Quote:
Originally Posted by evanevery
BMW built its image by designing high performance automobiles for car enthusiasts. Widening the design portfolio, while bringing in more sales, will also ultimately dilute the image of a sharp handling sports car as more compromises are made to luxury and/or the mass market in general."
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But is this the whole BMW story, or just a selected part which fits the current thinking that BMW is diluting the brand?
I come from the time when BMW did make much softer models, we didn't even have sport models. SE models were the model to have.
Many bought into the brand in the UK based on excellent German engineering, yes they were good to drive, but comfortable at the same time. Most were bread and butter models, had no sport features, come to think about it didn't even have OE radio.
BMW gradually moved into the more sport optioned age for their mass market. Even my 1998 540i (over 25-years on from my introduction to BMW) had to have sport (M-tech) suspension and an M-tech steering wheel as an option, to make it 'sporty'. My neighbor still runs his 1998 535i, nothing sporty about it at all, it is a good drive, but all about comfort. In the UK many an E46 was an SE model, so comfort was the priority for many users. Yes BMW did introduce the E39 M5 and E46 M3, but they weren't the bread and butter models on which BMW were building the sales.
For me BMW was built on more than just this 'sporty driving image' which many see as the focus of BMW.