Despite the attempts of all and sundry on its throne; despite BMW's insistence on using run-flat tires which do everything possible to destroy its fluidity, and despite the accountants having had their way with the newest generation's (E90) interior to a degree not permissible in the days of E46 - the BMW 3 series, the Bavarians' Heartland car, has retained its consummate grip on the sports sedan segment.

Even as BMW continues to broaden its range, the 3 series remains its most popular car, and accounts for almost half of the company's total vehicle sales.

Further down the line-up, BMW has been a leader in the explosion of premium-priced small cars in Europe, a trend perhaps begun by the first-generation Audi A3 in the late-90s, and continued by BMW's 1 series and MINI, and (with less success) Lancia's Ypsilon.

However, the 7 series falls behind the Lexus LS and Mercedes-Benz S-Class in U.S. luxury sales. Only for a brief period, toward the end of the '90s, did the Bavarians outsell their Stuttgart rival.

Meanwhile, the '90s Z3 roadster was never a dynamic masterpiece, but its lower price point brought BMW fun to a wider audience. Its successor, the Z4, may have been far more capable, but it led a curiously quiet life on the sales charts, unable to match Mercedes-Benz's SLK or indeed Porsche's Boxster for appeal. The new, 2010 Z4 seeks to rectify this.


Post-millennial BMW has been caught in something of a quandary between the pure responses of a driver's car, and the desire for technological innovation. The company has often chosen the latter route, introducing not only xenon lights and ABS in motorcycles, but run-flat tires and iDrive central control.

The eccentricity of iDrive has mellowed somewhat in its second incarnation, with four individual menu buttons nestled around a reworked rotary controller, in addition to a "back" function to make operation easier.

Meanwhile, complaints remain about run-flat tires. In 2007, BMW introduces its 4^th-generation line, and comfort is much improved; yet a run-flat E90 3 series still cannot match the composed pliancy of Mercedes-Benz's 3^rd-generation C-Class around town.

Then, there are BMW's most recent efforts, which the company labels "EfficientDynamics."

One AutoExtremist reader responded: "I believe that BMW has 'jumped the shark' with all this touchy-feely, green-weenie gobbledygook.

"Whatever happened to the old BMW? You know, the car company that made cars that looked like they were styled by a robot and engineered (also by robots) to drive like hell, but in a very austere, no-nonsense way.

"BMW was the 'Mr. Spock' of the auto industry. Logical to the point of causing pain. Teutonic to the point of practically becoming the embodiment of the 'German = Efficient' caricature. Crisp, direct and savagely intense - and utterly devoid of frills.

"BMWs had soul. Sure, it was the soul of an S&M dominatrix, but it made you drive like hell and forced you to enjoy every step along your way.

"Today, BMW is the manufacturer of well-made cars, with a certain identifiable design language, that deliver a predictable driving experience and a level of technology that premium customers demand. Sounds a lot like Hyundai, come to think of it. I want my old BMW back."

In recent years, this formerly conservative brand has been the target of a slew of complaints, beginning with the late-2001 launch of the E65 7 series, the first BMW to display the flame-surfacing design language and iDrive central control system, both decried and now much copied. Whether such flourishes belong on the "Ultimate Driving Machine" is certainly open to debate; but BMW's logo is a stylized propeller, and the company's core competency in engines remains strong.

BMW's 2.0-liter twin-turbo diesel (as installed in the 123d) received Best New Engine of 2008 recognition at the 2008 International Engine of the Year Awards. Also on the list were the 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six; 4.0-liter V8, and 5.0-liter V10, as well as the BMW-PSA 1.6-liter turbo unit, as best-in-class.

Bimmer enthusiasts have been concerned of late that BMW's renewed fervor for forced induction might destroy the Roundel's renowned linearity of throttle response. Though the company's twin-turbo 3-liter inline-6 is a gem, BMW's new 11.6-psi, near-square 4.4-liter V8, as featured in the X6, could use, at least, a reprogramming; its jerky throttle action is quite unbecoming.


BMW's brand positioning as The Ultimate Driving Machine is among the most consistent and (by corollary) strongest in the industry. Though BMW spent $68.5 million on advertising in America, in the first half of 2003 - half of the budget allocated to Toyota's Lexus brand - BMW sales trailed Lexus by just 10,417 units.

The BMW badge has never graced a front-wheel-drive car; rather, the company regularly exalts the balance of front-engined, rear-wheel-drive layouts that enable near-50/50 weight distribution.

