RE: M4 'Edition 50 Jahre BMW M' marks half century

[bedonde]

nickfrog said:

What if you like the way it looks?

I am pretty sure that design is subjective. A little like colours, some prefer black, other prefer blue, others red.

Beauty is the eye of the beholder.

Tongue is firmly in cheek, of course it's subjective - and there are other perfectly valid opinions to my own. If you like it enough to buy one, great.

[nickfrog]

bedonde said:

Tongue is firmly in cheek, of course it's subjective - and there are other perfectly valid opinions to my own. If you like it enough to buy one, great.

I am very tempted indeed by an early current RWD M4. I hope they will be £50k in 12 months time.

[Nik Gnashers]

nickfrog said:

Nik Gnashers said:

So, this is basically just a trim level.

I'm rapidly losing my love for BMW, a brand I have owned 5 of in my last 6 cars.

Still, I'm not their target market anymore, being a RWD loving petrolhead, so why should they care. It will sell out no doubt.

I am pretty sure they still make RWD cars. M3 and M4 are available as RWD, as well as a new M240i non xdrive I understand. Not to mention quite a few 3 and 5. Even the M5 is switchable.

Maybe I needed to be a lot more specific, so as not to leave any room for pedantic people picking faults in comments like mine.

[nickfrog]

Nik Gnashers said:

nickfrog said:

Nik Gnashers said:

So, this is basically just a trim level.

I'm rapidly losing my love for BMW, a brand I have owned 5 of in my last 6 cars.

Still, I'm not their target market anymore, being a RWD loving petrolhead, so why should they care. It will sell out no doubt.

I am pretty sure they still make RWD cars. M3 and M4 are available as RWD, as well as a new M240i non xdrive I understand. Not to mention quite a few 3 and 5. Even the M5 is switchable.

Maybe I needed to be a lot more specific, so as not to leave any room for pedantic people picking faults in comments like mine.

I don't see what is pedantic about highlighting the fact that BMW make a wide choice of RWD cars. Surely as a RWD loving petrolhead they very much care about you. Otherwise they wouldn't make any, and in which case I could understand your concern.

Edited by nickfrog on Wednesday 25th May 19:56

[GT9]

Nik Gnashers said:

Maybe I needed to be a lot more specific, so as not to leave any room for pedantic people picking faults in comments like mine.

Your post is a bit confusing tbh.

Are you saying that the M4 is a trim level or the Edition 50 Jahre?

Also, the days of RWD petrolheads being catered for in the new car market are indeed numbered.

This however has nothing to do with BMW.

[TheMilkyBarKid]

SidewaysSi said:

I'm ordering a set of those wheel centres for my old BMW.

It will tell the world I am a true BMW driving enthusiast.

Yours for a mere 250 quid Si, will probably fit with a bit of bodging: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203946620630?var=0&...

Bargain. Now all you need is another 8 for some M grille inserts…

[cerb4.5lee]

TheMilkyBarKid said:

SidewaysSi said:

I'm ordering a set of those wheel centres for my old BMW.

It will tell the world I am a true BMW driving enthusiast.

Yours for a mere 250 quid Si, will probably fit with a bit of bodging: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203946620630?var=0&...

Bargain. Now all you need is another 8 for some M grille inserts…

Plus postage on top!

Good God!

It is definitely bloody expensive being a true BMW driving enthusiast that is for sure.

[pacdes]

HighwayStar said:

pacdes said:

Sulphur Man said:

Quickmoose said:

familiarity breeds acceptance..

Personally I still hate the grille, the profile proportions and the fake rear diffuser.
Don't care how common they get, poor design is always poor design imo.

I've got a theory about the current BMW design direction. It's deliberately bad and controversial - deliberately lowering the aesthetic bar. BMW have calculated that whilst their cars are popular and brand loyalty high, they can go through an 'ugly' design phase without sales impact, thereby giving them a clear run to create better-looking cars in the next generation. If they didn't do this 'ugly reset', they'd end up with every generation looking barely different from the last, and customers losing interest, and loyalty in the long term.

Just a theory.

My theory. The German brands in particular collude in sales manipulation to give them all a share of the cake over a period of time. We have just come out of the Audi phase and BMW's styling is pushing customers towards Mercedes.

Lol… FFS

Hobbling their own products for the benefit of domestic rivals! Behave! Besides… BMW are making more money than ever.
Mercedes had an agreement with VW not to encroach on each others patches until the launched the A Class into the Golf segment. Ferdinand Piech was incensed… BMW were already there with the 1 Series.
https://driventowrite.com/2017/05/16/1997-mercedes...

There you go then. You've shot down your'e own argument with proof positive. Silly boy.

