[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by avi66

True, and it’s interesting at the start of this video when he talks about “a lot of plastic, a lot of plastic” etc, but seems hesitant to get into it beyond that.

I also wonder, given his comments about the small dealership that supplies his review BMW, if that’s a factor in critiquing.

That said, I found this reviews informative, and I think some of it was “read between the lines”.

Once the honeymoon period is over, and more cars are with customers, we’ll start to get more feedback.

I was hoping the G45 would be the logical success to my current car, but I’m not feeling the love so far.

I personally do not think it’s necessarily a better car. It’s a different car.
You can clearly see and feel the cost cutting measures in all directions. The roof no longer opens, and that was a fundamental part of character that really made the car feel special.
Sure it’s probably got more structure rigidity from it, making it a safer car, but it also removes the connection to the outside world in the process.

The car feels extremely heavy and the powertrain feels somewhat strained.
The boost feature gives the car a quick boost of excitement and sounds epic while doing so, and that I liked quite a bit.

I will redrive it over the weekend and see if I can get more valuable seat time accordingly.

[Mavus]

it could be that x1 is designed for Europe and has more traditional chiseled box design vs bloated dragon x3 for China. They probably figured not many in Europe will shell out 80-100K euros on x3 and also due to green terrorist regs in effect.

US not a primary target market for either one. We shall see what x5 turns into.

[EWL5]

I personally think they should have gone all in and removed the pano roof altogether.

1) Improve fuel econ by reducing weight (I think)
2) No gasket/seals to worry about on roof

I think they kept the pano so folks can check a box!

[Montaver]

Originally Posted by Mavus

it could be that x1 is designed for Europe and has more traditional chiseled box design vs bloated dragon x3 for China. They probably figured not many in Europe will shell out 80-100K euros on x3 and also due to green terrorist regs in effect.

US not a primary target market for either one. We shall see what x5 turns into.

No question this car was designed for the Chinese market and other markets which are rapidly shifting to EV. This design was heavily influenced by the need to be the bridge to electric. 50% of new car sales are now electric or EV in China. All the German auto makers are seeing their influence wane in China. Just last quarter BMW saw a 30% drop in sales. China was their largest single market in 2023. The outlook for the Chinese economy isn't exactly rosy, so decreasing market share cannot be offset by a growing overall market. BMW stock is down nearly 25% this year. There is still an opportunity for BMW to halt the slide but when you combine declining sales in your biggest markets with huge capex requirements to move to electric vehicles, their only option is to nerf the product and that's exactly what we are seeing all the manufacturers do.

[rgw]

Originally Posted by Montaver

No question this car was designed for the Chinese market and other markets which are rapidly shifting to EV. This design was heavily influenced by the need to be the bridge to electric. 50% of new car sales are now electric or EV in China. All the German auto makers are seeing their influence wane in China. Just last quarter BMW saw a 30% drop in sales. China was their largest single market in 2023. The outlook for the Chinese economy isn't exactly rosy, so decreasing market share cannot be offset by a growing overall market. BMW stock is down nearly 25% this year. There is still an opportunity for BMW to halt the slide but when you combine declining sales in your biggest markets with huge capex requirements to move to electric vehicles, their only option is to nerf the product and that's exactly what we are seeing all the manufacturers do.

I think BMW has the best strategy for EV as they did with the i4/5/7 broadly being the same vehicle as the 4/5/7. They just need to get that rolled out to their whole lineup. isn’t there an iX3 that is Asia market only right now?

[BigRam7151]

Originally Posted by ///M TOWN

I personally do not think it’s necessarily a better car. It’s a different car.
You can clearly see and feel the cost cutting measures in all directions. The roof no longer opens, and that was a fundamental part of character that really made the car feel special.
Sure it’s probably got more structure rigidity from it, making it a safer car, but it also removes the connection to the outside world in the process.

The car feels extremely heavy and the powertrain feels somewhat strained.
The boost feature gives the car a quick boost of excitement and sounds epic while doing so, and that I liked quite a bit.

I will redrive it over the weekend and see if I can get more valuable seat time accordingly.

You know the difference is 100 pounds. It feels more the same then different. Extremely heavy is a an overstatement.

Avi, it’s also possible people will just be happy with it and they change some things in the lci. The reviewer clearly likes the car. I watch a lot of his reviews and this is overly positive for him. There is no reading in between the lines. It’s just the plastic again is not a core issue with the car when you actually own it.
Six months into ownership people generally don’t sit and think about the plastics. Have you ever owned an economy car? You just live with it. I’ve owned very high end cars, cars like this and economy cars. Generally the interior is the last thing I think about within a month of ownership. Usability and drive feel come to the forefront.

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by BigRam7151

You know the difference is 100 pounds. It feels more the same then different. Extremely heavy is a an overstatement.

Avi, it’s also possible people will just be happy with it and they change some things in the lci.

It feels heavier that’s all I can tell you. It’s not an overstatement. It’s just my perception you’re entitled to your own.

The car it replaces feels much lighter on its feet seems to have more character. Maybe I’ll get a different impression as I spend more time behind the wheel.

It also might be the tires as somebody else pointed out. I’m going to look later and see what kind of tires are mounted on this particular m50i I am referring to.

[BigRam7151]

I think it drives like a 911 gt3.

