Encouraged by 2 things I saw in Road and Track regarding BMW

2188 Views 16 Replies 13 Participants Last post by bmw325, Feb 12, 2002

bmw325

Discussion Starter · Feb 9, 2002

in an article on x5 4.6is, the manager for X and 5 series vehices Martin Birkmann is quoted regarding why BMW didn't badge the truck as an M:
"It just did not feel right..it did not deliver the right driving experience"..adding that M badged vehicles are rear-drive only and have manual transmissions and have their torque peaks shifted nearer to redline" Its good to see that BMW still has some integrity and doesn't yet feel right slapping an M badge on anything that moves w/ a big engine. This is a nice contrast to Mercedes AMG line where they HAVE done that.

The other positive item was a computer enhanced photo and description of the Z5. They're targeting 220 pounds, are building the engine out of fiber reinforced magnesium and are targeting a price of under 30k! The blurb also mentions that BMW marketing people would like to slap a straight 6 into the car (as opposed to the 4), but that this would upset the balance and point of the car (a light sports car w/ an excellenet power to weight ratio). The icing on the cake is that the xomputer enhanced photo was not Banglefied. If the computer photo is somewhat accurate, this car sounds great-- souds like exactly what many on this board would love. TD may soon be able to buy a car to replace his M3.

All of this positive news was mostly offset by the queasy feeling I got looking at the 7 series ad in the front of the magazine.

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cenotaph

· #13 · Feb 11, 2002

JST said:
The Z5 is an interesting proposition, but it has three very strong negatives, at least as far as I can tell now:

1) 2 seats. BMW, what happened to building sports *sedans*? If I want two seats, I'll buy a Z. As Hack points out, no baby seat (or anything) is coming with the driver and his/her single passenger. Not practical.

I think you need to get more sleep.

First you say that you are talking about the Z5. Then you say that if you want 2 seats you'll buy a Z. Uuummm...you're already talking about a Z, a Z5. Given the number of cars that are discussed regularly here that have a Z in their names you may want to be more specific.
While it does sound like an interesting car, I'm also not sure I'm ready to give up the third pedal.

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