02-09-2020, 04:50 PM | #45 |
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If there are, say, 1000 designers out of 7.8 billion people on earth, you would think BMW could score some of the best ones. Here let me help. Let's pretend you've hired a plumber. They end up completely botching the work. Do you then say, "well I couldn't have fixed it, so I'll pay for it anyway"? Or.. do you expect a plumber to do their job.
The designers at BMW have lost it. Now arguably we could say this is what the majority of their buyers, who are now in China, prefer. But for NA this design language is not appealing. Quite simply, it's bad design. We can get technical about it but frankly I think you probably agree it looks terrible. No need to be aggressive. In fact, we can look at the E46 and E92 which were heralded as some of the most tasteful and beautifully proportioned 4 seater coupes of all time. Surely you have noticed that BMW itself cannot seem to decide on a direction, with connected grilles, unconnected grills, Kia grilles, massive grilles, thin grilles, low hood, high hoods, short overhangs, long overhangs, and on and on. Even the distinctive Hoffmeister kink has been diluted. It is arguably bad for the brand which has less design cohesion than Toyota.
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02-09-2020, 04:56 PM | #46 | |
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Have a wonderful rest of the weekend.
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02-09-2020, 05:58 PM | #48 |
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I am actually going to give this rig a try. I am going to "downgrade" from a manual m2 to a m235i gran coupe fully loaded by april. It will be a my first auto in 25 years of driving stick. It will have more tech and will be awd when needed in winter and a full sun roof and with 300+ hp on tap should be more than enough in city or highway. And I will get better gas economy, less CO2 and less carbon tax off to Trudeau, and my pocket book will be lighter on insurance. More compliant on the road and I won't be challenged by rice rockets, trucks, or rental sprinter vans in races. If this is not for me in a few years then back it goes and back to something else. But I am willing to give it a shot. After test driving the m135i hatch in europe this past fall, I am certain this will have similar amenities for me. I don't care about all the "purist" flaming on it on here.
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02-09-2020, 06:31 PM | #49 |
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You're totally not aggressive. But I would say you're glossing the work of the BMW designers a bit. The mediocre designs at BMW are piling up and I'am so happy these days I still drive a E39 530i genuine beauty with real RWD and 50/50 weight distribution! And for the prices they keep charging for even these small cars, that's a shame.
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02-09-2020, 06:43 PM | #50 |
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Still wish they would have called it a 1-series sedan, since thats really what it is.
There is nothing "gran coupe" about the design and would have saved the confusion of offering two different 2-series variants with different engines, drivetrain layouts and nomenclature. |
02-09-2020, 06:59 PM | #52 | ||
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Couple that with the inevitable death of the basic 3 box sedan and I'm it sure how this will survive. Especially since the coupe version drives much better. But we'll see! A bad BMW is better than many other good cars.
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02-09-2020, 07:00 PM | #53 |
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Just the opposite, it's easy for me to see how you pick this one, it's the lowest price of car styled bmws. If you don't want to pay for higher priced 3 or 4 series, and your life can fit into a 2, you get this.
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02-09-2020, 07:34 PM | #54 | |
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BMW are trying new things in order to expand their share. Nothing wrong with that; they need to reach the masses, increase their revenue, profits, etc. Along the way, there may be some mistakes. In any case, as I said, if you don't like a given design, from any car maker, don't buy it.
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02-09-2020, 07:37 PM | #55 |
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Needs painted reflectors.
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02-09-2020, 10:07 PM | #60 |
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This will be the new #1 BMW Loaner car now that the 320i's are gone, so it seems like everyone will get a fare share of experience with it no matter how much they dislike it
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02-09-2020, 10:13 PM | #61 |
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I was about to say it looks like piece of shit, but then realized my shit has more glamour than this.
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02-09-2020, 11:31 PM | #62 |
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No, it just popped up in my Youtube feed while I ws looking for X1 videos.
While we are at disccussing the car I am also not a fan of the look of the front. But that also goes for the 8-series, Z4 and 1-series. But then again I also hated the front of the F30 when it came out because the headlights kissed the grill. Back then I thought BMW had lost it. Still I got one myself two years later and kept if for six years. I guess most new designs are nowadays an "aquired taste". But I am also pretty sure this will sell very well. There is a market for this car (else BMW would not make it) and people can easily be enthusiast about FWD cars. Just look at the Golf GTI, Audi S3 and Mercedes A45 crowd. Many people buy their cars purely for the looks. My wife has an M240i and it was primarily chosen because of the design. The engine was only a secondary choice. And then there is the large crowd of owners who just want to be related to the brand no matter what. This is a fine cheap option for them as well.
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02-10-2020, 04:58 AM | #63 |
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The prestige of owning a BMW, fully loaded "M" (sort of) car, for under $60k will attract a lot of buyers. Is it as gorgeous or as high performance as a $150k M8 - no, but you get what you pay for. I personally like it a lot but if I wanted a 4dr sedan I'd opt for the M340 for about $10k more.
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02-10-2020, 05:47 AM | #64 |
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After some discussion (and a bottle of good whisky shared) with my friend working at BMW in Munich I finally understand better why 2GC is so ugly and FWD.
In short, delivering a car to the market that has better looks and/or traction (lower weight would add to that) than the 3-series could cannibalize this mainstream model sales. So to avoid it and still try to fish for new customers coming from other front-wheel-drive market offerings, they made it FWD and went with a design that makes sure any real BMW fan(atic) won't even look at this car. It's rather a product for our sons and daughters, than for us |
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02-10-2020, 06:49 AM | #65 |
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Paint the outer of the grill body colour and then keep the inner slats gloss black, chrome or cerium grey whatever they came with or floats your boat.
This would reduce the visual mass of the grills. That would be my plan with the M135i.
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02-10-2020, 07:05 AM | #66 | |
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