TTAC’s Andrew Dederer posits BMW’s fall from grace…a sensitive topic for yours truly. Although Chris Bangle is clearly a mole whose activation (by some unknown foe) wrecked havoc on BMW’s once-perfect design language, I still have faith in the company that built this.
No one has ever bothered to bring the word ‘handling’ into the same sentence as Cadillac or Infinity before, things must be getting very bad at BMW.
One of my cars is an Acura TL, as with most American cars it’s great in a straight line, but out on the twisty back roads it handles like a bus shelter.
This is deeply concerning news about BMW.
People who read Consumer’s Report buy Camrys and Accords and are more concerned with reliability and resale value than which car is a the better dance partner on a serpentine canyon road. BMW’s are designed and developed by engineers who race in their spare time (I’ve met a few) and understand the importance of feedback, optimal weight distribution, a stiff chassis and other elements that make a good handling car. In other words, does it matter what Consumer’s Report says?
Alex, don’t talk smack about Chris Bangle. Have you seen what has happened to BMW since he left? Kevin Rice responsible for the 1 series deserves to be whipped publicly for that atrocious little pig nosed car he wants to call a BMW and Joji Nagashima, who incidentally is responsible for the E39, did a terrible job with the E90, especially the 4 door sedan. The rear lights look like he pinched them from a Honda.
Also, try to find one European car magazine that will put the CTS before a BMW or Mercedes. I’m not worried.
I’ve got to wonder what those guys are smoking. My inlaws have a CTS, my wife has an ‘07 328i. The Caddy doesn’t do *anything* as well as the BMW, except for possibly isolating you from the road better. In the first year of ownership, the Caddy has had two airbag modules fail, the steering rack fail, the diff spring a leak, and the drivers side door leaks at the roof when it rains. The service is ‘ok’, but they give you a generic loaner when you take it in for service. Oh, and the service isn’t free, either. As for longevity, I’ve got an ‘01 325 with 170k on it (original clutch), my son has my hand-me-down ‘93 325is with 260k on it (original engine despite our best efforts to kill it), and my daughter has an ‘89 325i with 250 on it with the original trans (auto). I’d love to see a comparable Caddy of those generations try to do anything that the BMWs are capable of.
B
WTF? Bangle has never left bmw!! He was made the chief of design! Bangle and van Hooydonk are geniuses and innovators in a world were every other car companys car is a copy of something else.
The constant abuse heaped on Bangle is undeserved. I love designers like Bangle. He makes cars that are interesting and new. Cars that change the way other car companies design cars. Look at the Audi S5; from behind you can barely tell it apart from the new 3 series coupe. Subarus used to be like this too. They made tough, functional cars that didn’t acquiesce to current automobile fashions. Until the new Impreza, a boring car made up of the old bits of Mazda, Hyundais, and Skodas. Now they are paying the price. I have seen about 3 new Imprezas on the road since their release in Australia (Subaru’s second largest market after Japan). BMW would be in the same position if they stopped innovating; stopped challenging us with interesting cars. Go Bangle.
Alex, I cannot agree with you any more, but I am sure we already had this conversation in person.
My and my buddy were actually talking about the same thing yesterday watching Top Gear videos of the old and new M5.
I still want to repeat myself the NEW 5-series blows, terrible design.
Yes BMW maybe needed a revolutionary new design for it’s 5-series, but the current 5-series is NOOOT the answer, also the 2009 5-series (if the current intended design stays) will look like a joke.
Though I got to say that they made a nearly PERFECT design for the M6, which I would have trouble adding something to if they asked me how to improve it.
Respect to the 2003 M5. Long live legend.
amen!
B
@ Tommy Kitsmiller - I meant that he left the actual design to others and now only signs off on the work. Sorry for not clarifying that.
chris is gone? thank god, but now will be the slow process of making BMW’s look good again, hopefully the new designers will completely and concisely dispatch from chris’s ill-conceived designs.
designs aside, has anyone else noticed how cheap the new BMW’s feel?
the new X5’s hood feels like a piece of paper
the padel shifts on the new M5 felt ready to snap off/break
the Z4’s interior is loosely stitched together (and the P/W buttons are literally inaccessible)
I liked the solid confident feel of the old BMW’s.
“Yesterday, Consumer Reports (CR) rated Cadillac’s new CTS a better whip than both a BMW 328i and Mercedes C300.”
^exactly how much I had to read before regarding this editorial as meaningless
Alex,
Ok you know I’m bias, but give me a break. The new CTS is a nice and I’ve driven all the cars listed in this thread. As you know I just bought a new 2008 BMW 550i. The reason was it is the best car I drove. I also like Chris Bangles style. I mean look at the Lexus LS among other cars, it’s a copy of the design philosophy down to the details. Go shopping for a new 2008 car and after awhile you’ll notice how many of them copy the Bangle design.
I hope this doesn’t mean that you won’t bless my new car…
Jack
new cars are fug.