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      05-23-2013, 10:52 AM   #78
Red Bread
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Drives: Smog machines
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Austin, TX

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I do agree, the countless iterations of the F3x chassis are just pulling things in too many directions and then add in the lines and you have a million iterations of what used to just be a choice between a sedan, a coupe, a convertible or a wagon, with the colors you wanted and few basic options. If you missed one or two options, you still had a fundamentally sound car that wasn't far removed from differently optioned cars. Now it seems like you can easily screw yourself out of a fun to drive car if you miss one tick box.

I know the incremental cost to develop an ugly hatch from the existing LWB sedan is small, but if they just put all of their resources into getting the core product right and skipped the GT and GC and six slices of SUV on top of it, I have to think they'd have happier, more faithful customers. The current trend appears to grow customers over all other consideration and keep throwing marginally different products out there until you can't slice it any finer.

I'll also add the the seemingly arbitrary exclusion of manuals from the F31, the 32"8"d and xDrive 328i sedans plus not being able to get the N55 in the F31 are increasingly frustrating. There was a point that you could do really strange things like get an E38 7er with a manual or an X3 and X5 if you really wanted to. I sort of miss the days that if you wanted something, even if it seemed stupid, BMW would sell it to you.

Last edited by Red Bread; 05-23-2013 at 10:59 AM..
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