What truly amazes me is that the new Bimmers look... BOOORING.
Not even Bangle could do that.
Whatever happened to the designers of the old 630CSi or even their not so long ago 3 series?
Remember how their front fenders tightly wrapped around the wheels and into the front... down and in? Designed as if the wind had sculpted the fender lines at 100 mph. Every time I saw that, I just wanted to stand there and run my hands over those gorgeous body lines and realize that they really got it, that BMW really HAD IT. They were in, they understood IT. They were one of US.
The only other cars that had IT, at that time, IMHO, were the Alfas and the Ferrari Dino.
garoto wrote: They look good to me actually. Like the old Benz. I like BMWs take on it. Nothing can out ugly Lexus or Toyota. Those dudes are fucking insane.
yeah I don't think it's anywhere approaching the Toyota/Lexus standard of fug. These BMWs are not at all offensive, in fact.
I think the supermultispoke wheels on the 2 cars in this photo sort of exaggerate the effect of the waterfall grille, otherwise they're just sort of there.
Beauty (actually, I prefer the grill of the later 3.0CS, but I prefer this generation's greenhouse) and the Beast:
Oh dear, I have to agree with TonyEX :-) Those were nice Bee Emm's. And the 2002. The new ones look like knock-offs.
The recent Acura facelifts look quite good, I even like the grilles. Sometimes I think ToV likes to go out of its way to give Honda, and especially Acura a kicking (OK Acura dserves it mostly, but recently they're getting their styling act togeter even within the confines of facelifts). Anyway, things could be worse, they could look like these new BMWs which appear to have no personality at all.
Oh, and "When equipped with the ultra-quilted finish, as below, it makes the cabin a sumptuous cockpit indeed", no, it makes the cabin look tacky as hell.
bigblue wrote: Oh dear, I have to agree with TonyEX :-) Those were nice Bee Emm's. And the 2002. The new ones look like knock-offs.
The recent Acura facelifts look quite good, I even like the grilles. Sometimes I think ToV likes to go out of its way to give Honda, and especially Acura a kicking (OK Acura dserves it mostly, but recently they're getting their styling act togeter even within the confines of facelifts). Anyway, things could be worse, they could look like these new BMWs which appear to have no personality at all.
gofast182 wrote: We pulled the trigger on the X5; she is completely enamored with the car and I understand why. We placed a custom order and will be doing Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg. Between dealer discount and rebates we ended up getting $9,000 off (plus a $1,000 BMWCCA rebate after purchase) and they're giving us exactly what I want for the MDX. I'm sad that at least one of us won't have a H/A as a daily, first time in 14 years. We'll see what happens with me in the fall when my lease is up as I remain open to the brand I still love as long as they can produce the right product, they already have a couple candidates.
Congrats sir! I actually work in the factory (maintenance planning) in the final assembly hall for the X5. Email me the last 7 of the VIN and I'll make sure she's well taken care of! I'll also ask management if I can take some pics for you during assembly and Dropbox them to you.
garoto wrote: They look good to me actually. Like the old Benz. I like BMWs take on it. Nothing can out ugly Lexus or Toyota. Those dudes are fucking insane.
yeah I don't think it's anywhere approaching the Toyota/Lexus standard of fug. These BMWs are not at all offensive, in fact.
I think the supermultispoke wheels on the 2 cars in this photo sort of exaggerate the effect of the waterfall grille, otherwise they're just sort of there.
garoto wrote: They look good to me actually. Like the old Benz. I like BMWs take on it. Nothing can out ugly Lexus or Toyota. Those dudes are fucking insane.
yeah I don't think it's anywhere approaching the Toyota/Lexus standard of fug. These BMWs are not at all offensive, in fact.
I think the supermultispoke wheels on the 2 cars in this photo sort of exaggerate the effect of the waterfall grille, otherwise they're just sort of there.
gofast182 wrote: We pulled the trigger on the X5; she is completely enamored with the car and I understand why. We placed a custom order and will be doing Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg. Between dealer discount and rebates we ended up getting $9,000 off (plus a $1,000 BMWCCA rebate after purchase) and they're giving us exactly what I want for the MDX. I'm sad that at least one of us won't have a H/A as a daily, first time in 14 years. We'll see what happens with me in the fall when my lease is up as I remain open to the brand I still love as long as they can produce the right product, they already have a couple candidates.
