Is it just me or are other car makers eating BMW's lunch for making sharp, lean, muscular and understated cars? have you seen the Optima (Kia?) not too shabby from the S. Koreans! I know it's subjective, which is the point... I await the "object of desire" from BMW. The only current car that looks decent to me is the 335is. ...otherwise I look at my M-R and e46 each morning, hoping for new gen models down the road that motivate me to buy as they did. is it just me?
I have to agree....that Audi coupe is SHARP!!! And which BMW is considered a "super-car"...do they even make one? Audi does!
No, it's not you. I like the look of the Audi's these days. I'd probably park an A8 in my garage before any BMW seven series. One of local car club members got rid of his new M3 and E39 M5 and bought an R8 too.
The other night I was driving behind the new Optima and it looked really good, I had no idea what it was until I got behind it and saw the badge. Audis are all looking sharp now too, especially the A5 and the R8. As for BMW, I have to admit I like the styling on the new 5 series a hell of a lot more than the E60 we owned. As good a car as our 535i was, I never thought it was particularly attractive.
ok.... I concede that I didn't consider the B7. They are about as rare here in the deep south as a full set of teeth "Bless their heart". And yes, I can make fun of the area since I grew up here and I follow up with "Bless their heart" Now calm down, lower your blood pressure, and go take your meds...."Bless your heart".
I agree that the "desirability" of a car is purely subjective, and wanted to reiterate that before I give my $0.02 on the matter. In my opinion, most of the 2000's have been full of car makers beating their products with the ugly stick. In an attempt to make their cars look like the other guy, we wound up with a whole bunch of bloated-looking bland and generic lumps of metal and plastic. And it's not relegated to one brand or country. The new Taurus and Camry. Bleh! The new Passat (not the mini Darth Vader one) and Jetta. Bleh! Pretty much every current generation BMW. Bleh. Even all but the latest Audis. Bleh! Up until just recently with 2011 and 2012 model year redesigns, there was pretty much no car on the market that piqued my interest enough to buy it. And that's why for the first time in my life I've owned the same car for 6+ years instead of my average trade-in rate of 2-3 years. The newest Audis are sharp. For the past 5-8 years, they've been "nice, but still kind of bland". But with the latest styling cues they have the BMWs beat. Though I must admit I'm not a huge fan of the R8... unless it's the Spyder. Hyndai and Kia are on fire with sharp and distinctive looking cars. And you can't deny their charge from econo-crap to contender! And I must admit that I like the retro movement in cars like the Camaro and Challenger, though they be cars I'd never consider myself. As far as personal favorites on the BMW front, I think the E46 was the best. I regret trading my Tourmaline Violet 330i, and desperately want to buy it back (I even know where the woman who now owns it works and have given her my business cards.) I think the new 5 Series is the best looking car since the E46, and the current 7 is leaps and bounds better than the first Bangled 7 Series. I wait with baited breath to see if the new 1 and 3 are objects of desire or just more me-too bland ugliness. I would really like to replace my VW Passat wagon, but can't find anything I want to replace it with. I love the idea of finding a used E39 540i wagon or Audi RS6 Avant, but I can't justify trading a car I've owned since new with something older, with more mileage, and probably higher maintenance costs. Actually, that goes for even the everyday A3, A4, 3 and 5 Series and pretty much any other brand wagons.
As I have read lately in Car & Driver, the new designs are held hostage by the new pedestrian safety laws, and it makes the proportions weird.
