[Cyberdemon]

BMW did an NDA protected preview of this vehicle about 2 years ago, and at the time they presented two concepts:

A 3 series Wagon sized vehicle (with a proper wagon back) and a larger X3 size vehicle.

This seems like they split the difference, got rid of the utilitarian back in exchange for the "Pretend it's a coupe" packaging of the GT and X4/X5 but kept most of the other styling fairly similar to the other iCars.

If the initial concepts were any indication, they are probably spending a lot more time focusing on the interior design to compete with the Tesla on technology, rather than the other wise derivative exterior.

FWIW, given my wife's inexplicable desire for the X4/X6, this will probably do very well amongst the upper class soccer mom elite.

[ThugzZ BunnY]

its so frustrating to see Scott defending this pile of shit so hard instead of actually seeing what people are saying about it and learning from it. The designers have the same attitude and its a problem for BMW. just because its different doesn't mean its good. yes, there are people that like it, but there are also people out there that like to chop their own balls off.

[WAY]

Originally Posted by ThugzZ BunnY

its so frustrating to see Scott defending this pile of shit so hard instead of actually seeing what people are saying about it and learning from it. The designers have the same attitude and its a problem for BMW. just because its different doesn't mean its good. yes, there are people that like it, but there are also people out there that like to chop their own balls off.

I don't think it's fair to say that. Those who speak up on the forum do not represent all potential buyers. I'm a genuine potential buyer, and I love it. I wouldn't normally have spoken up about it but the many negative posts on the looks made me post this.

[3s-a-charm]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

The whole point of BMWi is to be completely different from the standard idea of a conventional BMW. These are not volume cars electrified. But created from the ground up in terms of drivetrain,construction and design.
The concept revealed also has a CFRP structure. As well as full EV and PHEV Range Extender. Its the next phase for BMWi to introduce more family orientated concepts.

How about building a car from the ground up that people can actually get excited about?

[3s-a-charm]

Originally Posted by pz619

Agree. I have an i3 as well as my m235i. You know what it is? A stop gap that somehow leases to a $212 payment, until the model 3 gets built.

Whether BMW realizes it or not. Electric cars will replace gas cars. They better get on board with a decent product.

LOL I tried to get a BMW i3 while we wait for our Model 3 as well. BMW wouldn't sell me one in our area as they don't have service here. Would have to buy used and pay to haul the car 1,200km for any service needs even though they have two state-of-the-art service Centres here. Ended up with an X1 but it isn't the same. Once you've driven all-electric daily it's really hard to go back.

[ThugzZ BunnY]

Originally Posted by WAY

I don't think it's fair to say that. Those who speak up on the forum do not represent all potential buyers. I'm a genuine potential buyer, and I love it. I wouldn't normally have spoken up about it but the many negative posts on the looks made me post this.

And you are definitely not the majority. there are customers for everything but it's not a great business decision to spend tons of money designing something that very few will like. I sell BMW's and 9/10 people that see the i3 let me know how ugly it is. This car will be no different.

[matbl]

Originally Posted by ThugzZ BunnY

And you are definitely not the majority. there are customers for everything but it's not a great business decision to spend tons of money designing something that very few will like. I sell BMW's and 9/10 people that see the i3 let me know how ugly it is. This car will be no different.

So 90% of the chattanooga, TN BMW customers think it is ugly. What does that tell you about what the New Yorkers or Californians think about it?
Nothing!
Does it tells you what Germans, Dutch, Brittish or other europeans think about it?
NO!
Does it tell you what Chinese, Japanese, Brazillians or South Africans think about it?
Absolutely not!

Point here is that BMW is a global brand and you can't judge how others in other parts of your country or or other parts of the world and other cultures will like it by extrapolating the local taste. It just doesn't work that way for any local taste.

Do I like the i3 design? Not really. Would I like the one in these sketches? Don't know.
Would it be acceptable if it would mean a real electric car from BMW? YES!
Would I care about the exterior design if it turned out to be a crippled electric car? No, not really.
Point is, for me it's not the exterior design that matters, it is if I can replace my Tesla with it in terms of electric range, charging, interior space, etc.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Looks like they took the C Pillar styling from Nissan's Maxima.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

Looks like they took the C Pillar styling from Nissan's Maxima.

