babypuppi: [9] 2001 Bmw 325i Headlights Making Weekly News

Doug, being in the same generation as you, I had the same experience growing up on BMW. They were the Ultimate Driving Machine, hands down. They were the car you aspired to own as an enthusiast. Every car magazine fawned and jizzed all over their cars. I was fortunate enough to make the first car I bought one of my dream cars from high school and college, an e46 330i zhp. I generally agree with you that there was no single car that was the begining of the end. I think it was a gradual dulling of the blade. At the risk of being sexist, BMW worked very hard to feminize the brand, or make it more appealing to women. This article from autoblog years ago sums it up Media I think I know what it is. Back in 2006, then- BMW marketing director Jack Pitney (who tragically died in 2010) shared with me a Powerpoint strategy showing how far too many people, in his mind, weren’t considering a BMW because they were intimidated or otherwise put off by the performance image of the brand. It was this finding that led BMW to first do a corporate ad campaign touting BMW’s independent ownership, and then the softer “Joy of Driving” campaign that ran most of last year. It was literally meant to advance a “softer side” of BMW, and attract more people who were not necessarily driving enthusiasts to the brand.”

The e60 5 series, while still a good driving vehicle, was more complicated, more electronic, and more gadget filled than the e39. I remember Road & Track describing the E39 interior as a “classic BMW. Wood, leather, and a focus on the driver’s needs.” Hardly a modern BMW interior. Car and Driver called the E38 7 series the sports car of its class, especially with the James Bond inspired sport wheel and tire package. Despite it’s size, it was still trim and athletic in both appearance and feel. The E65 is a boat, plain and simple. The E90, while still retaining classic BMW elements, was missing an edge over the e46. I noticed this over the series of many test drives. The e90 felt like it had been softened enough to make it something a sorority girl would be ok driving, with a layer of interaction (and yes noise and feel) between the driver, car, and road filtered out vs the E46. Needless to say, I bought the e46.

If the above cars were the beginning of a trip towards the cliff, the M badged SUVs were the final trip over. Back when the 4.6is model of the E53 5 series debuted, BMW was asked why no M badge, unlike Mercedes who had an ML55 AMG.

Road & Media [W]hy didn’t BMW’s new high-performance variant of the X5…receive that most coveted of badges, the Motorsports tricolor?
As Martin Birkmann, series manager for 5 Series and X vehicles, explains, “It just did not feel right â€” it did not deliver the right driving experience,” adding that M-badged vehicles are typically rear-drive only, have manual transmissions and have their torque peaks shifted nearer to redline.”
Car and Media considered using the M5’s…V-8 but didn’t because of its peaky torque delivery and the fact that no stock slushboxes will handle the power. Hence, no M badge, either.”

10 years later and BMW has obviously had a change of heart, and they’re laughing all the way to the bank while we the faithful sit here desperately clinging to our e36s, e38s, e39s, and e46s (and trying to afford to keep them running).