Congrats sir! I actually work in the factory (maintenance planning) in the final assembly hall for the X5. Email me the last 7 of the VIN and I'll make sure she's well taken care of! I'll also ask management if I can take some pics for you during assembly and Dropbox them to you.
gofast182 wrote: We pulled the trigger on the X5; she is completely enamored with the car and I understand why. We placed a custom order and will be doing Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg. Between dealer discount and rebates we ended up getting $9,000 off (plus a $1,000 BMWCCA rebate after purchase) and they're giving us exactly what I want for the MDX. I'm sad that at least one of us won't have a H/A as a daily, first time in 14 years. We'll see what happens with me in the fall when my lease is up as I remain open to the brand I still love as long as they can produce the right product, they already have a couple candidates.
Congrats sir! I actually work in the factory (maintenance planning) in the final assembly hall for the X5. Email me the last 7 of the VIN and I'll make sure she's well taken care of! I'll also ask management if I can take some pics for you during assembly and Dropbox them to you.
SO COOL!
Totally! Email has been sent. I'm not expecting anything but if it happens it would be incredibly cool. The car was assigned a VIN this week and has an estimated completion date of 1/30. I'm not sure what that means as far as entering the queue and how long one takes from start to finish. I have to figure the X5 line is pushing out 400+ cars a day?
TonyEX wrote: Beauty (actually, I prefer the grill of the later 3.0CS, but I prefer this generation's greenhouse) and the Beast:
There's a reason why the old CS', 635s, etc. have appreciated so well.
An old CS in restored condition today is worth an easy 6 figure price tag, and there is a booming business in restoring them (I work regularly with a company called Coupe King out of Long Beach that specializes in these cars).
They not only look good, but they are a refreshing drive compared to the isolated, nannyfied BMWs of today. A nice 3.0 CS with a 3.5 liter I6 and 5MT is a wonderful machine. Sub-3000 lbs, 220-230 whp and similar torque with a big fat curve. Nice steering (although the thin-rimmed wooden wheel can be a bit weird) and decent handling given the suspension architecture. Plus they ride nice. Frankly I'd own one if they were about half the price or less, but I'm not into buying a fixer upper.
The X7 actually looks really nice and "expensive".
But have to agree that same grill doesn't work on sedans. Acura has had this issue for what seems like a decade.
E39 5 series and E48 3 series was when BMW was at the top of its game styling wise for sedans, inside and out. Then it just really went down hill with the Bangle era cars, not just exterior wise but interior wise with that awful i Drive and the interior were more cost cut. They still drove well and won competitions so they still sold extremely well based on the name/image they built up but in most cases they just never regained styling wise aside from a few models like the 4 series and 6 series Grand coupe which do look pretty good.
I don't know what they are thinking with that huge grill on the 7 series mmc.
gofast182 wrote: We pulled the trigger on the X5; she is completely enamored with the car and I understand why. We placed a custom order and will be doing Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg. Between dealer discount and rebates we ended up getting $9,000 off (plus a $1,000 BMWCCA rebate after purchase) and they're giving us exactly what I want for the MDX. I'm sad that at least one of us won't have a H/A as a daily, first time in 14 years. We'll see what happens with me in the fall when my lease is up as I remain open to the brand I still love as long as they can produce the right product, they already have a couple candidates.
Congrats sir! I actually work in the factory (maintenance planning) in the final assembly hall for the X5. Email me the last 7 of the VIN and I'll make sure she's well taken care of! I'll also ask management if I can take some pics for you during assembly and Dropbox them to you.
SO COOL!
Totally! Email has been sent. I'm not expecting anything but if it happens it would be incredibly cool. The car was assigned a VIN this week and has an estimated completion date of 1/30. I'm not sure what that means as far as entering the queue and how long one takes from start to finish. I have to figure the X5 line is pushing out 400+ cars a day?
Gofast and I have touched base, and are in contact.
I'm sincerely hoping management let's me take some photos for him. I'm approaching our VP on Monday for permission.
The VIN will be assigned to a body once it exits the paint shop. From there it could be as soon as a single shift for it to reach the fliud fill line, depending on what day and time it gets an assignment. We are currently making 450 plus per shift. I think that is all public knowledge, so no secrets revealed.
He is correct that the G05 is a great leap in quality and content over the F15. I'm a died in the wool Honda guy, but the BMW SUVs are put together we'll, and are super nice.
TR wrote: The X7 actually looks really nice and "expensive".
But have to agree that same grill doesn't work on sedans. Acura has had this issue for what seems like a decade.
In a way, Lexus ugly grills work better on their sedans than they do the SUVs.
TR wrote: The X7 actually looks really nice and "expensive".
But have to agree that same grill doesn't work on sedans. Acura has had this issue for what seems like a decade.
In a way, Lexus ugly grills work better on their sedans than they do the SUVs.
Agreed. Just another confirmation that it's almost impossible to have a brand grill that works on both, sedans and SUVs. Those that "work" are already taken.
