I broke up with my girlfriend because she said she didn't like Chris Bangle.
- Thread starter 1X83Z
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- Rule 12
- GTP_Famine
Oh don't tell me VW have allowed the awful name of Jetta (basically a Golf saloon in the UK) to persist in the form of the Bora in the US?
The Golf platform - I'm not actually sure what it's called - is common to 36 cars in the VAG (Volkswagen-Audi Gruppen). Way to cut costs!
The Golf platform - I'm not actually sure what it's called - is common to 36 cars in the VAG (Volkswagen-Audi Gruppen). Way to cut costs!
- 24,344
- Midlantic Area
- GTP_Duke
Chris Bangle is the absolute perfect Paris fashion designer. He's got the knack for dramatically now styling that is instantly striking, but relies totally on that first jolt of excitement and then hopes that you won't look closely enough to realize what a sow's ear he has just sold you for such an inordinate profit. He should be overdressing scarecrow supermodels on the runway, not soaking BMW for millions of dollars.
Besides, everybody expects a Paris original to be out of style the instant you buy it. But all these 7-series lemmings are going to be stuck with last year's hit and this year's dud, and only 48 more $600 payments to go on the lease deal.
Suckers.
Besides, everybody expects a Paris original to be out of style the instant you buy it. But all these 7-series lemmings are going to be stuck with last year's hit and this year's dud, and only 48 more $600 payments to go on the lease deal.
Suckers.
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- Mind_R1ot
Ha! Duke nailed it! 
GilesGuthrie
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- CMDRTheDarkLord
I believe you might be slightly off-beam there Famine. As far as I'm aware, the cars/platforms correspondence goes something like this:
Small: Polo, Lupo, Arosa, Fabia, Ibiza
Medium: Golf, Bora/Jetta, Beetle, A3, TT, Leon, Cordoba, Octavia
Large: Passat, A6, Superb
Very Large: A8, Phaeton
Interestingly, the A4 has never platform-shared with anything. And yes, the car we know as Bora is badged Jetta in the US.
- 24,463
- United States
- GTP_Jordan
- GTP_Jordan
I don't like the exterior, but I must admit I was extremely impressed with the interior. And, I was so amazed after driving one, I decided that I liked the 745 overall. I don't think a more comfortable car could be found to take on a long road trip. However, I should add that I have never driven a W220 (1999-present) Mercedes Benz S-Class.
We get the Jetta and Golf, just like you (in Britain, they called it Bora which scares me). Also like you, we have a long-held preference between the two cars (in the US we like the Jetta, in the UK, you prefer the Golf). It is interesting to note that while we get every body style of the Golf in the US, we also get a Jetta/Bora estate/wagon in the US which Britain would probably prefer to the sedan.
A4 shares with Passat.
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- GTP_Jordan
- GTP_Jordan
I disagree, I don't think the two styles were much different at all. The W220 simply looks like a modernized version of the W140, just more sleek, aerodynamic, and rounded, which is why I think it didn't take any heat (see pictures below). It didn't take a very big departure from the old style, and retained that "Mercedes" character. Bangle's 7-Series is just so different than anything else BMW has made...in all honesty, if you saw the car, without any badging, for the first time without any background information, would you have immediately said "Oh, that looks like a new BMW!"? I don't think I would, but maybe that's just me. I also think that's one reason why so many people have a hard time accepting it, and I can't say I blame them.
In my opinion the '92-'99 (W140) S-class was one of the all-time best-styled cars for the task it was to preform (i.e. projecting wealth - especially the long wheelbase - there's just something about that C-pillar). The next version came out and just looked like a cookie-cutter larger sedan. I think it looked like a melted W140.
You're right about people having a hard time accepting Bangle's 7-series - in the past everybody's expected well-styled inoffensive cars from BMW, which is what I think drives all the backlash - if BMW had always been cutting-edge, nobody would mind.
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Well, it has Jennifer Lopez' ass for starters.
I'm not a fan of that or the Vel Satis (different for the sake of being different) but I've been a fan of just about every other recent Renault. The new Megane Scenic is a wonderful re-design (it looks great!!), and consider me one of the seven people who liked the Avantime.
GilesGuthrie
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So, how long before you buy one?
- 10,832
I don't like the 7 series BMWs either. The front is acceptable, but that ass-end is stupid. It is symetrically balanced but aesthetically atrocious. Obviously a lot of people disagree with me because I see at least one a day. The Z4 is nice. I like. But BMW in general has seemed fairly bland to me. Glad to see they're experimenting with new styles.
I used to like the TT but then I had an epiphany.
I've never been impressed by any Mercedes Benz and if I had that kind of money for a car I'd get something else.
I'll take an A6 over any of 'em.
I used to like the TT but then I had an epiphany.
I've never been impressed by any Mercedes Benz and if I had that kind of money for a car I'd get something else.
I'll take an A6 over any of 'em.
///M-Spec
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I'm actually glad that BMW's latest offerings have poloraized some many people. Converative auto companies content to rest on their laurels tend to get left behind as time goes on. In the post war 50s and 60s, GM and Chrysler brands were the style and design leaders. Towards the late 70s and 80s, they began their long slide into a deep decline that has taken them until only recently to pull out of. (and some would still argue that)
There's a part of me that's real happy to see people 'swear off' new BMWs because they don't agree with their looks. This is a good thing, because it means the person that actually buys one is more likely to be someone who value the qualities beneath the sheetmetal, rather than a me-too fashion concious hanger-on intent on keeping up with the Jones. Let those people drive Audi TTs and Hummer H2s.
