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I mean... it's their job to do so. On a daily basis I speak to PRs from car companies who of course aren't best pleased if we give something a poor review, but also understand that the media knows what it's talking about and has a duty to report it.I like that top brass has called it out as bull crap.
I interviewed Albert Biermann - ex-BMW, now Hyundai/Kia - a couple of years ago after he made the move. He said himself that the Koreans have a greater focus on engineering now than BMW does.
Now you can interpret that a few ways. The most pessimistic way is to assume he would of course say that, because he's going to be nice about his new employer... a bit like BMW's current top brass "calling out" journalists for doing their job. Though I think it's notable that since Biermann went to Korea, both brands' dynamics and product ranges have improved dramatically...
The elephant in the room is also that a lot of people in the motoring press really, really like BMWs. That's unsurprising, since they have a fairly enviable history of creating the kind of cars that people who like cars like (cue satire).
Criticism of BMW isn't for the hell of it, it's because the brand increasingly lacks direction and most of us are concerned about it. History may repeat itself when it comes to the reception of a new 3-series, but when E46 replaced E36 BMW as a brand was in a much better place as a builder of cars for enthusiasts.