[HighwayStar]

pacdes said:

HighwayStar said:

pacdes said:

Sulphur Man said:

Quickmoose said:

familiarity breeds acceptance..

Personally I still hate the grille, the profile proportions and the fake rear diffuser.
Don't care how common they get, poor design is always poor design imo.

I've got a theory about the current BMW design direction. It's deliberately bad and controversial - deliberately lowering the aesthetic bar. BMW have calculated that whilst their cars are popular and brand loyalty high, they can go through an 'ugly' design phase without sales impact, thereby giving them a clear run to create better-looking cars in the next generation. If they didn't do this 'ugly reset', they'd end up with every generation looking barely different from the last, and customers losing interest, and loyalty in the long term.

Just a theory.

My theory. The German brands in particular collude in sales manipulation to give them all a share of the cake over a period of time. We have just come out of the Audi phase and BMW's styling is pushing customers towards Mercedes.

Lol… FFS

Hobbling their own products for the benefit of domestic rivals! Behave! Besides… BMW are making more money than ever.
Mercedes had an agreement with VW not to encroach on each others patches until the launched the A Class into the Golf segment. Ferdinand Piech was incensed… BMW were already there with the 1 Series.
https://driventowrite.com/2017/05/16/1997-mercedes...

There you go then. You've shot down your'e own argument with proof positive. Silly boy.

Lol… read your theory. It’s ridiculous… we’ll just hobble our products so Mercedes can have a leg up. They’re all competing against each other and everyone else. When BMW built the 1 Series VW said nothing. Merc and VW had their now long dead agreement not to build a Golf rival. 1 segment. Once BMW decided to move into the mainstream market with the 1 series Merc had to follow.
You may have notice that Mercedes with the GT are there in the 911 market, compete with the Panamera with the AMG GT 4 door. BMW have a lot of equivalent cars to both Merc & VW… being smaller they can’t be everywhere but went for growth a long time ago to stay independent. Stop competing and it could go horribly wrong. BMW have been producing controversial, challenging designs for many, many years… they must be bending over backwards helping Merc out pushing customers their way for the last 15 years or so.

[pycraft]

nickfrog said:

Martin 480 Turbo said:

Congratulations BMW on 50 years of fabulous M cars.

But why is the design team celebrating 50 years of Pontiac?

Apart from being red and two door, I find them vastly different in terms of design.

The top one ... I can see the point, at least in terms of the "two grilles, side by side, bottom to top".

The other one looks like a Rover 200 Coupe.

[nismo48]

sledge68 said:

Is someone at PH dating someone from BMWs marketing department, are they any new releases from other car makers?

[smilo996]

A Yah edition. Coming to a street in Knightbridge.
Like it though, gold wheels and red always a good combo.
It does that trick of making the rear wheel look smaller in diameter than the front.

[Quickmoose]

smilo996 said:

A Yah edition. Coming to a street in Knightbridge.
Like it though, gold wheels and red always a good combo.
It does that trick of making the rear wheel look smaller in diameter than the front.

Personally, I think that's more to do with a heavily sculpted and detailed front wheel arch/wing with loads going on, vs a frumpy, heavy bland forgettable rear arch/wing.

[GT9]

Quickmoose said:

smilo996 said:

A Yah edition. Coming to a street in Knightbridge.
Like it though, gold wheels and red always a good combo.
It does that trick of making the rear wheel look smaller in diameter than the front.

Personally, I think that's more to do with a heavily sculpted and detailed front wheel arch/wing with loads going on, vs a frumpy, heavy bland forgettable rear arch/wing.

Or maybe it's that the front wheel is closer to the camera in the picture above...

[ortontom]

Another expensive over priced BMW that will cost you £40-£50k year 1...

[nickfrog]

ortontom said:

Another expensive over priced BMW that will cost you 40- 50k year 1...

Are you sure?

I hope you are actually.

[Mr Whippy]

A perfect car to celebrate 50yrs of M.

Badges and colour options. That sums up M today.

Well done BMW.

[nickfrog]

Mr Whippy said:

Badges and colour options. That sums up M today

Sorry to hear you didn't like recent M cars you have owned or driven. My experience has been quite different as I have found them brilliant to drive. What did you dislike?

[GT9]

nickfrog said:

Mr Whippy said:

Badges and colour options. That sums up M today

Sorry to hear you didn't like recent M cars you have owned or driven. My experience has been quite different as I have found them brilliant to drive. What did you dislike?

Don'tcha know, M Division is supposed to be a not-for-profit charity to produce manual naturally-aspirated cars weighing a couple of hundred kilos so that grown men can dream about not owning them.

[Escort Si-130]

Mark_Blanchard said:

Why do we have to see all these ugly BMW's all the time. There are plenty of other cars out there.

+1 that fking ugly grill, 1 out of 5