Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh
Well, having been around the BMW brand since the late 1970s, through the 1980s YUPPIES era, the steady state 1990s, and into the 2000s, I can say, for the 3 -Series, the F3X marked a change in the BMW brand. The F30 lost "Benchmark" status. BMW left its DNA out of the chassis. To us enthusiasts, a sport sedan has great handling and chassis dynamics along with 3 pedals. The G20 doesn't offer a manual. BMW has ALWAYS offered a manual transmission in the 3-Series. The company is very profitable, it could easily afford a manual offering with both the 6 cylinder and the 4 cylinder. There is no reason for BMW to forget its enthusiast base while it caters to soccer mom's. Every other manufacturer makes a 4-cylinder automatic. BMW used to be different. While most buyers wouldn't know a straight-six from a V6, the people from whom BMW earned its reputation (and why most people covet the Roundel), deserve a non-M sport sedan offering from BMW.
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I disagree about the inflection point. I have owned 3 series of all eras from the E30 going forward. The E90/2 started using runflats, and to counter the horrible bouncy ride BMW softened the suspension (but still got a brittle ride).
My 335i was an exercise in way too much power for the chassis, a BMW first. And the E90 M3 while fine in most aspects, was way too heavy.
For me the inflection point was the E46. The 330i ZHP was as fine a sports sedan as BMW has ever produced. With the E90 forward you had to get an M car to bring back the magic. Before that, you didn’t.