BMW Design - What happened?

[e21Mark]

irfan1712 said:

e21Mark said:

E26 is the M1, so guessing you mean E24 635? M1 is a gorgeous car As mid engine exotica go though, I guess it's pretty restrained style wise. The Grp 5 cars are just phenomenal.

I did mean the E24, my bad there. But talking of which the M1 Is fantastic, and so are the old 8 series.. Love them. Just haven't got the balls to run an old Beemer as a weekend/when I feel like car. Id love an E24 sooooo bad.

E24 is one model I've never owned. I did try and buy an early manual, LSD car. It was polaris silver with black leather too. It didn't make its reserve but the owner wouldn't sell away from the auction. I also came close to buying a totally mint 633i but it was a US spec car and I couldn't live with those federal bumpers. The amount of work involved with removal just meant it wasn't a viable project. I went in an 850 when they were new and was blown away by how special they felt to me as a 20 something year old. They really seem to have come of age lately. I think they're about the latest BMW I would consider owning myself.

One of the ugliest BMW I have seen recently, was the CSL homage car. It just looks bloody awful to be, with wings and scoops just for the hell of it. Obviously styling is all pretty subjective anyway but it just compounded how badly BMW have lost their way of late. As modern stuff goes, the M4 Coupe is a nice thing but I prefer the E46 M3 and CSL. They still look so right today and are a relative bargain.

Obviously this is all just opinion.

[gizlaroc]

e21Mark said:

A car from the 70's looking like a car from the 70's? Go figure.

The fact remains that BMW carried across styling cues from the E10 yet the design looked sharp and modern by comparison. In 8 years they didn't have to make any changes and you could still see the DNA when they brought out the E30. The shark front and hofmeister kink were iconic and the latter was copied on some Opel / Vauxhall.

Haha, obviously. My point was, back then I never saw the appeal from BMW from a design point of view, to me they looked a bit bland, could have been one of many other brands. Things like the Rover SD1 seemed to appeal more, as did the Capri, design wise anyway.

[e21Mark]

gizlaroc said:

e21Mark said:

A car from the 70's looking like a car from the 70's? Go figure.

The fact remains that BMW carried across styling cues from the E10 yet the design looked sharp and modern by comparison. In 8 years they didn't have to make any changes and you could still see the DNA when they brought out the E30. The shark front and hofmeister kink were iconic and the latter was copied on some Opel / Vauxhall.

Haha, obviously. My point was, back then I never saw the appeal from BMW from a design point of view, to me they looked a bit bland, could have been one of many other brands. Things like the Rover SD1 seemed to appeal more, as did the Capri, design wise anyway.

I think that when you compare the E21 with the competition from 1975, it's pretty sharply styled. It's certainly more modern when compared to the 2002, which it replaced. Styling is always going to be subjective though I guess and personally, I have always really liked the E21. That said, in recent years it's been overshadowed by the likes of the 02 and the 3.0 CSi and was almost forgotten. I remember Practical Classics magazine running one and getting rid of it because it was 'too reliable'! It did get banned in Sweden though I think? It had a reputation for snap oversteer on the limit and the steering was so slow and dimwitted, at 4 turns lock to lock, you had little chance of catching it. (I've fitted a quick-rack to my own car and it transformed the way it drives) In truth though, I don't think it handled any worse than the other cars of the era.

One modern (ish) BMW that has improved with age is the E36/E46 Compact. They got slated by the motoring press but they're actually pretty good cars and certainly fun to drive. I think they look better with a suspension drop though.

[gizlaroc]

I loved my E30 325i, but I bought that after I had owned E46s, E39s and even my E61, but I thought it was a great car, and in all honesty I learnt more about driving in that car than any other car I have owned, including the M3 CSL.

Funny you say about the compact, I have been looking at them again today on Autotrader. I had a 51 plate 318ti back in 2002 when they were new, and I adored it at the time, you had to work it, but it was really rewarding.
I think that maybe a manual 325ti might be worth a punt on. i have a 2.0T A4 Avant that I bought recently as it was priced right, but being FWD it just isn't the same, even though it is pretty quick, AMG mapped to 260bhp. So thinking about what I could swap it for that can still take the dog in the back when needed and is fun, and another compact keeps calling me.