[Sassicaia]

Looks like the original Prius to me.

Absolutely atrocious.

[ThugzZ BunnY]

Originally Posted by matbl

So 90% of the chattanooga, TN BMW customers think it is ugly. What does that tell you about what the New Yorkers or Californians think about it?
Nothing!
Does it tells you what Germans, Dutch, Brittish or other europeans think about it?
NO!
Does it tell you what Chinese, Japanese, Brazillians or South Africans think about it?
Absolutely not!

Point here is that BMW is a global brand and you can't judge how others in other parts of your country or or other parts of the world and other cultures will like it by extrapolating the local taste. It just doesn't work that way for any local taste.

Do I like the i3 design? Not really. Would I like the one in these sketches? Don't know.
Would it be acceptable if it would mean a real electric car from BMW? YES!
Would I care about the exterior design if it turned out to be a crippled electric car? No, not really.
Point is, for me it's not the exterior design that matters, it is if I can replace my Tesla with it in terms of electric range, charging, interior space, etc.

Actually the sales numbers show me that people don't like it.

[matbl]

Originally Posted by ThugzZ BunnY

Actually the sales numbers show me that people don't like it.

True. But on a global scale you can't tell why they don't.
Might be design, lack of internal space, lack of electric range, etc. You or me just don't know.
I just hope BMW does know. By focus group interviews or other means.

[JorgenM]

Originally Posted by ThugzZ BunnY

Actually the sales numbers show me that people don't like it.

In your village?

Here in Norway the i3 is selling really well. Obviously it's BMWs most important car.
Best-selling EV in September.
Number 10 of overall sales (only BMW in Top 20)

And I've never heard anyone saying any negative about our (much beloved) i3.

And I think that i5 looks really cool.

[Chihuahua]

^^^^this I like.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by WAY

I don't think it's fair to say that. Those who speak up on the forum do not represent all potential buyers. I'm a genuine potential buyer, and I love it. I wouldn't normally have spoken up about it but the many negative posts on the looks made me post this.

Originally Posted by matbl

So 90% of the chattanooga, TN BMW customers think it is ugly. What does that tell you about what the New Yorkers or Californians think about it?
Nothing!
Does it tells you what Germans, Dutch, Brittish or other europeans think about it?
NO!
Does it tell you what Chinese, Japanese, Brazillians or South Africans think about it?
Absolutely not!

Point here is that BMW is a global brand and you can't judge how others in other parts of your country or or other parts of the world and other cultures will like it by extrapolating the local taste. It just doesn't work that way for any local taste.

These two posters get it. What do they have in common? They're European.

Point 1: I've said this before about posters here with America-centric blinders on. BMW is a global brand. In fact, it's the second-strongest global automotive brand now. Today. In its growth days, it focused on, and developed models for, the U.S. market. Those days are long gone. As patriotic and myopic as those posters are who believe the U.S. is the only market that should matter to BMW, you're just dead wrong. Accept it and get over it.

Point 2: As others have noted, this car is not designed for the American market. It is designed for markets that have a far higher level of EV acceptance, no matter where the source -- government incentive, social, financial, environmental. Apparently people in those markets like this car.

Point 3: To date, Tesla was primarily designed for the American market; that's part and parcel of its conventional-car-look approach. The Model 3 will change that, but that design approach will stay the same because Tesla now has that design niche wrapped up thanks to something another poster pointed out: a Tesla's range and charging infrastructure are what has made the car successful -- NOT its looks. Once other manufacturers enter the market with comparable EVs regarding range and charging, how will they differentiate their products from Teslas? One major way will be to make them not look the same -- as either a Tesla or a conventional car. That's to be expected. In 10 years time, Teslas will be seen as conservative unless its changes its design approach -- and that's if Tesla is even in the car market in 10 years' time (I personally give that a 50-50 chance).

