SCA
01-21-2005, 12:47 AM
Back From the Edge: A Peek at the New BMW
Design of 3 Series Shuns Features That Irked Fans;
The Zero-to-60 Problem
By STEPHEN POWER and NEAL E. BOUDETTE
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 20, 2005
Later this month, BMW AG will unveil one of its most-anticipated cars in years -- the redesigned 3 Series sedan, a car the company is hoping will put to rest recent criticism of its increasingly edgy car designs.
For the past three years, BMW has pushed the envelope with cutting-edge looks and more-complex electronics that were supposed to pull in new types of upscale car buyers. Instead, it has infuriated many hard-core fans. Models bearing BMW's new look, including the 5 and 7 Series as well as the Z4 roadster, are seeing sales slump in the U.S.
In the forthcoming 3 Series, which will be launched in the U.S. in May, the company is trying to give them something much closer to the old BMW. The 3 Series is the key vehicle in BMW's lineup, its top seller and the driver of its sterling brand image.
The new car's styling, while more curvaceous than the previous version of the 3 Series, is toned down from the avant-garde look of the 5 and 7 Series. It also does away with a few particularly unpopular touches among BMW traditionalists -- a bustle-back trunk and a granny-glasses headlight design that appeared on the 5 and 7 Series and that drew protest from some longtime customers.
Buyers also won't have to worry about another dreaded feature -- iDrive, a mouse-like knob in the center console that controls windows, seats, airflow and lights. It is standard on the 5 and 7 Series, but its complexity has driven customers batty. On the new 3 Series, customers will get conventional dashboard buttons. IDrive will be included only if a buyer opts for a navigation system.
A lot is riding on the car's success. The 3 Series accounts for more than 40% of BMW's sales. Moreover, the U.S. is BMW's largest market, and strong sales here are critical because sales of midsize sedans are declining sharply in Europe. In 2004, 7 Series sales fell 21%; the Z4 was down 33%. And although the 5 Series was in its first full year on the market -- a time when sales normally surge -- its sales were down 3%.
The new version is 1.9 inches longer and 3.1 inches wider than the current model, but will have more power. The top model, the 330i, will come with a six-cylinder, 258-horsepower engine, up from 231 in the current model. BMW says the 330i will accelerate to 60 miles per hour in just over six seconds, although that won't give it much of an edge over some of its competitors.
A decade or so ago, BMW almost single-handedly built the market for sporty sedans, and it was practically alone in offering a combination of acceleration and agility in cars such as these. That combination was at the heart of the 3 Series success. The company has always been willing to sacrifice a bit of horsepower to achieve precise geometric balance that enables its cars to negotiate corners better than most.
But in the past few years rivals such as Infiniti, Acura and Cadillac have beefed up their cars with bigger engines. Even with a larger engine in the 330i, it still is outgunned by Infiniti's G35 sedan, which gets 280 horsepower from its six-cylinder motor.
In an interview last week, BMW Chief Executive Helmut Panke acknowledged that "in the U.S., zero-to-60 [acceleration] is getting more and more important." He said that in response, the company will update its engines and put more emphasis on acceleration. "We will not have Infiniti or any of the other competing brands out-BMW BMW," he said.
Now that the likes of Cadillac and Infiniti have narrowed the gap in performance, BMW has been forced to be more price competitive. In December, the company had a year-end sale, offering attractive leases in part to help clear out a lot of the old 3 Series models that dealers had on their hands as well as the 5 and 7 Series.
Pricing on the new 3 Series hasn't been announced. The old model ranges from $29,995 for the entry-level 320i to $45,295 for a loaded 330i.
The car itself will make its public debut in March at the Geneva auto show, although a few photos have been released. It will arrive in U.S. showrooms in May. Auto journalists will get to drive the new 3 Series later this month, and reviews should begin appearing in February.
In an effort to get the new 3 Series off to a good start and avoid the sales problems that have overshadowed the 5 and 7 Series, BMW is preparing its most-expensive U.S. launch ever, with a marketing budget 30% greater than for any other vehicle launch.
Wes Brown, an automotive analyst with Los Angeles-based Iceology, a market-research firm, said the new 3 Series "just looks like it was a touch up, whereas everything else they've done was almost revolutionary."
Web sites devoted to BMWs already are buzzing with chatter about the new 3 Series's looks, with far more fans offering approval of it than the 5 and 7 Series received. "It looks good from all angles!" gushed one chat-room message posted by a person who goes by the name "BMW_dude" on the Web site germancarfans.com.
BMW fans who were turned off by the 5 and 7 Series said they are eager to see what the car company has done with the 3 Series. "I love the way BMW used to look, without the flashiness," said Randy Cook, a software marketer in Silicon Valley who drives a 1998 528i, his fifth BMW over the years. But, "If they muff it with the 3, Audi, Acura, Lexus, those guys, are going to knock them into the dust."
Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com4 and Neal E. Boudette at neal.boudette@wsj.com5
Design of 3 Series Shuns Features That Irked Fans;
The Zero-to-60 Problem
By STEPHEN POWER and NEAL E. BOUDETTE
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 20, 2005
Later this month, BMW AG will unveil one of its most-anticipated cars in years -- the redesigned 3 Series sedan, a car the company is hoping will put to rest recent criticism of its increasingly edgy car designs.
For the past three years, BMW has pushed the envelope with cutting-edge looks and more-complex electronics that were supposed to pull in new types of upscale car buyers. Instead, it has infuriated many hard-core fans. Models bearing BMW's new look, including the 5 and 7 Series as well as the Z4 roadster, are seeing sales slump in the U.S.
In the forthcoming 3 Series, which will be launched in the U.S. in May, the company is trying to give them something much closer to the old BMW. The 3 Series is the key vehicle in BMW's lineup, its top seller and the driver of its sterling brand image.
The new car's styling, while more curvaceous than the previous version of the 3 Series, is toned down from the avant-garde look of the 5 and 7 Series. It also does away with a few particularly unpopular touches among BMW traditionalists -- a bustle-back trunk and a granny-glasses headlight design that appeared on the 5 and 7 Series and that drew protest from some longtime customers.
Buyers also won't have to worry about another dreaded feature -- iDrive, a mouse-like knob in the center console that controls windows, seats, airflow and lights. It is standard on the 5 and 7 Series, but its complexity has driven customers batty. On the new 3 Series, customers will get conventional dashboard buttons. IDrive will be included only if a buyer opts for a navigation system.
A lot is riding on the car's success. The 3 Series accounts for more than 40% of BMW's sales. Moreover, the U.S. is BMW's largest market, and strong sales here are critical because sales of midsize sedans are declining sharply in Europe. In 2004, 7 Series sales fell 21%; the Z4 was down 33%. And although the 5 Series was in its first full year on the market -- a time when sales normally surge -- its sales were down 3%.
The new version is 1.9 inches longer and 3.1 inches wider than the current model, but will have more power. The top model, the 330i, will come with a six-cylinder, 258-horsepower engine, up from 231 in the current model. BMW says the 330i will accelerate to 60 miles per hour in just over six seconds, although that won't give it much of an edge over some of its competitors.
A decade or so ago, BMW almost single-handedly built the market for sporty sedans, and it was practically alone in offering a combination of acceleration and agility in cars such as these. That combination was at the heart of the 3 Series success. The company has always been willing to sacrifice a bit of horsepower to achieve precise geometric balance that enables its cars to negotiate corners better than most.
But in the past few years rivals such as Infiniti, Acura and Cadillac have beefed up their cars with bigger engines. Even with a larger engine in the 330i, it still is outgunned by Infiniti's G35 sedan, which gets 280 horsepower from its six-cylinder motor.
In an interview last week, BMW Chief Executive Helmut Panke acknowledged that "in the U.S., zero-to-60 [acceleration] is getting more and more important." He said that in response, the company will update its engines and put more emphasis on acceleration. "We will not have Infiniti or any of the other competing brands out-BMW BMW," he said.
Now that the likes of Cadillac and Infiniti have narrowed the gap in performance, BMW has been forced to be more price competitive. In December, the company had a year-end sale, offering attractive leases in part to help clear out a lot of the old 3 Series models that dealers had on their hands as well as the 5 and 7 Series.
Pricing on the new 3 Series hasn't been announced. The old model ranges from $29,995 for the entry-level 320i to $45,295 for a loaded 330i.
The car itself will make its public debut in March at the Geneva auto show, although a few photos have been released. It will arrive in U.S. showrooms in May. Auto journalists will get to drive the new 3 Series later this month, and reviews should begin appearing in February.
In an effort to get the new 3 Series off to a good start and avoid the sales problems that have overshadowed the 5 and 7 Series, BMW is preparing its most-expensive U.S. launch ever, with a marketing budget 30% greater than for any other vehicle launch.
Wes Brown, an automotive analyst with Los Angeles-based Iceology, a market-research firm, said the new 3 Series "just looks like it was a touch up, whereas everything else they've done was almost revolutionary."
Web sites devoted to BMWs already are buzzing with chatter about the new 3 Series's looks, with far more fans offering approval of it than the 5 and 7 Series received. "It looks good from all angles!" gushed one chat-room message posted by a person who goes by the name "BMW_dude" on the Web site germancarfans.com.
BMW fans who were turned off by the 5 and 7 Series said they are eager to see what the car company has done with the 3 Series. "I love the way BMW used to look, without the flashiness," said Randy Cook, a software marketer in Silicon Valley who drives a 1998 528i, his fifth BMW over the years. But, "If they muff it with the 3, Audi, Acura, Lexus, those guys, are going to knock them into the dust."
Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com4 and Neal E. Boudette at neal.boudette@wsj.com5