BMW's just keep getting fatter....

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/blog--meet-the-new-2014-bmw-4-series-coupe?icid=autos_4452

Ah! This is my favorite.

The thread were everyone gets together to complain about something were never going to buy anyway.

Allow me to get my popcorn and grab a seat.

z31maniac wrote: Ah! This is my favorite. The thread were everyone gets together to complain about something were never going to buy anyway. Allow me to get my popcorn and grab a seat.

What are you talking about? We might buy on in approximately 10 years by which time it will be a completely awesome car but right now it sucks.

z31maniac wrote: Ah! This is my favorite. The thread were everyone gets together to complain about something were never going to buy anyway.

I see new cars as a preview of what I'll be driving in twenty years.

BUY FUN CARS, PEOPLE.

(disclaimer: I don't think a new BMW will last that long, so it's moot in this case)

z31maniac wrote: Ah! This is my favorite. The thread were everyone gets together to complain about something were never going to buy anyway. Allow me to get my popcorn and grab a seat.

Yes, that is the point of this thread, to point out that BMW keeps building cars that are ugly and fat that noone wants to buy. You got it!

Doesn't look any fatter/heavier than the E92. Admittedly, that's no lightweight, but it doesn't look like they larded it up any more.

But I also think BMW coolness has an inverse ratio to their age. I remember when the E36 was fat and soft and nobody would ever be able to work on it.

Fat: Ok, VERY likely. The E90 is already there. Did they mention the weight? I didn't see it in the linked article.

Ugly: Uh, not seeing that personally. The E36 may still be my favorite generation styling-wise, but I'd take that over just about any of the current competition.

z31maniac wrote: Ah! This is my favorite. The thread were everyone gets together to complain about something were never going to buy anyway. Allow me to get my popcorn and grab a seat.

I don't hate it, and I suppose if I were in the market I would at least take a look at it. But personally it's not jsut BMW, there are no current cars that are new on the market that really do anything for me. We keep looking to replace our DD Grand Cherokee with something - either another SUV or a car - and there just isn't anything that jumps out at me. On the used market, there are several options however. As far as BMW's go, the last era of likeable styling ended around the early 2000's for me. I know some people like the "1 car, 3 sizes" design approach that BMW and Audi seem to be doing, but I find it terribly boring when I can barely differentiate a 3 from a 7 from a 5, other than the growing proportions.

$41k base price makes any of my thoughts about it moot.

Im arguing with SWMBO right now about the difference between spending $2k to fix my daiyl, versus spending $2k on a new-to-me DD...I will probably have a Bimmer in the garage sometime in year twenty twenty-never

They could have done worse......my question is, where are the links to this 2 Series everyone keeps babbling about.

I like it. Doesn't look fat to me. Might be heavy, but do you know what? My dad had a 2008 5 series for a day--535i. That car was about a kabillion times faster than his E34 5 series that it replaced. It also got better gas mileage and was more comfortable as well. It was bigger than the old one, but not by much, and it was better in just about every other way other than looks (subjective) and ease to work on it.

I can honestly say that that vehicle was easily among the very best* I have ever driven. Too bad it didn't have seat heaters, if it had, I would probably end up with it in 5 years.

*For those who care, the others that rank at the top are a Z06, Miata, and 996. These are all cars taht I drove and said "I will one day own one of these".

plance1 wrote:

z31maniac wrote: Ah! This is my favorite. The thread were everyone gets together to complain about something were never going to buy anyway. Allow me to get my popcorn and grab a seat.

Yes, that is the point of this thread, to point out that BMW keeps building cars that are ugly and fat that noone wants to buy. You got it!

Again, completely wrong. They make plenty of cars that people want to buy. Maybe you don't see many BMW's in your area?

However, they don't make cars for an incredibly small group of people who refuse to buy new cars. So why should they focus on cars that won't sell vs cars that will sell?

In reply to z31maniac:

Plus plance just needs to GTFO of this conversation before the Gestapo show up in the middle of the night. I bet this will be small compared to the camaro and challenger anyways, so I'm confused by fat and ugly.

I don't think it is ugly.

It is expensive as heck, though.

Fat IDK. Ugly, not really.

But if I saw one on the street I'd just think it was a 3-series or 5-series.....most BMWs pretty much look the same these days. I like BMW's overall design look in recent years, but when all the cars look the same I'm pretty bored with it. Same thing with Audi, for that matter.

It's as if no carmakers have any design creativity anymore.....all the models just look like bigger or smaller versions of the same thing. Exception: In a few cases carmakers have gone drastically away from a common-looking design, but unfortunately most of those are just taken to the extreme of oddness (read: Nissan Juke)

is the "4 series" set in stone? They have been talking about badging the 3 series coupe as a "4" for decades. I just do not see this happening as people will always consider it a "3"

In reply to mad_machine:

By the sounds of it, yes.....the 4 should arrive.

Evidently there will also this..... Sure its just the next generation of the 1 series, but Me Gusta!!!! http://www.gtspirit.com/2013/05/28/bmw-to-develop-2015-bmw-m2/

These cars will be littering the junkyards in a couple decades in perfect exterior condition. It will be the $5K in module failures that will cause the owner to just walk away from the headache.

Megasquirt should look into making a DIY CAS module that can be repaired and updated with your smartphone.

Cone_Junky wrote: These cars will be littering the junkyards in a couple decades in perfect exterior condition. It will be the $5K in module failures that will cause the owner to just walk away from the headache.

I've heard this argument my whole life. It hasn't come to pass yet.

Median age of cars on US roads has been growing for years. So has complexity, so has luxury, so have the electronics; so have the safety features:
Median age of vehicles on the road.
1969 5.1 years
1990 7.5 years
2008 9.4 years
2012 10.8 years

Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_vehicles_in_the_United_States#Age_of_vehicles_in_operation
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/17/business/la-fi-mo-aging-autos-20120117

I remember when a friend of my father’s got a new E21 3 series and they were outside looking at it, marveling at the electronics and bemoaning that it would be impossible for anyone to fix 10 years down the line. I recall a thread on the once great corner carvers discussing the then new E46 and again lamenting how it would be impossible for people to fix due to the electronics. And now we’re continuing the grand old tradition with this one.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

I agree with you, it was a completely idiotic comment about the electronics. Someone will always either a.) be able to fix it, b.) tell you how to fix it, or c.) will learn how to fix it.

I like the looks. It will be interesting to see how the driving dynamics turn out, not that I can afford a new one right now. It looks like BMW had better be watching out for the new Cadillac ATS, though; that thing seems to be nipping at their heels.

yamaha wrote: In reply to Adrian_Thompson: I agree with you, it was a completely idiotic comment about the electronics. Someone will always either a.) be able to fix it, b.) tell you how to fix it, or c.) will learn how to fix it.

Obviously not spoken from someone who spends the day replacing or reprogramming the 120 possible modules on a late model BMW.

So you know somebody who can rebuild a SZL, IBS, CVM,CAS, CCM,BZM,BZMF,COMBI,DWA,EGS,EWS,EMF,SASL,SASR,STVR,STVL, or TMBFTH module? Send them my way, I got lots of work for them.

Apparently I'm just an idiot...