What I Strongly Dislike About the Refresh
01-11-2007, 06:56 AM
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Originally Posted by bargamon' post='376837' date='Jan 11 2007, 10:32 AM
THe color does not match up. ON the passanger side, the black trim does not meet up nicely. THe wood trim is not the same size and looks clumsy. Not quite up to the stnadard.
Now sitting in the car might yield a less offensive view.
And......
The old design might have been a detrament to sales. Isn't that what study groups are for? Dealer feedback? Obviously there is a reason for the change. Sure the ergonomics of the switch was not great, but the passanger looks like they have to lift their arm to get the button.
The old design might not have been the best, but it was bold and different. In looking at them now objectively, I don't like the new design, nor do I think any of the changes in the bumpers are all that great. If anything, it dials the car back some or is more conservative.
The technology changes and optic improvements are nice. Lets put it this way, none of the changes would move me away from the 08, but given the financial incentives of an 07 I am a happy camper.
And,,,,,,,that 335 engine will be sweet!
I'll take the ugly doors for the engine anytime!
What is unfortunate is when a company hits success after a huge design change over a few years, it gets scared.
I remember when Honda was a very innovative company and one success with its unigue Accord designs. Now the Accord is the most bland looking machine! Likewise, the Camry in order to change it reputation now has the "bangle butt" on it!
What bothers me is any talk of the 2010 model as being more conservative than this model. Im sure it will still be a great machine, but the BMW 5 series is one of the few cars in this price range that is styling wise a departure from the mass.
The Infiniti M is the opposite of the spectrem.
Verdict: New doors suck, transmission shifter is clumsy, optics are way cool, and engine upgrades are the real deal.
In the end, they can refresh without pissing off the existing faithful and keep the car desireable. Not a bad job.
Audi interiors remain the class of the industry.
Now sitting in the car might yield a less offensive view.
And......
The old design might have been a detrament to sales. Isn't that what study groups are for? Dealer feedback? Obviously there is a reason for the change. Sure the ergonomics of the switch was not great, but the passanger looks like they have to lift their arm to get the button.
The old design might not have been the best, but it was bold and different. In looking at them now objectively, I don't like the new design, nor do I think any of the changes in the bumpers are all that great. If anything, it dials the car back some or is more conservative.
The technology changes and optic improvements are nice. Lets put it this way, none of the changes would move me away from the 08, but given the financial incentives of an 07 I am a happy camper.
And,,,,,,,that 335 engine will be sweet!
I'll take the ugly doors for the engine anytime!
What is unfortunate is when a company hits success after a huge design change over a few years, it gets scared.
I remember when Honda was a very innovative company and one success with its unigue Accord designs. Now the Accord is the most bland looking machine! Likewise, the Camry in order to change it reputation now has the "bangle butt" on it!
What bothers me is any talk of the 2010 model as being more conservative than this model. Im sure it will still be a great machine, but the BMW 5 series is one of the few cars in this price range that is styling wise a departure from the mass.
The Infiniti M is the opposite of the spectrem.
Verdict: New doors suck, transmission shifter is clumsy, optics are way cool, and engine upgrades are the real deal.
In the end, they can refresh without pissing off the existing faithful and keep the car desireable. Not a bad job.
Audi interiors remain the class of the industry.
I agree with your verdict. The refresh to the doors is horrible, they look cheap and non user friendly. I disagree with your audi statement, I never liked there interior, to me they look like a mix of Japanese and German.
01-11-2007, 07:33 AM
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Originally Posted by katheikia' post='376846' date='Jan 11 2007, 10:56 AM
I agree with your verdict. The refresh to the doors is horrible, they look cheap and non user friendly. I disagree with your audi statement, I never liked there interior, to me they look like a mix of Japanese and German.
Agree on all counts. Although, I think they were simply trying to bring the "look" of the 5 series in line with the newer 3 series. Sometimes a brand is more concerned with uniformity than anything else. By comparison to the newer models, the 5 could be perceived as dated without bringing the interior look "up-to-date" which could hurt their sales.
I don't think the Audi interiors are all that special. I owned several recent model VWs, and I have driven new Audis. Driving issues aside, they're not much different than a VW inside. Either that speaks volumes for VW, or very negatively about Audi.
