Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you really want to see ugly, check out the f20 1-series. That thing is just hideous.
The low front end is to conform to EU pedestrian crash regulations. I am not wild about it either, but it is a design trend all cars are following.
I don't like how big the 3-series has gotten in recent years, but this model is significantly lighter than the outgoing e90.
First of all, those pedestrian crash regulations are perfectly asinine. Second, most manufacturers have responded by making the snouts of their cars more upright, not less. M-B is the starkest example of this.
The switch to electric steering and the nose profile are being driven by fuel economy standards, as is the lightening of the chassis. BMW is one of the handful of brands that pays CAFE fines instead of meeting the regulations. Now that the standards are increasing, as well as the fines they need to get more serious about it. Why do you think base 3-series lease so cheap? It's all about inflating their sales figures to decrease their CAFE exposure. They can even take a loss on those leases and still make money on it overall.
While I'm not a fan of electric steering, especially on something like a BMW, over the next couple years it will pretty much be standard on everything do to the slight MPG bump. Styling to is being adapted to decrease the CD on the cars and pick up a little more MPG. Weight savings is another good way to boost MPG, but it's hard to do as the materials tend to cost more if you don't want to sacrifice something else. If you're BMW, you can absorb some of that cost.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
