[Kayani_1]

Scott26 we all know you are the BMW insider and your livelihood depends on supporting them. Thus, such comments. But I know even deep down you know that right now you are being full of it.

To say that nothing stood out when you guys drove an ATS, does not suit the guy who we all like to hear from on these forums as you are our tie with BMW brand. If after driving the ATS the glaring abomination of EPS steering setup in F30 BMW 3 series and overly soft suspension did not stand out to you. Then I have lost faith in you to maybe give BMW upper management a pure feedback.

I mean which head honcho at BMW approved of this life less steering setup to be used in BMW's starting out with the BMW 5 series and now ruining the BMW 3 series. How do you approve of such horrible setup and how do you let a legendary iconic car leave your factories with such horrible setup. Whoever, approved of it should be punished by cutting their salary in half and banishing them to spend hours and hours behind the wheels of a Lotus Exige S or Porsche 997 GT3 to learn what a good steering setup is and how it enhances the driving experience in every which way or you could just put them in the in house E92 M3 GTS.

The new BMW philosophy of chasing the masses is a horrible excuse for rolling out German Toyota Camry called F30 3 series or German Toyota Avalon called F10 BMW 5 series.

The biggest thing you guys don't realize that your sales have been ever increasing because of not this diluted sham that you all are creating in this lastest generation F30 and F10. People are buying your cars in drove based on past heritage and badge image. The more you dilute your cars the more you will lose that edge. Yes, while Toyota Corolla could be the leader in sales no one wakes up dreaming to get behind the wheel of one. Only reason people buy the Toyota Corolla in droves is because it is reliable and affordable.

If you want masses to buy your cars stick to your heritage of making outstanding cars as you did in the past. One could get a perfect balance of sports and luxury by knocking at the door steps of a marquee called BMW. You do not have to turn away from that.Offer great cars do not reinvent yourself just for the sake of it. Because you had it going for yourself. All you guys had to do to bring masses in was to bring the price point down a bit and make BMW more affordable. Second, make the cars more rock solid on reliability. The droves would have bought a well built, slightly cheaper, and rock sold reliable BMW cars that offered the BMW core values with unmatched balance of sports first and luxury second. No one did it better then you guys of offering a good balance. Why your upper management has decided to turn BMW cars into boring toasters is beyond me.

I for one have had many BMW's in my household for more then a decade. Yet, now I am contemplating to give others a try. Because you guys have dilute the brand to the point where the difference is blurred. I hope you spending this much time with us buyers can take our voice to BMW. Many of us are not happy with how you guys have ruined the 5 series and 3 series, once a class leading legendary iconic. cars that everybody wanted to emulate. This is coming form a guy who has owned both versions for many years. I have put my money where my mouth is and supported BMW with purchases of multiple 5 series, 3 series, 7 series, and X5. Now I guess my last hope is that you guys wake up and restore the balance back with M235i, M2, M3, and M4. Please start out by fixing the overly soft core nature of the 3 series and 5 series no one want a luxo land barge at least not with a BMW badge. Please, get rid of the EPS setup until it is fixed and worthy of belonging in a legendary iconic cars like BMW 5 series and BMW 3 series. If you are not going to ditch the EPS and keep it. Then please put greater resources behind fixing its inherent flaws. Also, offer the base car to be good from the start. No one should have to spend thousands just to make a car how it should have came from the factory to begin with. The case and point is the C7 stingray in base form it is still an awesome machine. The options offered on C7 are so price friendly and offer so much for so little that you just can't say no. No buyer likes the feeling of being ripped off. However, when you start building a BMW the base version is so horrendous that you end up wasting tons of money to just get it some what decent. By this point you feel like you have been ripped off by a brand who is on purpose releasing utterly boring base versions.

Last but not least please distance the coupe interiors and exteriors farther from the sedan interiors and exteriors and take more risk with the coupe styling's both inside and out. Specially after you guys went so far to distance them by giving them new names. Also, put every resource available in increasing the horrible reliability of your cars. The biggest flaw with BMW's with past or present has been less then stellar reliability. Here take a page from Toyota it will bring in masses of sales without compromising core beliefs. Otherwise with the gains that GM and Ford as well as some other manufacturers are making you will soon be just another not so special offering that is overly expensive, overwhelmingly unreliable, and utterly boring and lacking that true heritage that made your brand a success.



A passionate plea from a die hard BMW fan

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

Last year when we were in the USA for the i3 Coupe launch at LAIAS. We sought out an ATS or four to evaluate given recent US auto media reports on the class-leading abilities of the car. We found nothing that stood out . The car has since being tested back in Germany again nothing stood out against the 3er.

Granted that the CTS is not in Germany and I will not be in LA this year , but Tokyo yet so an opinion cannot be given.
But that last quote sums up the problem.

They are to busy wanting a BMW that they forget about originality. They seem too pre-occupied that they need the car to be a BMW that at the end of the day it is a BMW facsimile with nothing to stand but its a better BMW.

And that 5er review is this the pre LCi model? Because the outcome in Europe is very much different with the changes on the LCi. The steering changes being one of the most notable changes.