Current Events > BMW lost its way.

(+) Yeah! (+)

It happened in the late 90s and early 00s.

They are no longer cranking out the ultimate driving machines. You are now driving overpriced plastic hunks of junk and you will spend more on maintenance and repairs than you will on the vehicles sales price. They got so hungry for money they diluted the brand to suck money from every wannabe rich conspicuous consumer in the market. Its pretty sad.

I got the E34 because I wanted to be reminded of when they knew how to make a decent machine. Ill never buy a new BMW. The brand is dead to me. Ill just preserve what I have and try to pick up other used junk boxes for fun over time.

End of an era.

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Audi>BMW

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BlingBling22947 posted...

It happened in the late 90s and early 00s.

They are no longer cranking out the ultimate driving machines. You are now driving overpriced plastic hunks of junk and you will spend more on maintenance and repairs than you will on the vehicles sales price. They got so hungry for money they diluted the brand to suck money from every wannabe rich conspicuous consumer in the market. Its pretty sad.

I got the E34 because I wanted to be reminded of when they knew how to make a decent machine. Ill never buy a new BMW. The brand is dead to me. Ill just preserve what I have and try to pick up other used junk boxes for fun over time.

End of an era.

BMW has ALWAYS made shitty cars, I've known countless people who have owned them, every single one couldn't wait to get rid of it

They're poorly designed money pits, and the resale value on them is horrendous

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I never got the appeal. why would you get one if you hate them?

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berlyman101 posted...

I never got the appeal. why would you get one if you hate them?

BMWs are for poor people who think they're rich people

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AlBundy33 posted...

BMWs are for poor people who think they're rich people

harsh, but ok. how'd they get such a brand?

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This happened when they started emphasizing looks over performance.

berlyman101 posted...

harsh, but ok. how'd they get such a brand?

They started making them more affordable to the every man. Anyone and their dog could go out and lease a 2 series for $200 a month. Its diluted the brands holy shit I want one of those image.

All the German brands do it now though. Except Porsche.

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BMW had a ~15 year period of making good cars, roughly 85-2000. E39 M5 was the last great car they made.

Good models:

3 series
E30
e36

5 series
e34
e39

6 series
e24 once it got the 3.5l

7 series
e32
e38

Car market is screwed.

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I don't know if the 90s comparison is fair because all of the the luxury brands were funky back then. Mercedes was especially bad.

I like Lexus these days. Not the prettiest on the outside but man are they nice to sit in.

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Sounds about around the time they had exclusivity/ownership of the Nurburgring. I'm too lazy to do the umlauts. Now everyone and their mother gets to have a go. Which is kinda for the better, as I tend to laugh when I see stuff like "tuned for the autobahn" as a bragging right... so it's basically a highway cruise yacht, well good thing we're stuck at 55-70, gonna need those 500-700 horsepowers.

Yep, I've seen them and a few others follow the same trend... just churning out husks of mehness. Probably why I barely follow automobiles in the last 10 years.

I feel more comfortable putting my money into Acura or Lexus vehicles than a Mercedes or BMW. Whatever you were going to spend on the Japanese makes, add an additional 10-15 grand to the European makes if you want them comparably equipped. You can spec an E Class or 5 Series to 60-70 grand and it'll still have a 4 cylinder engine.

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as long as you can pick up some ho'z it doesn't matter

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E90 gang represent

Had an F30; like e90 better tbqmfh

Though F80 M3 >>>> E9X M3
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BMW (and foreign cars in general) are considered a luxury in my country due to protectionism policy.
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In the US, a lot of these cars aren't even really "foreign." Most of the mainstream automakers have plants here so their parts may be shipped from overseas but they're ultimately put together and assembled domestically.

IIRC, BMW has a big plant in South Carolina, Mercedes has one in Alabama, etc.

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St0rmFury posted...

BMW (and foreign cars in general) are considered a luxury in my country due to protectionism policy.

Brazil?

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SPE posted...

St0rmFury posted...

BMW (and foreign cars in general) are considered a luxury in my country due to protectionism policy.

Brazil?

Malaysia.
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They actually ARE the costliest cars to maintain.

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BMW has pretty much abandoned trying to appeal to the western market with the current fleetwise styling changes being purely made to appeal to the chinese market

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BMWs are the Apple products of the car world. You're just paying a premium for a logo.

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I like mercedes benz more
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K181 posted...

BMWs are the Apple products of the car world. You're just paying a premium for a logo.

Tesla is pretty much a direct analog to Apple considering their stance on car ownership/right to repair.

Aki_Sora posted...

I like mercedes benz more

Mercedes is considered a more upscale brand than BMW/Audi as far as Geman cars go.

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BMW, Audi, and Mercedes are the ultimate symbol of our consumerist "gimme" society people buy into to seem cool and feel like they're doing better than the Jones'. As someone mentioned, those cars are for people who want to look rich; actual rich people don't give a shit what people think, because they have actual money.

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K181 posted...

BMWs are the Apple products of the car world. You're just paying a premium for a logo.

This is a terrible take.

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3PiesAndAFork posted...

BMW, Audi, and Mercedes are the ultimate symbol of our consumerist "gimme" society people buy into to seem cool and feel like they're doing better than the Jones'. As someone mentioned, those cars are for people who want to look rich; actual rich people don't give a shit what people think, because they have actual money.

You are aware that there are a huge number of rich car enthusiasts right?

