BMW taking the piss?
scotty g - 19/11/14 at 10:16 PM
Is it just me or does anyone else think that BMW are completely taking the wee with their Massive product range.
They now have the 1 series, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 series models, all of them have 3 or 4 different body styles. They also have the X1, x3, x5, x6 and
i'm sure i saw an x2 the other day.
who at BMW decided on the 2 series, did they say "what the public really need is something bigger than a 1 but smaller than a 3"? come on
really!!!!!!!
Don't even get me started on the New Mini range and it's inffinate body styles!!!!!!!
bi22le - 19/11/14 at 10:24 PM
I was in a new 5 series the other day. I didnt believe it was not a 3 untill I got out and read the back. Its not a large saloon anymore. I think the
difference in sizes between the 3,4,5 is negligible.
I find it hard to spot the difference and I am a very good car spotter.
whitestu - 19/11/14 at 10:26 PM
Sounds like the marketing department are calling the shots!
loggyboy - 19/11/14 at 10:26 PM
Its less confusing than that
1 = small hatch
2= small coupe/cabrio
3= med saloon
4= med coupe/cabrio
5 = large saloon
6= large coupe
Doctor Derek Doctors - 19/11/14 at 10:26 PM
Seems an odd thing to be annoyed about, you don't have to buy them.
The 2 series isn't between a 1 series and a 3 series, it's the 1 series coupe. The even numbers are coupe versions of the odd numbers.
Also you can buy 3 or 4 body styles of most cars these days (saloon, Hatchback, estate, coupe, even van)
I quite like to have choice when I buy stuff and people seem to be buying BMW's, lots and lots of them.
scotty g - 19/11/14 at 10:30 PM
Haha, i'm not overly annoyed by it but i think it's too much. they already do a 1 series coupe and a 3 series coupe so i think a 2 series is
a bit redundant!!!
loggyboy - 19/11/14 at 10:32 PM
quote:
Originally posted by scotty g
Haha, i'm not overly annoyed by it but i think it's too much. they already do a 1 series coupe and a 3 series coupe so i think a 2 series is
a bit redundant!!!
They DID do a 1 coupe, thats now the 2. They DID do a 3 coupe, thats now the 4.
its not that hard to work out.
bi22le - 19/11/14 at 10:37 PM
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by scotty g
Haha, i'm not overly annoyed by it but i think it's too much. they already do a 1 series coupe and a 3 series coupe so i think a 2 series is
a bit redundant!!!
They DID do a 1 coupe, thats now the 2. They DID do a 3 coupe, thats now the 4.
its not that hard to work out.
if its that easy can you explain the meaning of the 3numbers on the back. It used to be engine size, then trim and I think its now a combination.
loggyboy - 19/11/14 at 10:40 PM
Its never been a true representation of engine, my e30 was a 316, it had a 1.8 carbd engine, the 316i was a faster 1.6 injected model.
nick205 - 19/11/14 at 10:48 PM
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Its less confusing than that
1 = small hatch
2= small coupe/cabrio
3= med saloon
4= med coupe/cabrio
5 = large saloon
6= large coupe
That about sums it up.
Also...
1. BMW are just BMW, bikes and cars. They are competing in a globalised auto industry where other manufacturers have totally failed or consolidated
inot much larger groups.
2. Car manufacturers are no longer designing cars for the European/Western market. The rest of the world is overtaking that and demanding differnt
types and styles of car.
3. Compare them to...
VAG; Audi, Bentley, Ducatti, MAN Lamborghini, Porsche (yes it is!), Scania, Seat, Skoda, Suzuki (yes it is!) and Volkswagen
PSA: Citroen and Peugeot cars, commercials and scooters
Renault: Dacia, Nissan and Renault cars, commercials and trucks
Daimler Benz: Freightliner, Maybach, Mercedes (cars, commercials and trucks), Mitsubishi FSO trucks, Setra and Orion buses, Smart Cars, Thomas Built,
nick205 - 19/11/14 at 10:53 PM
quote:
Originally posted by whitestu
Sounds like the marketing department are calling the shots!
And if they're doing their job well, that will be what sells cars and keeps the company in business.
Porsche (as a VAG brand) make no bones at all about selling Boxters, Cayennes, Caymens and Macans to make money. the 911 might be their crown jewels,
but it would not exist any more without the other models.
Car companies have to develop and market cars that will sell, end of story.
twybrow - 20/11/14 at 01:23 AM
Seems pretty easy to follow as long as you keep up with the model launches. The ones I don't like at the 'GT' variants of the 3 and 5
series. Yuk yuk yuk. Otherwise, seems a sensible model range, and really not that different to what Audi offers - think A4/5 A6/7 they are following
the same model range rules...!
So no, I don't find it confusing or annoying, but I do totally agree that they all seem to have got larger and yet offer less space as time goes
by....
JC - 20/11/14 at 07:21 AM
But just to confuse matters, there is the 2 series coupe and the FWD (!) 2 series family tourer!!
scimjim - 20/11/14 at 07:23 AM
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Its never been a true representation of engine, my e30 was a 316, it had a 1.8 carbd engine, the 316i was a faster 1.6 injected model.
Once upon a time it was a true representation of the engine - E21/E28 etc.
whitestu - 20/11/14 at 07:49 AM
quote:
quote:
Originally posted by whitestu
Sounds like the marketing department are calling the shots!
And if they're doing their job well, that will be what sells cars and keeps the company in business.
Porsche (as a VAG brand) make no bones at all about selling Boxters, Cayennes, Caymens and Macans to make money. the 911 might be their crown jewels,
but it would not exist any more without the other models.