IMO, it's better to somewhat copy than be "original" and fugly
gofast182 wrote: We pulled the trigger on the X5; she is completely enamored with the car and I understand why. We placed a custom order and will be doing Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg. Between dealer discount and rebates we ended up getting $9,000 off (plus a $1,000 BMWCCA rebate after purchase) and they're giving us exactly what I want for the MDX. I'm sad that at least one of us won't have a H/A as a daily, first time in 14 years. We'll see what happens with me in the fall when my lease is up as I remain open to the brand I still love as long as they can produce the right product, they already have a couple candidates.
Congrats sir! I actually work in the factory (maintenance planning) in the final assembly hall for the X5. Email me the last 7 of the VIN and I'll make sure she's well taken care of! I'll also ask management if I can take some pics for you during assembly and Dropbox them to you.
SO COOL!
Totally! Email has been sent. I'm not expecting anything but if it happens it would be incredibly cool. The car was assigned a VIN this week and has an estimated completion date of 1/30. I'm not sure what that means as far as entering the queue and how long one takes from start to finish. I have to figure the X5 line is pushing out 400+ cars a day?
Gofast and I have touched base, and are in contact.
I'm sincerely hoping management let's me take some photos for him. I'm approaching our VP on Monday for permission.
The VIN will be assigned to a body once it exits the paint shop. From there it could be as soon as a single shift for it to reach the fliud fill line, depending on what day and time it gets an assignment. We are currently making 450 plus per shift. I think that is all public knowledge, so no secrets revealed.
He is correct that the G05 is a great leap in quality and content over the F15. I'm a died in the wool Honda guy, but the BMW SUVs are put together we'll, and are super nice.
Didn't notice this reply until now. Thank you for the effort.
I'm trying to put the pieces together...
Online it says production started (meaning it's in queue) and we have a VIN but no body work has started.
So does that mean the VIN exists on paper, like a shop order or something, and only gets physically marked on the car after paint? It would make sense since the bodies are generic up until that point.
Right now when we call the hotline it says the production date is 1/30/2019. The dealer's portal shows 2/6/2019. Not sure why there's a disparity and if those are start dates or finish dates?
gofast182 wrote: We pulled the trigger on the X5; she is completely enamored with the car and I understand why. We placed a custom order and will be doing Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg. Between dealer discount and rebates we ended up getting $9,000 off (plus a $1,000 BMWCCA rebate after purchase) and they're giving us exactly what I want for the MDX. I'm sad that at least one of us won't have a H/A as a daily, first time in 14 years. We'll see what happens with me in the fall when my lease is up as I remain open to the brand I still love as long as they can produce the right product, they already have a couple candidates.
Congrats sir! I actually work in the factory (maintenance planning) in the final assembly hall for the X5. Email me the last 7 of the VIN and I'll make sure she's well taken care of! I'll also ask management if I can take some pics for you during assembly and Dropbox them to you.
SO COOL!
Totally! Email has been sent. I'm not expecting anything but if it happens it would be incredibly cool. The car was assigned a VIN this week and has an estimated completion date of 1/30. I'm not sure what that means as far as entering the queue and how long one takes from start to finish. I have to figure the X5 line is pushing out 400+ cars a day?
Gofast and I have touched base, and are in contact.
I'm sincerely hoping management let's me take some photos for him. I'm approaching our VP on Monday for permission.
The VIN will be assigned to a body once it exits the paint shop. From there it could be as soon as a single shift for it to reach the fliud fill line, depending on what day and time it gets an assignment. We are currently making 450 plus per shift. I think that is all public knowledge, so no secrets revealed.
He is correct that the G05 is a great leap in quality and content over the F15. I'm a died in the wool Honda guy, but the BMW SUVs are put together we'll, and are super nice.
Didn't notice this reply until now. Thank you for the effort.
I'm trying to put the pieces together...
Online it says production started (meaning it's in queue) and we have a VIN but no body work has started.
So does that mean the VIN exists on paper, like a shop order or something, and only gets physically marked on the car after paint? It would make sense since the bodies are generic up until that point.
Right now when we call the hotline it says the production date is 1/30/2019. The dealer's portal shows 2/6/2019. Not sure why there's a disparity and if those are start dates or finish dates?
isn't the VIN stamped into the body in various places during the production process? Does that happen after it's painted?
TR wrote: The X7 actually looks really nice and "expensive".
But have to agree that same grill doesn't work on sedans. Acura has had this issue for what seems like a decade.
In a way, Lexus ugly grills work better on their sedans than they do the SUVs.
Agreed. Just another confirmation that it's almost impossible to have a brand grill that works on both, sedans and SUVs. Those that "work" are already taken.
