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BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

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Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#271

Post by astura »

rwc wrote: post #196
whydoineedthis wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idk, I was in a new bmw recently and thought it was cool. Driver assist to stay in lanes. Full touch dash across the entire dashboard. Verbal assistant worked well and was able to adjust settings intuitively. I'm still too poor to buy one new, but it didn't seem completely without innovation.

These things are common in similarly-classed vehicles and have been for many years.

They are even common on mid and higher-trimed economy cars now (I have all those features on mine)

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#272

Post by fhood »

PedroBatista wrote: post #143

It makes sense, BMW quit being a car company in the past few years. Now they’re just clueless assholes. I’ve seen it in their IT systems, their design teams are either on crack or got outsourced to 4 year olds and their product/sales gurus are a mix of bean counters incapable of producing an original idea and a bunch of lifers running on nepotism. It’s starting to happen and will get even worse, BMW will have a tough…

There was a time when BMW was an enthusiast's brand, and to a degree that DNA is still there. The M3 remains a benchmark, and by most accounts even the base 3 series is one of the better driver's cars in it's class.

But BMW has been rewarded for producing over-styled cars that are more known as a status symbol by the general public than as a benchmark for fun, practical, rwd cars. They have been plagued with absolutely shameful longevity issues, caused by mind boggling engineering decisions, and catering primarily to people that love cars will never be the most profitable option.

They aren't alone, Mercedes has made many of the same choices, although Porsche remains relatively true to form, with the people who choose to buy them being no fault of theirs.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#273

Post by enos_feedler »

moooo99 wrote: post #159
PedroBatista wrote: post #143

It makes sense, BMW quit being a car company in the past few years. Now they’re just clueless assholes. I’ve seen it in their IT systems, their design teams are either on crack or got outsourced to 4 year olds and their product/sales gurus are a mix of bean counters incapable of producing an original idea and a bunch of lifers running on nepotism. It’s starting to happen and will get even worse, BMW will have a tough…

> Now they’re just clueless assholes. I’ve seen it in their IT systems, their design teams are either on crack or got outsourced to 4 year olds and their product/sales gurus are a mix of bean counters incapable of producing an original idea and a bunch of lifers running on nepotism. Can confirm. BMW used to be quite innovative, at least on the scale of German automakers, with their connect services. We have a fairly…

BMW went on stage at WWDC this year to talk about Digital Key for the car. Their marketing page said it works on all 2021 models. The detailed list says Series 1, 2, 3, etc.. I thought this feature is really cool. I am going to buy this car for it. I talked to 2 dealers and confirmed the feature. I looked up all the info online but could not find any more details. I bought a 2021 m240i for $50,000 USD. I could have got a heavily discounted 2020 model off the lot. But no, I wanted to be _sure_ I got the digital key. I was really looking forward to using this feature. Guess what.. no digital key. Frantically go searching the marketing pages. I now find a compatibility table buried deep in their web site (this document didn't exist at time of purchase) where it has a #7 footnote on the series 2: must be 235i cars running iDrive 7.

Thanks BMW! Get your shit together! Anyway, this anecdote is just a taste of what is coming for the car industry. Carplay is only a small preview of the level of integration consumers are going to expect over the next 5-10 years. If they can't sort out a digital key across their lineup, they are kind of fucked.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#274

Post by fhood »

leetcrew wrote: post #187
yodelshady wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The value is determined by the customer. An electric motor is, in every respect except its inability to use energy-dense fuels, pretty much perfect. Just not very interesting. As a toy, an ICE has value. They shouldn't work at all ! it's a ridiculous idea. It's quite cool that they do anyway.

yeah no one buys an amg because it's a sensible vehicle. these are the folks who sell a 600 hp station wagon.

I would argue that the station wagon is a great idea. A car like that allows enthusiasts to buy something that isn't completely impractical for most non-enthusiast things.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#275

Post by enos_feedler »

dhbanes wrote: post #216
moooo99 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now they’re just clueless assholes. I’ve seen it in their IT systems, their design teams are either on crack or got outsourced to 4 year olds and their product/sales gurus are a mix of bean counters incapable of producing an original idea and a bunch of lifers running on nepotism. Can confirm. BMW used to be quite innovative, at least on the scale of German automakers, with their connect services. We have a fairly…

CarPlay is no longer a subscription. They are also one of the few automakers to implement wireless CarPlay and it works flawlessly.

