Its raining today so I am feeling a bit glum - gonna spew for a minute about my favorite car brand…
If I only intended to buy BMWs for the rest of my life I’d be seriously concerned about the brand - they’ve been steadily losing the aficionado crowd as they have muddied their own waters to satisfy larger median customer groups. They no longer have a strict maintenance schedule that ensures longevity of product operation & quality (pressure from competing brands forced them to adopt longer service intervals during warranty and eliminate some fluid changes during 1st ownership - making used BMWs a scary purchase decision), they’re phasing in elimination of some core product benefits in the name of technology and are paying a heavy price for it (no more oil dipsticks, addition of electronic steering (no more mechanical linkage) and forced ECU programming after battery changes (I can’t check my oil, I can’t feel the road any more and I can’t even swap my own battery).
They say no one keeps cars anymore so why design to maintain them, ughh. I had a similar conversation with a landscaper about cutting shears (he says he tells the owner they need sharpened and the owner says just go buy another pair) - I think some manufacturers are catering to one crown TOO much - BMW seems to be relying on styling and a glorious inline 6 cylinder to keep us interested while Audi, Cadillac and others quickly play catch up in all the other dynamic categories a car has to offer.
I want manual transmissions, oil dipsticks, minimal techno-nannies and the ability to replace parts myself!