05-23-2013, 02:51 PM | #67 | |
Major
120
Rep 1,053
Posts |
Quote:
To put it another way, you really want to max out the miles you do drive your leased car to get 100% of what you are paying for. Plus, all of the risk of diminished value (or total loss) due to an accident (even a very minor one that gets submitted to insurance is on the carfax) is on BMWNA instead of you. The 320i is a fantastic value, I almost wish I had priced out a lease of that in the spec I wanted to compare against the 328 and 335.
__________________
Current: 2021 340xi
Retired: 2018 330xi | 2016 340i 6MT | 2013 335i 6MT | 2011 328i 6MT (N52) | 2008 335xi (N54) |
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 03:49 PM | #68 |
Lieutenant Colonel
547
Rep 1,963
Posts
Drives: '13 128i, '23 iX M60
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Boston
|
I live in Boston. They are already as common as an Accord. A few years ago I was at a 4-way light and there were 2 other cars waiting at the intersection with me, both of them black e90s. :/
__________________
2023 BMW iX M60 BSM
2013 BMW 128i 6MT MGM/CR. M-sport/Premium/Cold, HK, Xenons, BMW SSK and PE. ED 7-12-2013 SOLD: '07 E90 6MT BSM/Terra, '18 F31 Sunset/Oyster, '21 Polestar 2 http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=897862 Last edited by LuisBoston; 05-23-2013 at 03:55 PM.. |
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 04:00 PM | #69 | |
Major General
1052
Rep 5,660
Posts |
Quote:
__________________
Cheers,
Tony ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ '07, e92 335i, Sparkling Graphite, Coral Leather, Aluminum, 6-speed |
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 04:27 PM | #70 | |
Brigadier General
5702
Rep 3,226
Posts |
Quote:
A 328I with a few options will go for around $80K, a 335 is around $120K and an M3 is around $170K. H |
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 04:31 PM | #71 | |
Major General
1052
Rep 5,660
Posts |
Quote:
If you want a BMW and you want exclusivity, you need to buy an old M3, an M1, a 1M, an 8er, an M6 or an Alpina. Alternately, you could move to some place where folks mostly don't buy BMWs. How much market share do you think BMW can gain by differentiating their product? Cars, for most consumers, are commodities, and regardless of what BMW do to differentiate the product, it won't matter other than perhaps that it may effect a drop in market share. Moreover, at the $50K+ price point, barring something really innovative, there's nothing BMW's going to be able to do that their competition can't in 2-3 years match. Also, where should the differentiation occur? MB proved that doing it in the safety area (remember MB was the first with ABS) isn't the answer. Where did that get them? Every car has ABS. You can't do it on style; Jaguar showed us that. They had plenty of style and still couldn't capture market dominance, even as leasing, which pretty well means a car need only be any good for 2-4 years, became the dominant car acquisition method. You can't do it appointments because any car maker can immediately match them. BMW can't do it on price because BMW have no desire to compete purely on price; that's just not part of their business model. If BMW is to put out a differentiated product, it'll, I think, most likely be in their electric cars. My personal suggestion would be to vastly increase the fuel efficiency of the BMW cars -- all of them -- by finding a way to recapture the energy of the spinning of the axles to create additional HP or battery recharging. Seems to me that with all that spinning going on, you have the major part of a dynamo right there. But I'm no engineer, I'm an idea guy. Out of curiosity, how would you differentiate the BMW models so that they are still price competitive across a wide spectrum ($31K to $70K for a 3 or M3 series, for example)? (Seems to me that having one car that can span such a broad spectrum of the buying public is differentiation in itself.) Personally, I think there's a reason why the three series can be had across such a wide span of pricepoints: it's the "everyman" car in BMW's lineup and it wouldn't surprise me to find that it covers the cost of the rest of the BMW lineup. The 5er is somewhat the same, though to a clearly lesser degree given that it costs more than double what most folks pay for a car. But a car can't be very unique and be everyman's car. Now depending on how it's priced, I can imagine the 1 or 2 series cars may be the differentiated product you seek. If they retain the handling for which BMW is known and can be had for <$35K, pretty well equipped, that's your car. I don't think it'll be exclusive, but it should be differentiated from the other stuff at or below that price point.