IMO, it's better to somewhat copy than be "original" and fugly
True, SUV/Truck versus sedans...one size does not fit all.
gofast182 wrote: We pulled the trigger on the X5; she is completely enamored with the car and I understand why. We placed a custom order and will be doing Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg. Between dealer discount and rebates we ended up getting $9,000 off (plus a $1,000 BMWCCA rebate after purchase) and they're giving us exactly what I want for the MDX. I'm sad that at least one of us won't have a H/A as a daily, first time in 14 years. We'll see what happens with me in the fall when my lease is up as I remain open to the brand I still love as long as they can produce the right product, they already have a couple candidates.
Congrats sir! I actually work in the factory (maintenance planning) in the final assembly hall for the X5. Email me the last 7 of the VIN and I'll make sure she's well taken care of! I'll also ask management if I can take some pics for you during assembly and Dropbox them to you.
SO COOL!
Totally! Email has been sent. I'm not expecting anything but if it happens it would be incredibly cool. The car was assigned a VIN this week and has an estimated completion date of 1/30. I'm not sure what that means as far as entering the queue and how long one takes from start to finish. I have to figure the X5 line is pushing out 400+ cars a day?
Gofast and I have touched base, and are in contact.
I'm sincerely hoping management let's me take some photos for him. I'm approaching our VP on Monday for permission.
The VIN will be assigned to a body once it exits the paint shop. From there it could be as soon as a single shift for it to reach the fliud fill line, depending on what day and time it gets an assignment. We are currently making 450 plus per shift. I think that is all public knowledge, so no secrets revealed.
He is correct that the G05 is a great leap in quality and content over the F15. I'm a died in the wool Honda guy, but the BMW SUVs are put together we'll, and are super nice.
Didn't notice this reply until now. Thank you for the effort.
I'm trying to put the pieces together...
Online it says production started (meaning it's in queue) and we have a VIN but no body work has started.
So does that mean the VIN exists on paper, like a shop order or something, and only gets physically marked on the car after paint? It would make sense since the bodies are generic up until that point.
Right now when we call the hotline it says the production date is 1/30/2019. The dealer's portal shows 2/6/2019. Not sure why there's a disparity and if those are start dates or finish dates?
isn't the VIN stamped into the body in various places during the production process? Does that happen after it's painted?
I would think it's stamped before painting so it doesn't create a rust or corrosion risk. You should see the VIN on a frame/subframe member and the firewall at a minimum, no? (engine and dash placard notwithstanding)
gofast182 wrote: We pulled the trigger on the X5; she is completely enamored with the car and I understand why. We placed a custom order and will be doing Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg. Between dealer discount and rebates we ended up getting $9,000 off (plus a $1,000 BMWCCA rebate after purchase) and they're giving us exactly what I want for the MDX. I'm sad that at least one of us won't have a H/A as a daily, first time in 14 years. We'll see what happens with me in the fall when my lease is up as I remain open to the brand I still love as long as they can produce the right product, they already have a couple candidates.
Congrats sir! I actually work in the factory (maintenance planning) in the final assembly hall for the X5. Email me the last 7 of the VIN and I'll make sure she's well taken care of! I'll also ask management if I can take some pics for you during assembly and Dropbox them to you.
SO COOL!
Totally! Email has been sent. I'm not expecting anything but if it happens it would be incredibly cool. The car was assigned a VIN this week and has an estimated completion date of 1/30. I'm not sure what that means as far as entering the queue and how long one takes from start to finish. I have to figure the X5 line is pushing out 400+ cars a day?
Gofast and I have touched base, and are in contact.
I'm sincerely hoping management let's me take some photos for him. I'm approaching our VP on Monday for permission.
The VIN will be assigned to a body once it exits the paint shop. From there it could be as soon as a single shift for it to reach the fliud fill line, depending on what day and time it gets an assignment. We are currently making 450 plus per shift. I think that is all public knowledge, so no secrets revealed.
He is correct that the G05 is a great leap in quality and content over the F15. I'm a died in the wool Honda guy, but the BMW SUVs are put together we'll, and are super nice.
Didn't notice this reply until now. Thank you for the effort.
I'm trying to put the pieces together...
Online it says production started (meaning it's in queue) and we have a VIN but no body work has started.
So does that mean the VIN exists on paper, like a shop order or something, and only gets physically marked on the car after paint? It would make sense since the bodies are generic up until that point.
Right now when we call the hotline it says the production date is 1/30/2019. The dealer's portal shows 2/6/2019. Not sure why there's a disparity and if those are start dates or finish dates?
isn't the VIN stamped into the body in various places during the production process? Does that happen after it's painted?
I would think it's stamped before painting so it doesn't create a rust or corrosion risk. You should see the VIN on a frame/subframe member and the firewall at a minimum, no? (engine and dash placard notwithstanding)
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