It's a sign of the times when

[IndyMike]

(1) you spend 10 seconds glancing at the BMW new car showroom and lot and 10 minutes in the CPO lot,

and,

(2) the best looking vehicle in the new car area is a 750Li.

Call me nuts, but if I really needed a luxo barge and had the portfolio to afford one around the $100k mark I would be hard pressed to find a better fit than a 750Li with BMW Individual.

I don't think Design(evenafter7yearsstilldoesn't)Werkes could propagate a good looking vehicle if their commercial, corporate life depended on it.

So where am I going with all of this?

Well, I am glad that you asked because I really had a strange dream the other night (probably was either the mushrooms I had for dinner and/or afterwards watching the flick 'Transformers').

First, I saw a e65 swallow an e38. Then I saw a e60 swallow an e39. And finally a e90 swallowed an e46.

The only meaning that I can attach to all of this is to put BMW design in Biblical proportions...............we've had 7 years of plenty, and now we are in the midst of 7 years of famine.

All of you that have ears listen.

:D

[stuka]

Nah, a 2001 740i sports with manual tranny conversion is the ticket.:D

[Theo]

Nah, a 2001 740i sports with manual tranny conversion is the ticket.:D


I looked LONG and hard for one of those. Most of them are beat to hell and high mileage. Its even harder to find a late 01 with the larger nav screen.

Misus the manual tranny of course.

[Theo]

Hey Mike whats you take on the one series. Probably to small for your needs but I was just wondering what you think?

Edit: Nevermind I just caught your response in the other thread.

[killerdeck]

I feel the same way about the BMW lot these days. The only car that even slightly interests me is the M Coupe. My wife and I just commented that is wasnt uncommon for me to take her, as a part of our dates, to the dealership back when we first met (2000). Sad indeed!

[TD]

The 5s, 7s, Xs and Zs all hold absolutely ZERO appeal to me. The 3s are far from pretty but, when you factor in the value equation and just how good they drive relative to everything else in their price range, you find a way to get past the looks.

The 135i is going to be tempting.

[ZBB]

I think were getting close to the end of the famine perid...

The new X5 avoids all the horrible design issues, and the E92 coupe minimizes the effects that are still present on teh E90 sedan. As TD said, the 1er coupe also holds promise. If the CS concept that was shown in Shanghai does prove to be a forerunner of a new design trend for BMW, the the future will be better (remember the current design dearth started when BMW showed the Z9 concept in 1999 -- that design essentially became the 6 series and introduced all the aweful cues like the Bangle butt, awkward front end and flame surfacing)

We'll know for sure when the next 7 appears.

[stuka]

I looked LONG and hard for one of those. Most of them are beat to hell and high mileage. Its even harder to find a late 01 with the larger nav screen.

Misus the manual tranny of course.

We found one for my MIL with something like 30K miles, I can't remember.

Look on the east coast. Lots of them without a lot of miles because most owners are dumb enough to not put on snow tires and therefore parked it most of winter because it is "unsafe."

The stick coversion, looky here:

http://www.koalamotorsport.com/conversions.asp

My mechanic used to be a master tech and thinks he can do it for less, but we don't need a car that big.

[Sharp11]

"Famine" for whom :dunno: ....BMW is one of the very few automakers whose sales numbers are consistently good.

Btw, GM's dropped 21 percent in June.

Ed

[IndyMike]

I think were getting close to the end of the famine perid...

The new X5 avoids all the horrible design issues, and the E92 coupe minimizes the effects that are still present on teh E90 sedan. As TD said, the 1er coupe also holds promise. If the CS concept that was shown in Shanghai does prove to be a forerunner of a new design trend for BMW, the the future will be better (remember the current design dearth started when BMW showed the Z9 concept in 1999 -- that design essentially became the 6 series and introduced all the aweful cues like the Bangle butt, awkward front end and flame surfacing)

We'll know for sure when the next 7 appears.
Well, I certainly hope you are right about that. And I do have to admit the new big truck and e92 are decidedly steps in the right direction. Heck, even the e90 has grown on me some and given a new facial similar to the coupe could be tempting to me as well.

Maybe they've finally figured out how to flamebroil the surface differently. And if they could advertise all their vehicles will soon have zero trans fat imagine what that would do for marketing? :)

And thanks for reminding me that it was the Z9 that started all of this ruckus.

If the next 7er is truly the barometer for the future design, then on this particular day that celebrates triple 7's I'll have to change my I had too much to dream last night's interpretation to having already had '7 years of plenty to be followed by 7 years of famine unless the next 7 can break the spell'.

So it is written, so it shall be.

:D

[IndyMike]

"Famine" for whom :dunno: ....BMW is one of the very few automakers whose sales numbers are consistently good.

Btw, GM's dropped 21 percent in June.

Ed
Okie dokie Ed. Maybe famine was a wee bit of an over exaggeration. But I was more specifically talking about a famine of good design taste than fleet sales. Like TD is want to say on occasion, just because Micky D's customers have pounded down billions of boogers doesn't necessarily make them good.

And for my taste, when you've become used to going out each day with Jennifer Connolly it's hard to switch gears and have to make do with Rosie O'Donnell. That just doesn't get my motor runnin'.

Of all the vehicles that BMW has rolled out since 2k you honestly can say of the lot there isn't a one you haven't gagged on design wise?