[kozzi]

Originally Posted by tetsuo111

Let's be clear: This is an enthusiast's forum, not "Town and Country" nor "Vanity Fair" magazines. Sure, BMW found a sweet spot for customers seeking a mini-van alternative. Sadly, BMW also seems to have lost interest in developing exciting products for enthusiasts.

I am sincerely glad you enjoy your X-vehicle! But one size doesn't fit all, and enthusiasts have passionate opinions, just like fans.

I was pretty clear in my response to your initial post, which IMO, was ignorant. Passionate or not, comparing an X3 to an old Buick is laughable and I disagree. Love it or hate it, BMW currently makes some of the best performing SAV/SUVs in the world. In most cases, they out perform 99% of what's on the road today. Because a family's needs require an SUV only, that makes them less than an enthusiast? You don't think an X3M could be for enthusiasts? For a family of 5 in a big city with space for only 1 vehicle, the X3 for us is a "one size fits" all. Having the N55 with 300+hp with AWD on tap doesn't hurt either. Why shouldn't consumers have the option for something better than a mini-van? The X3M, for what it is and if done right, would be nothing short of awesome.

Originally Posted by Silververtu

So more ugly SUV, less beautiful sporty cars

So what do you call the addition of the M2 and M4 GTS?

Originally Posted by mkoesel

Quite right. Not every single product is going to be a game changer. You have to keep providing and incrementally improving what you know is profitable and has a proven target market. It's that profit that allows you to invest in new ideas and create the next disruptive product.

The thing about BMW's portfolio today is you see a lot of hatchbacks. The reality is that people like practicality and hatchbacks are nothing if not practical. Like others, BMW has learned that you can't just call something a hatchback and expect it to sell though. Hence SUVs are often marketed first for their presence, strength, and ruggedness, and only incidentally for their five door convenience.

BMW's GT models and 4 Series Gran Coupe, as well as similar products from others like Audi, are testbeds for bringing the practicality of five doors to people who remain averse to SUVs, yet would not be caught dead in a traditional hatchback or wagon. I think they are pretty bold moves. In time - at least here in the West - when the dust settles there probably won't be a very big slice of pie left for the four door passenger car. I figure it will be about the size of today's two-door coupe market, and will be dominated by vehicles that are evolutions of today's "four door coupe". Furthermore, as SUVs become more and more car-like, eventually those people who the GT and GC models were built to ween will have come around, and those models can go away. The proper SUVs will have evolved to be even more car-like and essentially functionally equivalent to them anyway.

Some are pretty bold moves indeed. That's why I can't understand why some here are so quick to initially bash BMW and others for pushing ideas and innovations forward. Some will work and some will fail. We may not all agree on the direction they are going in but to just blindly crap on it all is not being realistic. If designing/manufacturing and selling thousands of Xs, XMs, niche GCs and GTs pays for M2s, GTSs and the such, how is that a bad thing? Personally, I think we are on the fringe of great things to come.