[blender]

"Something has gone horribly wrong at BMW. "

+1 completely agree. They are deserting their core market of "Ultimate Driving Machine" buyers in favor of catering to aging boomers with luxo-barge sedans and psuedo-"M" SUVs with large profit margins. It's profoundly dissapointing - like seeing Mozart choosing to write only TV jingles.

Where is the next light, focused sportscar in the tradition of the 2002 or M3 CSL?
Why discontinue the superb S54 motor or the v8 in the M3?


Where are the model options to order performance differentials, suspension and manual transmissions?

Porsche and Lotus, despite [dubiously] widening their product lines, have kept at least one eye on building proper affordable sports cars like the Cayman R, boxster spyder, and next-gen Elise. What's BMW going to put on the table.....the psuedo-1M ? The overweight, wobbly E89? I dont' need a diff with eleven different settings, or massage seats. I want a light, powerful, agile and refined car under $50K. The Japanese can do it. The Brits can do it. Surely the Germans can too.

I understand the need to produce 'commodity' high-volume models to fund the company. But BMW is shiny-side down if they consider the next-gen high-performance driving machines to be 'niche cars' rather than the whole reason people know the intials BMW.

If they continue on their present course of abandoning the sports-car market, the customer base will migrate swiftly to the competition, and the 'ultimate driving machine' of 2013, 14, 15, 16 will wear the Porsche shield.