Agree. You can see my post above at how upset I was to learn the 240i does not support the digital key for 2021. However, wireless carplay has been a saving grace. Pairs nicely with a MagSafe charger since you can get full car integration without needing to ever plug in.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#276

Post by culopatin »

valuearb wrote: post #240
paganel wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you're being down-voted, the M2 and the M5 are among the best driver-focused cars being made right now (a dying breed, those driver-focused cars, but that's another discussion), but that still shouldn't excuse BMW for dick moves like this one (I consider it a dick move).

The Ms are overweight pigs, not drivers cars.

Have you seen an M2 with sticky tires roar on a racetrack?

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#277

Post by humanlion87 »

enos_feedler wrote: post #273
moooo99 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now they’re just clueless assholes. I’ve seen it in their IT systems, their design teams are either on crack or got outsourced to 4 year olds and their product/sales gurus are a mix of bean counters incapable of producing an original idea and a bunch of lifers running on nepotism. Can confirm. BMW used to be quite innovative, at least on the scale of German automakers, with their connect services. We have a fairly…

BMW went on stage at WWDC this year to talk about Digital Key for the car. Their marketing page said it works on all 2021 models. The detailed list says Series 1, 2, 3, etc.. I thought this feature is really cool. I am going to buy this car for it. I talked to 2 dealers and confirmed the feature. I looked up all the info online but could not find any more details. I bought a 2021 m240i for $50,000 USD. I could have g…

Is it possible for your to return the car and get a different model since the dealership obviously lied to you? Seems like a huge premium to pay for a non-existent feature.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#278

Post by nitrogen »

dingaling wrote: post #252
gifnamething wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BMW operate like a company that have given up on expanding their addressable market and now seek to extract as much value from it as possible. In a vacuum, this is common and makes sense, but not at the cusp of a revolution in that industry. I spent a long time sceptical about that other car company. But I've realised I can never overestimate how much the traditional companies will screw up.

I think it's the opposite problem, they're trying to expand to fill every niche and in so doing have lost focus on what made them appealing. Just look at their model range nowadays, it's vast, confusing and insipid. Very little of it is inspiring unless you think 650bhp in an SUV is interesting.

Very little of it is inspiring unless you think 650bhp in an SUV is interesting.

Depends on where you live. I drive a really small but acceptably fast car, but I'm frequently surrounded by giant lifted trucks that block all visibility. I want a taller vehicle just so I don't die, but don't want to give up the 6 second 0-60.

Re: BMW to shame out-of-warranty UK drivers with smart billboards

#280

Post by ImprovedSilence »

grawprog wrote: post #254
PedroBatista wrote: post #143

It makes sense, BMW quit being a car company in the past few years. Now they’re just clueless assholes. I’ve seen it in their IT systems, their design teams are either on crack or got outsourced to 4 year olds and their product/sales gurus are a mix of bean counters incapable of producing an original idea and a bunch of lifers running on nepotism. It’s starting to happen and will get even worse, BMW will have a tough…

>It makes sense, BMW quit being a car company in the past few years. BMW has always first and foremost been a logo marketing company. They exist so moderately rich people can show off how moderately rich they are by driving a car with a BMW logo on it.

At least they used to try to be look a very precise, very german, drivers car. They stuck with rear wheel drive, and used fantastic inline 6 engines until CAFE regulations pretty much made them unfeasible. They lost me and become a marketing company when the model names started being what i would call “un-german”. With the model, you used to know what you got. 325t? 3 series, 2.5l displacement, has a turbo. 540ci? 5 series, 4.0l, coupe. Sometimes in 2007-2011 timeframe, the number no longer corresponded to what the vehicle was. 330 was a 2.0l turbo, 335 was a 3.0l turbo... they just couldn't put smaller numbers on the model. Thats marketing, thats not what I want in my very precise driving machine. Its been a downhill slide ever since. But thats what the masses want and buy... so whatever. Also they dont make a manual M5 anymore, ultimate driving machine my ass. Their maintenance has always been a gate-kept rip off though.
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