Car companies have to develop and market cars that will sell, end of story.
You are spot on, but unfortunately I seem to prefer the cars made by the companies that went bust!
Irony - 20/11/14 at 12:11 PM
I huge product range is the first step to doing each product poorly. Look at Apple. Steve jobs kept the product range small and perfectly formed.
He died and the marketeers took over. Enter different sized phones, iPad mini, iWatch. Now Android and Windows phones are catching up!
britishtrident - 20/11/14 at 01:37 PM
quote:
Originally posted by scotty g
Is it just me or does anyone else think that BMW are completely taking the wee with their Massive product range.
They now have the 1 series, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 series models, all of them have 3 or 4 different body styles. They also have the X1, x3, x5, x6 and
i'm sure i saw an x2 the other day.
who at BMW decided on the 2 series, did they say "what the public really need is something bigger than a 1 but smaller than a 3"? come on
really!!!!!!!
Don't even get me started on the New Mini range and it's inffinate body styles!!!!!!!
You could say the same about practically any modern car manufacturer, go to any supermarket car park and you will be pushed to find any two cars to
the same spec, you will find loads of white Astras and Corsa but no two will have the same lights or bumpers or wheels.. It isn't that new a
trend even 10+ years back. I used to play a game when stuck in traffic and try and spot how many combinations of bumper I could spot on Rover 45s.
What gets about the MINI it is huge on the outside and tiny on the inside, all body pointless styles they have added are really ugly and they
don't exactly have a sparkling reputation for reliability and low repair costs but it still sells like hot cakes.
The problem is the generations who are now buying cars have been brought up on computer game pads and iPhone, they have a short attention span and
judge a car by how cool the dashboard looks and very few of them have any idea what the oily bits actually do.
britishtrident - 20/11/14 at 01:42 PM
quote:
Originally posted by whitestu
quote:
quote:
Originally posted by whitestu
Sounds like the marketing department are calling the shots!
And if they're doing their job well, that will be what sells cars and keeps the company in business.
Porsche (as a VAG brand) make no bones at all about selling Boxters, Cayennes, Caymens and Macans to make money. the 911 might be their crown jewels,
but it would not exist any more without the other models.
Car companies have to develop and market cars that will sell, end of story.
You are spot on, but unfortunately I seem to prefer the cars made by the companies that went bust!
Have you ever noticed classic luxury cars don't have any modern gadgets but are still luxury cars. Modern mass market cars have all the gadgets
but are still tin boxes.
morcus - 20/11/14 at 04:12 PM
Someone sort of beat me to it in a round about way but was going to Say VW are the masters of that, even if you just count the VW brand look at how
many cars they do that pretty much fill the same hole.
The whole numbering thing of renaming the coupes as separate models helps distinguish them from the 4 doors and makes them more marketable which is
important now that the 3 series is the best selling car of its kind.
loggyboy - 20/11/14 at 04:18 PM
quote:
Originally posted by scimjim
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Its never been a true representation of engine, my e30 was a 316, it had a 1.8 carbd engine, the 316i was a faster 1.6 injected model.
Once upon a time it was a true representation of the engine - E21/E28 etc.
Even the E21 315 was a 1.6, 316 was a 1.8.
DW100 - 20/11/14 at 04:50 PM
Not any different than VW Audi Group and their engines.
I run a Workshop and about 60% of the cars in are VW Audi group, almost never see the same spec engine twice. Means most of them haven't had
enough development time spent on them.
Mr Whippy - 20/11/14 at 06:57 PM
have to say though cars have certainly got larger on the outside but the interiors are so cramped and dark especially in the back, they've become
quite depressing places to be
a few weeks ago I sat in a mk1 granada and it seem like a tardis inside and just lovely, bright and spacious, whish I could have bought it
scimjim - 20/11/14 at 10:27 PM
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by scimjim
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Its never been a true representation of engine, my e30 was a 316, it had a 1.8 carbd engine, the 316i was a faster 1.6 injected model.
Once upon a time it was a true representation of the engine - E21/E28 etc.
Even the E21 315 was a 1.6, 316 was a 1.8.
Not when they first appeared. The 315 came in as the base model when the 316 became a 1.8. At release the 316 was a 1.6, the 318 a 1.8 and the 320 a 2
litre.
I like the simpler designations - 3, 5, 6, 7 & 8 series, some touring, some ragtops, compacts, 4WD (in LHD and only on the 325i IIRC?) - makes
much more sense now 
Furyous - 21/11/14 at 07:27 PM
As said above, the equal numbers are two door versions of the odd numbers. So a 2 series is a two door 1 series, 4 series is a two door 3 series.
Trouble is, they came out with a four door 6 series and a four door 4 series.
Not that I'm the target market, but I used to be a BMW fan and kept an eye on all their new models. I don't bother now because they've
diluted the brand so much. I never bothered following Mercedes because they had such a confusing line up. They have a C class, but what's the
difference with a CLS and CLK? Their whole model range was muddled like that.
morcus - 22/11/14 at 12:41 AM
I believe Mercedes are working towards simplifying there naming system hence why the CLK went back to being the E Class Coupé and the CL becoming the
S Coupé.
MikeRJ - 22/11/14 at 11:04 AM
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
What gets about the MINI it is huge on the outside and tiny on the inside,
It's quite amazing just how little room they have, the boot space is just laughable. I reckon Issigonis would have be stunned at the way
functionality and practically have been almost entirely shunned in the name of ridiculous fashions.