Quote:
Originally Posted by T1M
The new M3 ZCP kit had nice interior finish quality, but the non zcp is lacking vs Audi, Mercedes c class etc. BMW have always had minimalist interior design, but what they do include needs to be stepped up a notch. Audis switchgear is stellar in feel and sound, the tactility of the knobs/buttons is all designed in their sound lab. Cup holders nicely integrated into the centre console vs BMW's stick on solutions or flip out plasticky things, yeah, they've got some work to do.
They have always focused on driver dynamics and I feel they did lose their way with the size and weight of the M3 and M4 becoming such that you can no longer flick them around tight mountain roads (hence the M2 being needed) and the damping quality of anything less than the ZCP packs is truly awful vs audis magnetic ride for example, but hopefully they work it out over the next couple of revisions.
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T1M has hit on something here in his first paragraph. If you go back to the E30, one of the first BMW's I had a chance to drive, the interior was stellar in comparison to the vehicles of the time. IMHO, and this back in 1985, the only car that came close to that quality was the Golf (all I could afford then 85 GTi). My wife and were recently looking for a replacement vehicle for her, and one car on her list was the 435i GT. I was shocked at how decontented the interior felt compared to my 2011 M3, it just felt cheap. BMW interiors used to be the cream of the crop, but no more.
With respect to Governments dictating emissions, IMHO, this has caused a dumbing down (and inefficiency) of what could really be achieved with the internal combustion engine. If you take computers for instance, consumer demand drove the improvements, you're talking to someone who started out with DOS on a Commodore, and now has a family with 6 Apple tV's and 7 Apple computers in the home. There wasn't a bureaucrat who stepped up and demanded faster computers and better phones - the industry was pushed by the consumer to build better, faster machines. There is generation growing up now that seek the same trajectory in their vehicles, and manufacturers are offering heaps of fun in vehicles like the Mazda 2, Fiat 500 and a host of others based on demand from the younger crowd. My first car had 65hp ('67 Opel Kadett), the Fiat 500 Abarth has 200 hp with close to 40 MPG and handling to boot. No one forced Mr. Musk to build a Tesla, he decided to start a company against all odds and now I see Tesla's everywhere. It would be a wonderful day if regulators could step away from making inane rules and allow the unbridled development of the internal combustion engine - to make more power using less fuel. Heck, the other day I saw a Porsche Cayenne plugged into an electric vehicle power point near a movie theater in my neighborhood - surely the was not a car built by the UN, but merely sold because Porsche realizes that within its demographic there exists a potential to increase market share of its customer base by offering vehicles that consumers want to buy.