redwhiteblue

Well who dictates this crap-seriously. Shouldnt we as buyers have a lot more say these days with internet technology which combines thousands of enthuisiasts who know their bimmers inside and out and know the conditions/cities they drive them in and what would/would not work or be desirable.

MB sure doesnt follow suit-there are like 1000 models to choose from it gives me a headache to keep up with MB. Atleast its easy to keep up with almost every model of the bmw. Which is why it also boggles my mind that 99 percent of SA and sales people I have dealt with at dealers dont even know accurate things about what they sell-and they only have like 10 products to really sell here in the US give or take a few.

I just think it is a shame that a inline 6 is not available in every bmw offered-That is the engine that MADE bmw what it is today. Everyone knows the legacy of the silky smooth inline 6 engines of the bimmer that rev high and hard. Not to say v8s dont probably beat them in most ways objectively but atleast I have a respect for the I6 engines.

They offer a 300-400 pound weight savings (atleast the 530 is 400 pounds lighter than the 550)which I dont care what some people try to say-it is hugely noticable and much better feel with the I6 engine cars IMO.

They offer the best reliability-some people still cherish this. not sayin the v8s are not reliable but bmw I6s are pretty darn reliable-they have been making them for who knows how long.

It makes it hard here in the US to get into a bmw coupe if you are not happy with the small size of the 3 and 1. The 650 is quite pricey even compared to the 550. Since this is the only other larger coupe setup offered it would be nice to have some entry level pricing that was even 15k less which would open the door for some more buyers.

But none of this matters since it has NEVER made sense to me the entire arguement since in this day and age of ordering cars and building them at a dealer-they are built at the same place as every other bimmer. I am not saying dealers would have to stock 630s but how much harder is it for bmw to load a 630 onto a boat than a 650.

On the flip side I can see financially how BMW would use the U.S like this. Make the 650 the only option and people will pay it. At that price range the 15k savings on a 630 is insignifigant to most in that range and the fuel prices are not so high here as to make any real play into decision making between the 2 cars which only differ by like 6 mpg. Which in a country where gas is 8 bucks a gallon is a huge amount but where it is 3 bucks a gallon-not such a huge deal.

So instead of losing some people and money to a 630-they will get those that might have gone with a 630 because they liked the 6 style and only needed I6 power-however since its not available they are forced to go with the 650 and just bite the extra 15k they could have saved since it was their only in.

Smart financial move I guess- I woulda liked one though

merklebob

once the marketing people like the hr people take over, theres no changing their lopsided ideas. there's a lot of sales going to linclons with the v6........ my dad who could buy the rolls wouldnt because of the large engine. and there's lots more like him.

they send other the survey and expect the result to be real. there's lots of people like myself that try to drive the marketer nuts by answering the opposite. they have a job to do but wont go out and talk to the people. its easier to hire a firm to do a survey then to do their job.

ipp

Even worse in Europe, 17 sedan models and 15 estate models to choose between... But I think that's the way it should be.

redwhiteblue

I dont agree with that-I believe a car company that makes performance cars should make a smaller number of things very well.It is hard to make that many models up to par and if you have driven MBs and read reviews on them-most are not up to par with bmw. Sure anyone can slap a big engine in a car but I honestly think MB offers too many models.

However bmw doesnt do things THAT well to offer so few-so I think bmw has the number of models right but they should be doing it better than they are imo-especially considering the model lines are not THAT drastically different

ipp

And I don't agree with that. I think the thing with BMW is; they make great large engines AND they make really nice small engines too. If you compare a 1.6L BMW 116i and a VW Golf 1.6L you would understand what I'm talking about. But you won't because the don't sell them in them in the US. If you appreciate great handling and other BMW attributes, but don't care too much about power why not be able to do so? In the meantime you'll do the environment a favor.

merklebob

the real problem is not that bmw doesnt make a particular engine available for a car series. its that bmw na does allow the same options that are available in the rest of the world. that all we want, not some paper pusher saying that north america cant option everyone else has. even if they had to be special order form factory.

RichReg

I think you've pretty much answered your own question as to the "why BMWNA does this".
But as far as anything outside the financial realm goes, I just have to say that I've sat in a 650 & I've
sat in an E92 and I really don't find much of difference in interior space at all. The 6 APPEARS larger from the outside,
but I just don't see it when I climb in. In fact, I think when I sat in the back, the E92 felt more comfortable.

Just my $.02 ....