[James T. Kirk]

Mechanical spoilers... just one more thing to bring in for service on a regular basis.
.

[NYe60chrisIU]

Originally Posted by SoCali E90

Why on this car though?

+1

[Forster]

Smh.... I just don't get it..
At least not here in the US

[WWM3]

Originally Posted by hks786

I think either you love or hate sportbacks. I'm just not a fan. I've seen a few A7s around and while I like the front the rear end just lets it down. It's a shame because inside and out it has really nice features. In fact the back end is quite nice but it sits so low. Looks like a dog doing a dump.

I think you could also describe the front end of the F30 that way as well. So this way you have a two dogs back to back taking dumps on an F30 GT.

[///Matthew]

What are the holes on/around the gas door?

[ferrari6891]

Should put this on the next gen M3

[cs4444]

"What are the holes on/around the gas door?"

I think they are holes for rivets to hold on a dummy panel to distort the shape of the car.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by doublevanosrc

Ugh!! I thought BMW had learned their lesson from the low sales number from the 5GT. Why not just stick with the touring models??

Again with this nonsense... why can't people just realize that the 5GT is hitting its targets and its main customer base is NOT in the US. The 5 GT in the US btw has already doubled the sales of the entire E61 run, so how is that a sales flop?

The 3 GT is targeting a different customer as is evident by this spoiler and when the cladding comes off the rear will be much more aggressive as will the wheel packages.

[hks786]

Originally Posted by WW330

I think you could also describe the front end of the F30 that way as well. So this way you have a two dogs back to back taking dumps on an F30 GT.

LOL. I was saying that yesterday in the other F30 thread. Don't get me wrong, its a great car with a perfect interior. The only complaints I have are that the rear end is similar to 5 series and more importantly the nose is too low. However, these are just minor issues. M-sport looks great.

[Jblack4083]

Originally Posted by doublevanosrc

Ugh!! I thought BMW had learned their lesson from the low sales number from the 5GT. Why not just stick with the touring models??

Hasnt it been said that the 5GT sold better in the USA than the Touring? Why would they stick with a product that sells worse? Makes no sense...

[PostModernHero]

Originally Posted by Jblack4083

Hasnt it been said that the 5GT sold better in the USA than the Touring? Why would they stick with a product that sells worse? Makes no sense...

Only because the 5 series wagon no longer exists in the NA market! Sure though, it did outsell the outgoing 5 series wagon... which was ugly as sin to begin with. Also if you want to count promotional/dealer allocations on a newly released model. Doesn't count for a hill of beans in my view. The 5GT plainly does not look good. The F11 I think is gorgeous OTOH. Most people DO buy based on looks!

[Jblack4083]

Originally Posted by PostModernHero

Only because the 5 series wagon no longer exists in the NA market! Sure though, it did outsell the outgoing 5 series wagon... which was ugly as sin to begin with. Also if you want to count promotional/dealer allocations on a newly released model. Doesn't count for a hill of beans in my view. The 5GT plainly does not look good. The F11 I think is gorgeous OTOH. Most people DO buy based on looks!

And most people bought the 5GT... Touchè lol.

[03BeastCharmer]

Looks like they took the mechanical spoiler system off the special Mini Coupe model. Had to get extra use out of that development.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by 03BeastCharmer

Looks like they took the mechanical spoiler system off the special Mini Coupe model. Had to get extra use out of that development.

This will sell more than the MINI Coupe' so I tend to think it was the other way around and if you think about development timelines this began first even though that is already at market because that is not a new product but a variant.

[WilliCO]

Originally Posted by doublevanosrc

Ugh!! I thought BMW had learned their lesson from the low sales number from the 5GT. Why not just stick with the touring models??

I think the 5GT is hideous. But if what I read is correct, it is achieving its sales projections globally. I agree they have sold about eight of them in the US, all to blind people.

