This is exactly why these don't sell. BMW doesn't have the same appeal to me anymore of a premium product, they've thrown too much of their brand equity away with subpar products and overall brand dilution. To me the following BMW's shouldn't exist. X1, X2, 2 Series FWD thing (not the RWD models), 1 Series FWD hatchback, i3. These products don't adhere to the brand attributes which made BMW what it was. Why would someone pay 120k+ from a brand that also sells 30k econo-cars?

 

Cant disagree, plus they have all kinds of weird 4 door coupes and semi wagon versions of certain models that are just redundant and confusing. Also they have completely dropped the ball with their infotainment, iDrive used to be pretty much perfect, but the new version is a buggy, bloated clusterpluck. And their interiors went from essence to looking like Christmas threes with all the accent lighting, giant screens and digital gauges. They need to step this nonsense back a notch and go back to their roots before they lose BMW loyalists.

 

Haha too late.

The new M3 and M4 are not doing well either.

Their digital gauges are probably the absolute worst of any car maker and don’t offer you options on various views. Even the Mustang gauges completely change in Normal/Sport/Track modes.

 

I doubt they care about loyalists and enthusiasts with the boatloads of X3's and X5's they sell per year. If the new M3 and M4 don't sell, that's all the more reason for them to move away from the loyalists to the more mainstream CUV-loving crowd.

 

The question is, are they making money on these mainstream models, or subsidizing leases to match Infiniti and Acura pricing?

 

I don't think they are particularly worried. BMW is profitable. BMWFS is profitable. They are not losing money at retail or on financing. BMW's business model is scalable. They make it easy for customers to buy or lease their cars, and the entire model and strategy is built to ensure a steady supply of two and three year old CPO vehicles that drive profit to the dealers. They incentivize the return customers into acquiring a new car. Rinse and repeat. It's a logical model and they execute it well. The odd misfire like the M8 doesn't undermine the model. Customers like and are buying the core products

 

I didn’t know about the new gauges. Their analog gauges were fine five years ago.

 

Agreed - the classy analog gauges with some digital info is the way to go.

These all digital ones will be completely outdated in a few years as tech continues to improve.

 

BMW is in HUGE trouble with the EV shift. They are not a big company and way behind competitors in bringing any formidable EV variant. MB, Audi, Porsche etc are all ahead.
Once you lose your core enthusiasts (M buyers) - the brand is no longer cool and mainstream will follow and stop leasing X1 and crappy FWD 2series. Their marketing has been abysmal lately also.

 

for some people spending $72K (depreciation) in 5 years (<$15k/yr) for a car such as a bmw 8 series is nothing.

and it probably has 4 yrs warranty, and you can add a year for not much so it won't be 'expensive to maintain'.

you bring up the same talking points over and over, but it's great you're such a dedicated lexus fan for the brand's many virtues!

 

Please please re-post a thread where I talked about a BMW 7 series depreciating 72% over 5 years. You won't because I had just found the article. In addition, I sure hope we have new readers/members to the forum. It would be sad if it was just the same hundred people over and over reading on Car Chat. Do you a favor since you only have negative comments about my post that are 95% pure factual, I will stay off you forum. You have a bullying dictatorship attitude. Not one other moderator replies back to members with snarky comments.

 

The interior design/look is almost the same as a entry level 3 series, not very good when price it as high as they have. At that price it should have a more unique interior design that is clearly a big step up over any lower or middle end BMW's.

 

It depends which BMW you are referring to as some depreciate more than others.

Also keep in mind just bec MSRP was $100k on a 7series, that’s probably not what the owner paid.

BMWs don’t depreciate any differently than other German brands.
Most ppl lease these cars so depreciation is of little significance as to why 8series has not sold well.

 

100% - identical design and they put the same ugly digital gauges in the 8series as they do in base 330i.

The 8series is a halo model in BMW history as that car had timeless design as well as incredible performance. I really can’t understand why they are ruining the brand and don’t get me started on new pig nose M3.

 

The 7 Series interior isn't any more unique than the 3 or 8 and it seems to be selling fine. The 8 Series just sells poorly because expensive coupes in general are all selling pretty poorly now. S-Class Coupe has been canned and LC500 is moving off lots like molasses despite having far more emotional appeal than the 8 Series.

That goofy X6 seems to be doing very well though, and I doubt even a new pig snout will decrease its popularity. Coupe crossovers have become the new vehicle of choice for those who were once the primary audience for two-door coupes.