Point 4: This is a forum full of performance-car enthusiasts. Of course we're going to think this i5 is ugly and unnecessary. We, however, do not matter one iota to BMW in regards to this car. I'd venture to guess that 5 percent of us are even in the market for this kind of car. So poo-poo this car's looks all you want, blinder wearers. You do not matter. At all.

[Artemis]

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

These two posters get it. What do they have in common? They're European.
Point 1: I've said this before about posters here with America-centric blinders on. BMW is a global brand. In fact, it's the second-strongest global automotive brand now. Today. In its growth days, it focused on, and developed models for, the U.S. market. Those days are long gone. As patriotic and myopic as those posters are who believe the U.S. is the only market that should matter to BMW, you're just dead wrong. Accept it and get over it.
Point 2: As others have noted, this car is not designed for the American market. It is designed for markets that have a far higher level of EV acceptance, no matter where the source -- government incentive, social, financial, environmental. Apparently people in those markets like this car.
Point 3: To date, Tesla was primarily designed for the American market; that's part and parcel of its conventional-car-look approach. The Model 3 will change that, but that design approach will stay the same because Tesla now has that design niche wrapped up thanks to something another poster pointed out: a Tesla's range and charging infrastructure are what has made the car successful -- NOT its looks. Once other manufacturers enter the market with comparable EVs regarding range and charging, how will they differentiate their products from Teslas? One major way will be to make them not look the same -- as either a Tesla or a conventional car. That's to be expected. In 10 years time, Teslas will be seen as conservative unless its changes its design approach -- and that's if Tesla is even in the car market in 10 years' time (I personally give that a 50-50 chance).
Point 4: This is a forum full of performance-car enthusiasts. Of course we're going to think this i5 is ugly and unnecessary. We, however, do not matter one iota to BMW in regards to this car. I'd venture to guess that 5 percent of us are even in the market for this kind of car. So poo-poo this car's looks all you want, blinder wearers. You do not matter. At all.

Talking about being 'myopic' from an entrepreneurial point of view: sobering business stories of rise and fall:

• Kodak: "Kodak’s downfall wasn’t about technology"
  "Companies often see the disruptive forces affecting their industry. They frequently divert sufficient resources to participate in emerging markets. Their failure is usually an inability to truly embrace the new business models the disruptive change opens up."
• Nokia: "Why Nokia lost its market share?"
  "It ruled the middle and low end market for long. But, Nokia did a blunder by being very much myopic and complacent about its achievements and didn’t envision the competition, radical innovations and high end technology coming its way, which certainly had potential to dethrone it of its place. This was one of the major reasons Nokia lost its market share."
• Blackberry: "Victim of success: the rise and fall of Blackberry"
  "The pivotal moment is January 2007 when Steve Jobs walks onto the stage in San Francisco and holds up that shiny glass object that we all [now] know and love so much, and says, “This is an iPhone.” It brings you computing, it brings you the Internet and it brings you email — three things. The interesting thing is that he not only brought on the prototype for the iPhone, and said “I’m going to change the world,” he also brought on stage the head of AT&T Mobility. This is where he changed the rules of the game because really the iPhone is just an iteration of the smartphone that BlackBerry started, only they added more. [...] Mike Lazaridis looked at this announcement, looked at what Steve Jobs was offering, and said, “This is an impossibility.” Again, the conservative engineer brought up on conservation said, “The networks won’t be able to carry this. It’s an impossibility. It’s illogical that anyone would even propose this.” He was right for the first two years. Remember all the dropped calls, all the frustrations, all the lawsuits against Apple and the carriers. It didn’t work…. But then it did, and RIM got it wrong. Two years is a lifetime at a technology rate, and by the time they realized what a serious threat it was, they were at that point followers. [...] The race is faster than ever. It never ends, and the people who are the leaders today will most likely be the followers tomorrow because it’s very, very difficult to stay ahead.”"

BMW must and will focus more on electric/hybrid - they got no choice (the i3 and i8 ain't enough). Like it or not, but Tesla is changing the market. Within a week of unveiling the Tesla Model 3, Tesla had taken reservations worth potential sales of over US$14 billion. Things like that should be a wake-up call for BMW and its competitors that they got to up the ante in adapting their business models, if they care for keeping their market shares in the future.