BMW 7-Series Hybrid Spied

few things... while Chris's styling does alienate some faithful bmw types, I believe that overall more people like bmw's thanks to him. Look at all the cars that bmw was producing before him. They were boring boxes, even the American early 90's econo boxes had more style then them... second, since hybrid systems weigh so much, wouldn't it be better to put that in an already heavy car? rather then weighing down the 1series or the 3series to a point where they are no longer appealing? Finally, small cars are already efficient, why try to make a good thing better when you can get more substantial gains out of a poor performer? (fuel economy wise that is)

I agree that BMW needed more inspired styling and their sales obviously did go up. I disagree that Bangle brought more people in than he drove away. The sales of luxury cars and SUV's skyrocketed with good economic times. Mercedes Benz, BMW's main competitor hit the skids in quality and desirability during this time. BMW engineering remained outstanding and the quality increased. All seems well until you consider that Audi with "irregular quality" and little new in engineering feats (except the new diesels!) came up from behind and pulled an important pass. Prices between these brands are close enough to not sway the decisions of fairly affluent buyers. I think you have to look at styling and packaging (things like i-drive).

So you base your entire idea that BMW has gotten worse around the fact that Audi passed them in sales? Audi's were equally boring until they found their new look. They too look amazing now, and having a very large parent company they can afford to make more cars. If BMW made more cars they would be able to sell all of them, look at VW, Toyota, and GM they sell most of their cars simply because they are the most readily available cars on the market.

BMW's would be boring without Chris Bangle, I think. As for the deisgns. I like BMW designs, they are extremely interesting - although I am a bit disappointed with the new 7 Series, the new Z4, X5, 1 Coupe, 3 Series are all very nice stylish cars that I think look the best in their respective class.

Geez Joe, Where did I say BMW had "gotten worse". I didn't write about BMW as an entity getting better or worse. Gauging whether a corporation has gotten better or worse is a bit to big of a project to do in a little blog. Quality, profits, cost per unit, market share and lots of other variables would have to be considered. The fact is that BMW made a big deal a couple of years ago about regenerative braking hybrids not being their kind of technology. They trumpeted steam engine boost and capacitor discharge hybrid technology as more appropriate. They are now apparently doing an about face. BMW lost the sales lead for their most important model. Yes, production capacity can impact this, but I have not seen evidence that Audi is having to have a fire sale on A4's to get them off of the dealership floor. BMW's styling is still polarizing and their avid base seems to be frequently on the negative side of the opinion scale. When times get tough, as reports indicate they have for BMW, having your avid base cool to your current product line isn't a positive thing. Fair economy, newbie friends are not so likely to make the cash register ring. The things I have mentioned don't mean "BMW has gotten worse", but they do support the Quandt's reconsidering their management team. Most companies have loftier goals for success than "not getting worse". During the last year or so MB and Audi appear to me to be turning things around. My impression is that they are now outperforming BMW by "not getting worse" at a better rate.

Compared to the S and A8, this is gold. You cannot compare the 7 with an M3!

No fuel-cells yet buddy. And yes, 20HP is low. But 155 ft-lbs of tq at 0 RPM isnt!