BMW has been screwing up for a few years now, so why not?

 

Quite sad when you think about it.

This whole race to be the "world's biggest automaker" is what's killing it. But we would be naive for thinking that this wouldn't be the case. Soemtimes makes me wonder: if Porsche stuck to making 911s, Boxsters, 968s, 944s, 928s and the occasional supercar (a la Carrera GT), would the company still be successful in today's market?

Have they been? BMW's products have matured a bit too much for my liking, but they still put out solid cars (M and non-M spec). I think one brand which is doing a bit of soul-searching and finding its feet again is Mercedes-Benz.

 

I think the fault of cars getting worse and worse is 75% the automakers' fault, and 25% the consumers' fault.

The automakers keep making all of this unnecessary technology, just so they can prove their "superiority", and then before you know it, consumers won't buy a car unless it has a bunch of "unnecessary necessities".

Today, those are things like, gigantic cars, SUVs (99% of people I know prefer to ride really high in their cars, because it makes them feel "invincible"), stupid acronyms (Porsche), hybrids that are just worse than gas or diesel, AWD (which is good, but people think you can't drive in snow w/out it), big touch screens, navigation, 18 seats and cupholders, etc.

The more the automakers push it down everyone's throats, the more the consumers think "oh, why would I want to buy the last 3 series over the new one? The new one is bigger, has a bunch of cool, yet pointless ridges all over the body, and completley numbs me from feeling all of those stupid bumps in the road

 

All excellent points you've made and I totally agree. After all, it is an industry which profits off of the Business-to-Consumer segment. Build it and they will buy... after you've overfed them with reasons of why they need the latest and greatest.

 

No. Cars are not "getting worse", on the contrary they are improving dynamically.

"Unnecessary technology"? Like the current Audi voice command that works? Maybe you were referring to the full color TFT screen and steering wheel controls in the Porsche's so you never have to take your hands off the wheel and your eyes off the road? Maybe you were referring to the presense which prefills the brake pressure in avoidance to an accident?

Could it have been stability programs and traction control? That's just a silly add on, even on basic cars, heck they even put that stuff on Kias! Who needs such things that prevent accidents, "a bunch of unnecessary necessities".

Oddly enough "the gigantic cars, SUVs (99% of people I know prefer to ride really high in their cars, because it makes them feel "invincible")" are the same influence that directed the US market to introduce the ummm, Mini, Smart, Fiat 500, A3, 1 series, soon to be released A class, Fit, heck lets even stretch to the really big cars. GTI's and Focus? Those Prius that are everywhere, It's like a monster truck!

Let's touch on stupid acronyms (Porsche). Porsche traction management system, Porsche stability management, Tire pressure management system, Porsche dynamic lighting system, Porsche dynamic chassis control, Anti slip regulation, Direct fuel injection, Lane change assist, Porsche torque vectoring, Auto brake differential, Porsche side impact protection, Porsche active suspension management, Porsche hill control, whew! Thats a lot of stuff!

PTMS, PSM, PTMS, PDLS, PDCC, ASR, DFI, LCA, PVT, ABD, POSIP, PASM, PHC, wow that was easy.

Navi and cupholders. Would you like the guy next to you doing 75 mph to be lost and fumbling with a map with a fresh cup of scalding hot McDonalds coffee in his crotch or have his car directing him and a nice big place to keep his coffee? Seems safer to me.

 

Carrera - why do you hang around the BMW board to tell all the BMW fans that their cars suck?

 

I love BMWs, just not so much their latest generation cars. The 1 M, all previous M3s and M5s were all astonishingly good cars.

All great points. And yes, I guess when you look at it that way cars are getting "better", but IMHO, they make the consumers worse at driving, and the cars less of an experience.

We all have different opinions, but personally I believe things such as voice controls, fancy computers, things that only distract from actually driving your car (okay maybe Audi's voice control adds to concentration a bit), but for the most part I think those are all unnecessary things in cars.

As for all of the safety features you mentioned, I agree with them all to an extent. Yes, safer cars have kept traffic fatalities down by massive numbers in recent years, however, I can guarantee the drivers are worse. A lot of people these days think when they buy a new car, they won't have to do anything because there car has a bunch of fancy features that will keep them safe in the event that they're going on tweeter while driving.

For example, an acquaintance of mine recently bought a new Mercedes SUV. I don't know much about it, but apparently it tells you through the speakers when you need to refill your gas tank. So the driver thought he was all cool driving around in his new Mercedes, and relied so much on the car to do everything for him, that he payed absolutely no attention to a feature as simple as a gas gauge. Of course, he had the feature that tells you to refill your tank off, and he only realized he ran out of gas when it was too late.

So, just a brief example of how unnecessary features make the roads a scarier place to be, even if the cars are safer.

 

Hmm... do I detect sarcasm?

If there's anything I appreciate about technology, it's definitely all the safety developments we have seen applied to automobiles over the past 30 years. I also appreciate technology making cars more efficient as we need to enjoy our passion more responsibly. But I'm not really a huge fan of stuff like on-board entertainment and computers, etc. I really do enjoy the basics more, but that's just my opinion.

I'm like you man, the simpler the cars the better. Again, I do believe that a lot of safety tech was needed like traction control, ABS, stability management programs, etc.; however, drivers do become reliant on their cars to save them, where some may actually be oblivious as to when their cars electronics are actually intervening / taking over. The technology which I'm not such a huge fan of are the entertainment units and things of the sort. This does nothing to keep drivers eyes focused on the road ahead. True, Heads-Up-Display is becoming more popular now, but there's only so many messages you can relay to a non-competent driver on a windshield before that becomes somewhat dangerous as well.

I guess what I'm saying is: technology is fantastic as long as it's applied responsibly by manufacturers. I also believe technology is great when it doesn't take away completely from the driver experience, which unfortunately is becoming the case with mostly all new generations of automobiles. But then again... we're biased car lovers, right?

 

Totally agree man!

As far as I'm concerned the only amenities a car needs is a radio and a/c!

 

You guys sound like a bunch of 70 year olds lamenting the loss of the cassette player.