[Ilyam5]

Originally Posted by ///M TOWN

You’re not wrong

I drove the m50i extensively and the hood is higher than I might have expected it to be but the car drives well until you get it over 100 then it’s super sketchy IMO

Feels heavy AF as well, but planted

You are right on - the car feels bigger and drives bigger vs previous generation x3. It does not hold a candle to the x3m - it is a downgrade in every aspect - performance , steering , front end, interior, gear shifter , start- stop annoyance, ergonomics, materials, etc

i guess one can see it as an upgrade to x3m40 but being bigger and heavier - is it in the right direction? is it too close to x5 40>?
same engine, close in size and more luxury in x5.
That's the route i would go. If i can not have x3m anymore - it would be x5.

[BigRam7151]

Originally Posted by Ilyam5

You are right on - the car feels bigger and drives bigger vs previous generation x3. It does not hold a candle to the x3m - it is a downgrade in every aspect - performance , steering , front end, interior, gear shifter , start- stop annoyance, ergonomics, materials, etc

i guess one can see it as an upgrade to x3m40 but being bigger and heavier - is it in the right direction? is it too close to x5 40>?
same engine, close in size and more luxury in x5.
That's the route i would go. If i can not have x3m anymore - it would be x5.

Again 100 pounds difference between the two. I owned the x3m… this is convincing me you have not driven it for more then 5 minutes and came to a conclusion. Just regurgitating general talking points.

[Ilyam5]

Originally Posted by BigRam7151

Again 100 pounds difference between the two. I owned the x3m… this is convincing me you have not driven it for more then 5 minutes and came to a conclusion. Just regurgitating general talking points.

Still own an x3M and no intention on selling it.

[Ilyam5]

here is the same savagegeese - review of x3M - difference is - emotion

[BigRam7151]

It’s an m car… and they are driivng in the snow. They have there quick review which is the x3m50 and the paired reviews. They are a different style. Watch more of the channel.

They had a lot of emotion in the Hyundai Ioniq n car as well. Yet he did not like that car.

[wartnig]

Originally Posted by Ilyam5

You are right on - the car feels bigger and drives bigger vs previous generation x3. It does not hold a candle to the x3m - it is a downgrade in every aspect - performance , steering , front end, interior, gear shifter , start- stop annoyance, ergonomics, materials, etc

i guess one can see it as an upgrade to x3m40 but being bigger and heavier - is it in the right direction? is it too close to x5 40>?
same engine, close in size and more luxury in x5.
That's the route i would go. If i can not have x3m anymore - it would be x5.

What X5 would you have if you couldn’t have an X3M?

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by Ilyam5

You are right on - the car feels bigger and drives bigger vs previous generation x3. It does not hold a candle to the x3m - it is a downgrade in every aspect - performance , steering , front end, interior, gear shifter , start- stop annoyance, ergonomics, materials, etc

i guess one can see it as an upgrade to x3m40 but being bigger and heavier - is it in the right direction? is it too close to x5 40>?
same engine, close in size and more luxury in x5.
That's the route i would go. If i can not have x3m anymore - it would be x5.

It just felt like the engine was having a really hard time moving the body if it’s only 100 pounds more it certainly feels like it’s more than that but numbers or numbers, but it certainly did feel super heavy and clearly the tires were not up to par

[AGONXF30]

Originally Posted by rgw

The 5 series has some plastic in spots but it still managed to feel more like a mid-70k vehicle on the balance.

These comments crack me up. You do realize that unless it is real leather, its plastic right?

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by BigRam7151

I would maybe go drive it again. That opinion is different than mine and the rest of the reviewers. The handling has improved to a significant degree. 100 pounds difference, which is negligible to the vast majority of people( unless your taking it to the limit which I doubt on a test drive) and wider which should give you a better feeling of control.

Were you driving the base model coming from an x3m?

I mean subjective feelings are subjective but actual physics say what changes should give a more nimble feeling. Super heavy from an objective perspective makes zero sense. I would reevaluate your thoughts. Try driving it again.

I will retrieve it, but I will see it super sketchy over 100 miles an hour that much I can standby. Maybe it’s the tires hard to say I have no idea what tires they were. I’ll look later.

Although to be fair, I always change tires right after I buy a car because manufacturers usually cheap out

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by ///M TOWN

Although to be fair, I always change tires right after I buy a car because manufacturers usually cheap out

The OEMs have different objectives when the spec tires for tire companies to produce for them. Even tire models with the same name in the aftermarket can have different specifications than the ones that came as OE on the vehicle. The OEMs aim for 1) fuel economy (to help corporate CAFE and avoid federal penalties) and 2) cost, then followed by various performance metrics. To achieve goal #1, they usually spec a harder compound for less rolling resistance, which often makes OE tires louder and providing less performance than the aftermarket equivalent.

[rgw]

Originally Posted by AGONXF30

These comments crack me up. You do realize that unless it is real leather, its plastic right?

Fair enough but generally people are talking about the hard surfaces that are plastics when they levy that complaint.

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by rgw

Fair enough but generally people are talking about the hard surfaces that are plastics when they levy that complaint.

I did not mind the interior at all. It seems like a reasonably pleasant place to be but yes, you can tell. It’s mostly plastic and it does seem a bit on the cheap side, but I think that’s just because of the style of functionality they chose specifically the switchgear

[blackpear]

Originally Posted by rgw

Fair enough but generally people are talking about the hard surfaces that are plastics when they levy that complaint.

So if all that hard plastic is soft plastic with a touch of aluminium trim or contrast stitching then everyone is happy? Not an entirely convincing argument…

[rgw]

Originally Posted by blackpear

So if all that hard plastic is soft plastic with a touch of aluminium trim or contrast stitching then everyone is happy? Not an entirely convincing argument…

I mean BMW offers “Woven Textile Dashboard” that is polyester as an option. So they are trying to make that assertion. ha!