Quote:
Originally Posted by Patronus86
This post really seems like it was trolling for all kinds of responses, but I'll take the bait anyway. In short, no one truly knows if BMW is going down because no one can predict the future. However, just because BMW has a new generation that is not on top, doesn't mean the company is going down.
Every car company, and every company period, goes through ups and downs. For the past few years, BMW's 3 series were considered to be among the best of the luxury-sports sector, if not the very best. The reviews on the newest generation (F3x 3 and 4 series) are mixed, but basically they aren't considered to be the absolute best right now. For the longest time the Japanese companies made some of the best economy cars while the US competition sucked. Now US companies like Ford are making cars that compete with or outright beat the Japanese in that sector.
There should be no surprise or concern over this. If the quality of BMW cars continuously degrades over the next decade, than yeah, you should be concerned. Give BMW a chance to do R&D, refine and innovate as they always have. And let's be honest, though the current 3 and 4 series aren't considered the best, they are still decent enough; it's not like they are totally lacking quality and performance.
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Well I think a decade is a bit too long to make judgment here and the evidence is upon us now. The F10 and the F30 have both deteriorated in quality; that quality being the driving experience. BMWs have always offered a superior driving experience, which is where the brand gained its reputation, and few people (we now call them enthusiasts) originally appreciated that quality. But when you compare the current BMW models to their predecessors, the new cars do not offer the same quality of the driving experience, which points to BMW loosing its way, even the while other manufacturers are "catching up".
It has been reported numerous times in various publications that the E90 wins driving comparos when pitted against the F30, and the new Cadillac CTS offers best-in-class handling above its counterparts. My 800+ mile evaluation of the ATS proved to me it drives better than the F30. I can tell you that after 26 years of BMW ownership my next car will not be a BMW. That decision comes from BMW loosing its way and other manufacturers offering a better product for me, which for me the driving experience needs to come above all else. When you couple the expense of a BMW, along with inferior reliability (of some models), proliferation of the brand to the point where every soccer Mom drives an X-Series (
), and a driving experience that is not better than the competition, there is no longer a benefit of ownership.