that?

[E65Ross]

Burnham said:

FFS BMW, just stop it. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Enough's enough.

Yeah, the company are doing really poorly at the moment. I mean, they're in the business to make money and, clearly, they're doing too much which is so bad they're losing money.

Oh, wait, no that's not right is it.

So, you don't like the idea of this and wonder "what's wrong with a 3 series?"

Newsflash.... Go and buy a 3 series... It's still available to buy. You just have something else to choose from. What a crying shame.

They're all the same, Audi,Merc etc. And guess what, they're all doing pretty well business-wise.

[Mermaid]

E65Ross said:

They're all the same, Audi,Merc etc. And guess what, they're all doing pretty well business-wise.

So would you buy shares in BMW at this juncture, trading at circa Euro 71's, an all time high

[Debaser]

kambites said:

Debaser said:

kambites said:

Only in so far as it helps to sell cars; which at present is not very much (at least in the UK).

It's a huge issue in the UK. Manufacturers are putting a lot of effort into improving real world fuel economy.

I'm interested to see your source for that?

Car companies get customer feedback from a multitude of sources, and within this feedback there's information on every single aspect of the ownership experience. Companies have targets for each one of these metrics, and one of the most heavily weighted ones is real world fuel economy. It receives an enormous amount of attention and there are departments dedicated to improving it.

[kambites]

Hmm, I remain to be convinced. Whilst people constantly moan about modern cars not managing the efficiency that "the manufacturers' claim", I've never once heard a non-car person actually talk about it as a factor when buying a car - they still go out and buy the one that records the best figures on the NDEC cycle. A manufacturer would be mad to increase real-world economy at the expense of focussing on NDEC results, IMO.