01-11-2007, 08:39 AM
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Originally Posted by katheikia' post='376846' date='Jan 11 2007, 03:56 PM
I agree with your verdict. The refresh to the doors is horrible, they look cheap and non user friendly. I disagree with your audi statement, I never liked there interior, to me they look like a mix of Japanese and German.
I loved the interior of my old A6's, I had a 2000 and a 2003 model. Very well put together, high quality and stylish. I partcularly liked the illuminated air vent wheels which were also rubberised for a tactile feel. This is something sorely missed on the E60 and not becoming of a car in this price bracket or perceived quality.
However, the interior of the new A6 is by contrast very cheap, the plastics around the dials are very nasty and the lovely fold out double door pockets of old have now been replaced by cheap plastic open door bins.
When fully loaded I think the E60 interior betters that of the A6 now - all the main visible plastic panels are soft and padded which I really like.
01-14-2007, 08:10 AM
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I have some ideas about to address the cabin sloppiness with the refresh.
Shifter Base Plate Filler Panel The design components here would look so much better if they were simplified. The black filler panel and the brushed silver shifter base plate look like a hack job and are redundant. Plus I do not believe that the expanse of brushed silver works with the cabin design. It looks like an after thought as opposed to being part of an integrated whole. The black filler panel and the the silver shifter base plate should be merged into one piece. This one piece would look so much better in black, just like it is right now. The black lid or recess at the location of the present ash tray/coin holder would look so much better if it just went to something that had a wood lid on it similar to what the "classic" e60 has. The new shifter could stay as shown in the refresh design or a modest amount of black could be added to create something that silver with a small of black. This would be consistent the silver and black theme on other controls in the refresh.
Door Handles/Armrest Rather taking a step backward, why not keep the present door handles and window control design and just modify it? One could introduce the wood accent strip and change the current door handles to a black material. This would look so much better than the current refresh design with asymmetrical door handle design.
The cabin redesign in the refresh has changes in these two areas that are just muddle. In my opinion they look like change for changes sake without being well designed. The above ideas or some variant thereof would go a long way to giving the cabin a unified whole look. This would address the sloppiness issue that other BMW enthusiasts including myself have found so problematic.
Shifter Base Plate Filler Panel The design components here would look so much better if they were simplified. The black filler panel and the brushed silver shifter base plate look like a hack job and are redundant. Plus I do not believe that the expanse of brushed silver works with the cabin design. It looks like an after thought as opposed to being part of an integrated whole. The black filler panel and the the silver shifter base plate should be merged into one piece. This one piece would look so much better in black, just like it is right now. The black lid or recess at the location of the present ash tray/coin holder would look so much better if it just went to something that had a wood lid on it similar to what the "classic" e60 has. The new shifter could stay as shown in the refresh design or a modest amount of black could be added to create something that silver with a small of black. This would be consistent the silver and black theme on other controls in the refresh.
Door Handles/Armrest Rather taking a step backward, why not keep the present door handles and window control design and just modify it? One could introduce the wood accent strip and change the current door handles to a black material. This would look so much better than the current refresh design with asymmetrical door handle design.
The cabin redesign in the refresh has changes in these two areas that are just muddle. In my opinion they look like change for changes sake without being well designed. The above ideas or some variant thereof would go a long way to giving the cabin a unified whole look. This would address the sloppiness issue that other BMW enthusiasts including myself have found so problematic.
01-14-2007, 09:12 AM
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I'm afraid the shifter will look even worse with the alu-cube panels.
01-14-2007, 10:09 AM
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Originally Posted by ipp' post='378091' date='Jan 14 2007, 06:12 PM
I'm afraid the shifter will look even worse with the alu-cube panels.
Maybe that's why.
ABC
01-14-2007, 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by aybeesea' post='378129' date='Jan 14 2007, 07:09 PM
I believe Alu Cube is discontinued.
Maybe that's why.
Maybe that's why.
01-14-2007, 10:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Raighne' post='378143' date='Jan 14 2007, 07:23 PM
No, I heard it was because it was making some customers dizzy and as such was considered a safety hazard.
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