__________________
Cheers,
Tony ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ '07, e92 335i, Sparkling Graphite, Coral Leather, Aluminum, 6-speed Last edited by tony20009; 05-23-2013 at 07:22 PM.. Reason: Grammar and added the parenthetical comment in the 4th paragraph |
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 05:11 PM | #72 |
Lieutenant
30
Rep 487
Posts
Drives: E90 328xi
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Columbia, MO
|
I guess I just don't get what the fuss is about from the "our car is going to be the next Honda Accord" crowd. Yes, there likely will continue to be more BMWs on the road, but never as many as hondas or toyotas, simply because they appeal to a different consumer base. It all comes down to branding, and following through on the promise of that branding. BMW is currently one of the most desirable brands in the world, and they have built their brand (in my mind) largely upon quality and performance. While the performance aspect can be argued either way in regards to the 320i, the quality must remain high. I see a lot of similarities between BMW and Apple. Think about when the first iphone came out, and everybody else either had feature phones, blackberrys or Moto RAZRs (I had the latter ). For a good while there, the iphone seemed exclusive. But it wasn't exclusive because other people just flat out couldn't afford to get one, it was exclusive because the initial majority either didn't perceive the value in the iphone, or were not in the market for one. It was also only available on one carrier, and cost considerably more than most "feature phones" of the time. After a while, people did start to perceive the value in the iPhone, and the demand for all Apple devices grew, due to its success. Their branding for the iphone took over and they became known by an increasing number of people to build quality products in all areas of electronics. Their Mac sales began to grow, and along with that, there began to be more and more competition. In order to prevent people from going after low-cost alternatives from competitors, they had to innovate further. First it was with new models of iPhone, but then it was iPads, and then it was iPad Minis, the MacBook Air, etc. I don't think that any of those products coming out have actually tarnished Apple's brand, even though I can't walk into a library without seeing 14 hipsters all on their macbooks and iphones (macbook users are hipsters, BMW guys are douches...I think these stereotypes mean your brand has made it. haha). That doesn't take away that Apple is generally known to build quality products. Just because the iPad mini is cheaper than the regular iPad, that doesn't mean the brand as a whole is lessened. the products serve a specific purpose for a specific person. And there will always be brand loyalists and those who prefer another brand entirely. People could (and do) very easily buy a comparable windows Ultrabook or android tablet versus a macbook air or iPad, and maybe save a few bucks, or maybe pay almost the same amount for the device. those are the Honda Accord people in our BMW example. The majority of those people were never considering an apple product (BMW) in the first place. They wanted that acer laptop because it suited their needs, they were comfortable with it, and knew it would last.
So, if exclusivity is all that matters to you, then I feel like you need to look further upstream, as BMW is entering into a momentum phase, where large growth is occurring. You could likely find some exclusivity in Jaguar still, as they're rebranding themselves and fighting for market share. Beyond the "entry level luxury" brands, you'll need to step up into Maserati, Aston, or the like. .....and for the record, i typed that on my $300 acer laptop and own an iphone for another two days, until my HTC One gets here.
__________________
Eibach Pro Kit | 19" Avant Garde M341 | BMS PBX
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 05:40 PM | #73 |
New Member
0
Rep 11
Posts |
Girls....
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 05:44 PM | #74 | |
Loves his G20
265
Rep 2,507
Posts |
Quote:
__________________
2020 330ix-Msport Past- 2013 135i 2011 135i |
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 05:45 PM | #75 |
New Member
0
Rep 11
Posts |
Just for the sake of it, whats your income if you dont mind me asking? I work with IT at à bank and have $7500 à month. And after the famous swedish tax ill net $4600
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 06:11 PM | #76 | |
Brigadier General
5702
Rep 3,226
Posts |
Quote:
The average Australian salary I believe is around $80K and I earn around double that. I'm pretty lucky as well as my vehicle and all costs are fully paid for by my employer. H |
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-23-2013, 07:13 PM | #77 | |
Major General
1052
Rep 5,660
Posts |
Quote:
The reality, however is that no young, blond girl is going to have me any more, aside from maybe a gold digger. And I have three kids, so don't need anyone else around who wants my money. Now all my kids have girlfriends. But, you see, I'm at the point in life where you have to call them your "old woman friend." And frankly, a shriveled up, old blond woman hobbling in from the cold is no better or worse than old, shriveled up any other kind of woman hobbling hobbling inf from the cold. And frankly, I prefer them warmed up and ready to go when they come through the door. (If I recall, there's no legal prostitution in Sweden, so I doubt I'd be sampling the odd fresh fruit here and there. )
__________________
Cheers,
Tony ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ '07, e92 335i, Sparkling Graphite, Coral Leather, Aluminum, 6-speed |
|
Appreciate
1
Westsider4513.50 |
Post Reply |
Bookmarks |
|
|