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pogo_rabid posted...

You are aware that there are a huge number of rich car enthusiasts right?

They don't drive around in a BMW 525i

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3PiesAndAFork posted...

They don't drive around in a BMW 525i

No, but they may have an M8 Competition in their collection as daily driver.

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Anyone remember those driver commercials that Clive Owen was in? Those were fun.

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pogo_rabid posted...

No, but they may have an M8 Competition in their collection as daily driver.

I mean, yeah. I guess I should have distinguished between a generic production car every Tom, Dick, and Harry drives and an M8 Competition for enthusiasts. My ranting was about the lazily mass produced generic models available to the every man able to throw a few hundred bucks down the drain every month.

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oh fair enough, the mass market entry level stuff caters to a...certain...segment

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The first car I ever drove was a BMW. It was my practice car. Have I been bamboozled? I liked the experience.

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BMW has always and still makes top tier motorcycles

I'm never switching brands

The cars are ugly

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E39s are pretty solid. Had a manual one for a while. It wasn't exactly expensive to maintain if you knew how to work on cars.

I wouldn't own anything newer tho.

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Super Saiyan 3 Goku posted...

I feel more comfortable putting my money into Acura or Lexus vehicles than a Mercedes or BMW. Whatever you were going to spend on the Japanese makes, add an additional 10-15 grand to the European makes if you want them comparably equipped. You can spec an E Class or 5 Series to 60-70 grand and it'll still have a 4 cylinder engine.

I agree, but furthermore I would rather get a fully loaded Toyota brand than a Lexus. It's basically the same thing but way less maintenance cost in the long run.
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German car manufacturers are all a bunch of criminals who are stuck in the past. Audi, Merc, BMW all look the same and are boring as hell anyway.

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K181 posted...

BMWs are the Apple products of the car world. You're just paying a premium for a logo.

this is another way of saying that you are either poor or a greedy cheapskate

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Surely they lost their way working for the Nazis

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The case for owning a luxury German car is no longer there anymore.

people talk about the mcdonaldization of ____, but were living now in the Apple-Ization of things.

if you spent 50k on an S class Mercedes or 7 series BMW in the 80s, 90s or even 2000s, you would get finely crafted interiors with the best leather and wood out there, your cars interior looked like Italian furniture. You also had the latest bells and whistles.

if you had a 1995 7 series bimmer you knew a 2000 Ford Taurus had nothing on your car when it came to features, let alone a Ford escort or dodge neon. heck a 1995 7 series probably had more features than a 2005 neon, and a far better interior.

now cars are like apple products; spend 80k on a 2012 5 series BMW (in 2012) and watch a 2013 Hyundai that costed 22k get a backup camera your own car doesnt have. Then watch a 2015 Ford Fusion that costs 22k park itself, something your car cant do.

why spend the big bucks on a luxury car if some econobox will have more and better stuff next year?

the interiors arent even nice anymore, theyre just seats and a giant (Tesla-like) screen in the center and a screen taking place of the gauges. A screen is a screen, and now the entire interior is a screen.


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AdrianBeterson posted...

This is a terrible take.

It's true. I'm not calling either shitty, but they're both very much overpriced for what they bring to the table. It's a logo premium.

JBaLLEN66 posted...

this is another way of saying that you are either poor or a greedy cheapskate

No on the former and kind of true on the latter. I don't really care about cars, I'm fine with my old beater as long as it still runs and the heater and AC still work. I have over 310,000 miles on it and am fine with her until she dies. Too bad Toyota's pretty much become the Japanese Buick, as their models are just boring to me now.

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Luxury Cars that aren't sports vehicles are absolute pointless

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berlyman101 posted...

I never got the appeal. why would you get one if you hate them?

They're beasts in the snow and just feel great to drive in general. Not over the top luxury, but you get a very solid and reliable car that ages very well mechanically and aesthetically. They also don't rust out typically.
I still get compliments on my 2006 325xi and thats literally entry level 15 yr old bimmer lol

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Garioshi posted...

Surely they lost their way working for the Nazis

Not like they had a whole lot of choice tbh.
Besides, you could also throw Porsche, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Ford, and GM under that bus. Those actually did worse things... such as Ford/GM supplying the trucks that built the camps/infrastructure, and Porsche designed tanks. Mitsubishi built Zero's for Imperial Japan.

Anyhoo, I wish we could see this Porsche run a lap around the ring. I suspect it'd be a beast on the tarmac.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_VIII_Maus

Some absolutely horrible takes in this topic. You can tell whos actually driven German cars before and whos just talking out of their ass.

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the only German car I've ever wanted based on what I've seen was a G Wagon. that is an impressive machine. it's probably not practical unless you're bonkers rich, though, and what a gas guzzler.

I'm sure there are a bunch of awesome German cars like Porsche but I'm a plebe and I've never even driven an awesome car so I don't know about feel or whatever.

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I had an X1 and it was alright. Check engine light came on twice when I first got it.

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hyperpowder posted...

I had an X1 and it was alright. Check engine light came on twice when I first got it.

how much do x1s go for nowadays? Were you happy with its level of equipment?

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ALIEN_WORK2HOP posted...

German car manufacturers are all a bunch of criminals who are stuck in the past. Audi, Merc, BMW all look the same and are boring as hell anyway.

At least mercedes has interesting non-boring cars in their range. ie- any black series car

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