[svache]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

Mechanical spoilers... just one more thing to bring in for service on a regular basis.
.

lmao, that reminds me of something my uncle told me once. He once had a brand new car (forgot what make but it had a LOT of tech on board), and one day he had car trouble in the middle of nowhere. He had his hood open when all of the sudden this farmer comes by on his old simple tractor, the farmer looks inside and says "wow that car has a lot of nice stuff, too bad everything can also break down" hahaha. I can only imagine the expression on my uncle's face

[Ghost335]

Anything will be better than the current 5 series GT.

[F80NJM3]

Might work for a coupe .. GT, not so much (as borat used to say)

[SCOTT26]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

Again with this nonsense... why can't people just realize that the 5GT is hitting its targets and its main customer base is NOT in the US. The 5 GT in the US btw has already doubled the sales of the entire E61 run, so how is that a sales flop?

The 3 GT is targeting a different customer as is evident by this spoiler and when the cladding comes off the rear will be much more aggressive as will the wheel packages.

Yes, initially BMW set targets of the 5er GT to make up around 10% of overall 5er sales. A target it has matched because it is a low volume production model. With an upcoming 525d GT on the horizon then it should extend the GT's appeal even further.

The E61 5er Touring led a defeat for the Premium wagon and the rise of the Premium SUV in North America.
Volvo and Audi followed , Mercedes are experiencing the same effect with the E-Klasse against the all-new ML-Klasse.
The F31 Touring is coming to the US but if it underperforms it will be pulled sooner than later. In this segment Audi have already pulled the A4 Avant and Volvo and Mercedes did not bother with the C-Klasse and V60 respectively. Again thanks to the Premium mid-size SUV.

The 3er GT is again more euro-centric but developed to appeal globally. It will embody the features that make the 5er GT highly Individual but in a more sportier package. It is a 3er underneath and that means it will not be a wall flower.
The clever thing here is that a lot of the panels are fake and really add mass to the car but underneath it is very well proportioned and sculpted.
Again the 3er GT will share the same engines as the 3er Sedan and Touring so it will open the market to a new generation of customers , especially a specific demographic who would never have considered a BMW before.

Which is another thing that can count as a success for the 5er GT.
Nine out of ten owners have made the 5er GT their first BMW.

In a little piece of trivia- The active aerodynamics of the 3er GT is not BMW's first venture into equipping its cars with the function.
In the late nineties when in Germany the Audi TT was turining Turtle on the autobahn. BMW became concerned about the swoopy rear end of the Z8 and tested a flip-up active aid , however it never became an issue as the BMW Z8did not need it.
BMW M were also developing one for the production model of the CS Concept. Which had the road been much smoother we would have had it now.

[Taipei-TT]

For those asking why on this car...I have one idea....

My guess is that BMW wanted to lower the back lid of the 3 series GT to improve the aesthetics based on the response to the 5GT. But with the sloping line of the rear window and the lower lid, a great deal of lift will be created as the long surface of the back window creates low pressure. The solution? A retractable spoiler to interrupt the airflow and reduce the low pressure that would make the back end lose at higher speeds.

On my 2008 Audi TT, the retractable spoiler served a similar aerodynamic purpose and the results could be felt.

Scott26..thanks for posting a global view here too! So nice to hear. In Taiwan, the 5series GT is often considered by buyers who cannot afford a 7 series and would otherwise buy an A8 which is fairly cheaper here. So for this buyer, the 5GT is different from the 5-series, and closer to a 7, and the 2 guys I know who have the car love it! I still think it looks a lot better when the garage is dark until after I'm inside the car though!

[LemonOne]

I have a strong feeling that this 3GT is aiming at the A7

[shenglin]

Originally Posted by LemonOne

I have a strong feeling that this 3GT is aiming at the A7

A closer match would actually be the A5 sportsback. Have seen it personally before and liked the awkward lines.

Am actually quite excited if they can pull a slick shape with the 3GT.