Writing in admiration of BMW's extraordinary grip of this brief, BBC Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson describes BMW designers and engineers as "the snipers of the car industry, lying in wait while the enemy blundered about with smoking tanks and faulty machine guns and then, boom, delivering a killer shot that never missed.

"Once the company had stopped fiddling about with three-wheelers and converted post-office vans, it developed a recipe that served it well for nigh on 30 years. All its cars had double headlamps at the front, a straight-six engine in the middle, and rear-wheel drive at the back.

"You could have a small car with a big engine and no equipment. Or you could have a large car with a small engine and electric everything. But whatever you chose, there was a rightness to the feel of the thing. A sense that the company had put driving pleasure above everything else" ('BMW 1 series,' Jeremy Clarkson, The Sunday Times, December 12th, 2004).

With the advent of the BMW X5 crossover in 1999, however, the company opened itself up to criticism. Good though it was, the X5 signified a deviation from BMWs of the past. The E65 7 series luxury sedan of 2002 served to amplify the catcalls. It was the first complete work of Christopher E. Bangle, who had set about redefining BMW's design language.


The Neue Klasse designs of the '60s set in stone a 3-box principle to which BMW adhered for almost forty years. BMW was about not only performance and dynamic competence, but also understatement; the company, at its core, was remarkably conservative. By the late '90s, despite BMW's financial success, things had become almost too consistent. Choosing a new BMW meant visiting the showroom and ordering small; medium, or large.

In a fit of courage, the BMW Board approved the ideas of one Christopher E. Bangle, formerly of Fiat, and the man behind the controversial Fiat Coupé and Multipla.

Under Bangle, clean shapes were out. Not everyone was pleased; indeed, BMW fans soon called for his head, with an on-line petition for Bangle's resignation.

"Before Bangle, most BMWs adhered to the same set of rules," writes BBC Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson.

"They had a lean-forward shark's nose, they had grey paint and then there was that little kink on the rear pillar. It's called the Hofmeister kink, after the man who invented it, and it gives the car an agressive, lean-forward stance.

"Now, though, all of these design cues have been lost in a sea of planes and creases that probably play well in design circles."

Heritage provides the credibility to throw their historical baggage out of the window for something fresh. This is a classic enigma. Perhaps the new crop of BMW designs would have been less well accepted if BMW had not built up the tradition that those designs contradict.

When Bangle showed the world his E65 7 series in late 2001, this site suggested that his desire to catch light at different angles on the same panel was difficult to translate into metal. It was also conjectured that the concept was in its teething stages, and that it would - like Cadillac's Art & Science effort - benefit from time to mature.

Bangle advanced the idea that, subconsciously, the flanks of a car are what determines its attractiveness, or lack thereof. The most successful designs, in his view, are instantly recognizable in profile. He spoke of "fascinating cut-lines that don't just separate sections of the body, but are visual treats in and of themselves."

With a rash of BMW facsimiles running around, particularly in the 3 series class, one might see why Bangle attempted to distance BMW's design language from those who would slavishly emulate it. For a while, it worked; but many who once criticized his efforts soon appeared to copy them.

Those who criticized Bangle often forgot that BMW's 1999 E46 3 series and 2000 Z8 were both, largely, designed under his watch. Both debuted to unanimous praise, for they were, after all, natural forms: the 3 series, natural evolution for the BMW brand, and the Z8, natural in the same flowing, elegant mold of the Ferrari 456; Jaguar XJ, and Peugeot 406 coupé.

Yet for Bangle, the desire to create something new overpowered the lure of easy praise. The 2001 X coupé which previewed the 2004 Z4 roadster was a truly refreshing concept, in that it was asymmetrical. The 2002 CS1 Concept, previewing the 2005 1 series and looking for all the world like a modern-day 2002, showed that Bangle had a grasp of the awesome heritage of the brand with which he had been tasked.


As BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina plant opened in 1994, it began by building 3 series models, at a rate of 80,000 annually. The Z3 followed, as did the X5 and Z4.

Plant capacity now stands at 160,000 per year. This plant will produce the second-generation X3 sport utility vehicle, to hedge against dollar/ euro fluctuations. This decision ends a contract with Magna International Inc., Canada's largest auto-parts maker, which from 2004 through 2010 builds the X3 at its Magna Steyr unit in Austria.