///M-Spec
There's a part of me that's real happy to see people 'swear off' new BMWs because they don't agree with their looks. This is a good thing, because it means the person that actually buys one is more likely to be someone who value the qualities beneath the sheetmetal, rather than a me-too fashion concious hanger-on intent on keeping up with the Jones. Let those people drive Audi TTs and Hummer H2s.
///M-Spec
- 2,987
M5power, you mentioned something about porsche not listening to high school kids and the cayenne. I think that more people have beef with porsche concerning the fact that this new car is no sports car (porsche traditional product), and is in a way abandoning a certain aspect that porsche represented. POrsche has made several non sports car concepts, including vans, but none have ever gone into production. Of course many people will criticize its looks on top of this, and while i am no fan of boxster headlights, its not the ugliest suv but never the less not the prettiest. I was just wondering why you felt the fact that porsche doesnt listen is a good quality. It seems to me that they are forgetting to listen to their true fans (people who love real 911's to death). It seems to me that they are following trends rather than setting them. I guess this is slightly off the topic, but i would like to hear your opinion m5.
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- old-guy64
On the subject of the new Z4 and the new 7-series:
One of my friends at work has a new Z4. Traded up from the Z3 she used to drive.
I like most of the Z3. But the AssEnd does look like he got up for dinner before he finished drawing. And by the time he got back to it he'd lost the thread of his thought. He goes from pretty and angular in front to the abrupt "chop-off" at the back. It still comes off pretty, but it has to grow on you.
I think a mating of the Z4 front and the Z3 rear would look a bit better, or a smaller version of the Z8 rear would look good on the Z4. I did like the Z3 though I thought at first that it looked a bit like a Mazda MX-5 on Anabolic steroids.
As for the 7-series. It now looks like an "old man's car." Sort of like the difference in the late Chevy Impala SS vs the Buick Roadmaster.
I used to love the old 7-series. It had gorgeous lines and it looked as if a person under the age of 55 might like to be seen in it. The back end in particular is not so much "un-BMW" as it is not terribly pretty.
I know it's not always about "pretty" but it has been a while since BMW put out a car that "ALL function, form absent."
In the last 25 years BMWs have all been very functional, AND good looking automobiles to boot. Ten years ago, when I was in my (very)late 20's I would have been proud to own a 7-series.
Now that I am almost 40 and thinking about a car that a "mature" adult would drive...Money no object, the new 7 would not even hit my radar.
I don't think Bangle should be sacked, I think a month of detox, and a month of substance abuse rehab should do him just fine.
Sorry Doug.
As for breaking up with your girl because she didn't like Bangle. I hope you really had a more substantive reason. Once you have found a woman that will put up with your crap, and will still sleep with you, and only you, you have found a treasure.
One of my friends at work has a new Z4. Traded up from the Z3 she used to drive.
I like most of the Z3. But the AssEnd does look like he got up for dinner before he finished drawing. And by the time he got back to it he'd lost the thread of his thought. He goes from pretty and angular in front to the abrupt "chop-off" at the back. It still comes off pretty, but it has to grow on you.
I think a mating of the Z4 front and the Z3 rear would look a bit better, or a smaller version of the Z8 rear would look good on the Z4. I did like the Z3 though I thought at first that it looked a bit like a Mazda MX-5 on Anabolic steroids.
As for the 7-series. It now looks like an "old man's car." Sort of like the difference in the late Chevy Impala SS vs the Buick Roadmaster.
I used to love the old 7-series. It had gorgeous lines and it looked as if a person under the age of 55 might like to be seen in it. The back end in particular is not so much "un-BMW" as it is not terribly pretty.
I know it's not always about "pretty" but it has been a while since BMW put out a car that "ALL function, form absent."
In the last 25 years BMWs have all been very functional, AND good looking automobiles to boot. Ten years ago, when I was in my (very)late 20's I would have been proud to own a 7-series.
Now that I am almost 40 and thinking about a car that a "mature" adult would drive...Money no object, the new 7 would not even hit my radar.
I don't think Bangle should be sacked, I think a month of detox, and a month of substance abuse rehab should do him just fine.
Sorry Doug.
As for breaking up with your girl because she didn't like Bangle. I hope you really had a more substantive reason. Once you have found a woman that will put up with your crap, and will still sleep with you, and only you, you have found a treasure.
Porsche makes a HUGE profit on each Cayenne sold, and that profit goes for developing more sports cars - that's why Porsche needs the Cayenne. Manufacturers like Saab and Porsche cannot continue to compete with just two cars - if they want to turn a profit they simply have to branch out.
The problem is that not a lot of high-schoolers grasp the fact that there are two sides to the issue (money and cars) and you can't have one without the other; if it were just up to them we'd see nothing but supercars coming from Porsche.
Yeah - noticed that too.
Actually your reasons are good and point taken about the appeal of the new 7-series. I would also not purchase one, and I own the previous generation. However, if not for iDrive, I would certainly consider it if I needed a huge, bulky V12 sedan.
Actually, yes - she was moving things too fast. We'd been dating for a month and she already wanted to kiss me!!
- 6,977
- old-guy64
But BMW's are supposed to be eye-candy. For the driver that is not an automotive enthusiast, a BMW 7 is a status symbol.
It's supposed to say to the unrich "Don't you wish you could have one of these?" (whilst looking down one's aristocratic nose)
Now it say's "Don't you wish you had one of these to sell so you could use the money to buy a pretty car?" or "I know, I know, I really should have bought a Toyota Avalon."
In the past. The future will produce very different BMWs - you're going to need to change that stereotype.
In the past BMWs used to have conservative, boring designs that generally could last for up to eight years. In the present, BMW will have exciting, cutting-edge designs that last nowhere near as long. I personally would much rather have the latter.
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