[Cuz5150]

Originally Posted by raysspl

More people carpooling, using Lyft, Uber, working remotely/telecommute

and buying pickup trucks due to best value pound for pound, dollar for dollar

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Cuz5150

I refuse to buy a 3 series because of how the Outside looks...

Actually, from your list of cars, it looks like you are refusing to buy anything. No problem with that. You have great classic cars there. Enjoy your great last gen cars.

[rainfall]

Originally Posted by Cuz5150

I refuse to buy a 3 series because of how the Outside looks...

Me too. I think the wheels are too apart from one another. I know a lot of 3-series owners here will read this, so I respect their choices.

I test drove a few F30's. They are quick, but not much fun to drive. Looks like BMW is making an even bigger G30?
I'm glad they have the 2 series lineup. If only we could get the 1-series 4 door hatchback here in US. It would be a lot of fun

[Viffermike]

To add to all that's been said ... one thing this data does back up unequivocally:

In the luxury market, new engines and mechanicals do absolutely nothing for car sales in the U.S. Nothing.

It's gotta look the part.

[chumley]

I think you're 100% right and to some degree it's refreshing to see. I can't believe I'm saying this but when V6 Accords are sub 6sec 0-60 I really don't care if the latest greatest BMW is 4.7 or 4.9 or 5.1 - it's become incremental at this point and most non M buyers can't tell or don't care.

My disappointment with BMW of late has been the stuck in time exterior styling and the bean-counting parts bin interiors. Not to say they are bad cars at all, but when you look at a nicely equipped 340 approaching $60k, you expect a much bigger improvement in switch-gear than the entry level X1's and 1-2 series. There really isn't much difference. Mercedes and Audi are no less guilty of chasing the entry level buyer but they took the rest of the line up-market. Go sit in a base 5 vs. a base E. It's profoundly different.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by chumley

I think you're 100% right and to some degree it's refreshing to see. I can't believe I'm saying this but when V6 Accords are sub 6sec 0-60 I really don't care if the latest greatest BMW is 4.7 or 4.9 or 5.1 - it's become incremental at this point and most non M buyers can't tell or don't care.

My disappointment with BMW of late has been the stuck in time exterior styling and the bean-counting parts bin interiors. Not to say they are bad cars at all, but when you look at a nicely equipped 340 approaching $60k, you expect a much bigger improvement in switch-gear than the entry level X1's and 1-2 series. There really isn't much difference. Mercedes and Audi are no less guilty of chasing the entry level buyer but they took the rest of the line up-market. Go sit in a base 5 vs. a base E. It's profoundly different.

I would agree with you on this...the interiors are very spartan....for the most part, they always have been. However, most other non premium cars were also very spartan. Traditionally, only Mercedes interiors were "wow." Porsche, Audi, BMW were all a bit more spartan. If you wanted the performance sedan, you went BMW. If you wanted the sports car, you went Porsche. If you wanted the edgy styling, you went Audi. But, if you wanted the luxury, you went Mercedes. That has certainly changed. Even the lower Mercedes have great interiors (excl CLA). I almost got a C300 coupe because I just loved the lines and interior styling.

That's also gone down-market as well. It's like those Chevy commercials with the "random" people...you can really get in those cars today and go "wow, this is a Chevy?" It's not that the Chevy is as nice as the German cars, it's that it's so much nicer than we expected. And it's not that the BMW is worse than the standard level cars, it's that it's not what we expected...expectations drive reality.

Range anxiety aside, this is why I think Tesla has hit a wall. You get in a Model S and it's modern and clean (a blast to drive in a straight-line as well). But the quality of the materials is nice, not wow. The trouble is, once you've run out of the buyers that want it because they are either "green" or have to have the latest gadget, then you're competing with regular S class, 7 and A8 buyers. The materials in the Tesla suffice for a 70k mid-size lux box, but they fall flat on their face compared to the materials in a $100k S Class. To the regular luxury sedan buyer who could care less about fuel economy or the environment, this is the problem.