Re: Don Cicchetti's rant about no new 4cyl BMW

[Michael_Bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

This may be an incredible WOB.   You decide.

Don Cicchetti wrote an interesting blast at BMW about them dropping all 4
cylinder engines in the US market.   I felt that, since I had nothing
pressing to do this morning, I would try to "defend" BMW.  Well, defend
isn't the right word.   Comment on, maybe.

Don, I think the reason that BMW is no longer offering 4 cylinder engines
is because Americans, in general, don't want them.   They want torque!
Horsepower!   Leather!    Young, naked, nubile... excuse me, I got carried
away.   BMW, like most consumer goods manufacturers, is driven by the
marketing department.     Why else would they have added an electric
pull-down on the trunks of the seven series?   Stolen right out of the
Lincoln Towncar and Caddy Sedan Deville.   Cruise buttons on the steering
wheel of all but the E36.   I liked the old stalk, but no, Americans want
all their buttons right there on the wheel so their fingers can get torn
off when the airbag goes off... but that's another rant.   True, there are
some of us who enjoy a basic, elemental car, like a 2002 or a TR-6 or a Jag
E-Type (the latter of which had leather but by today's standards is rather
basic), but most Americans want big V8 power and torque, power windows,
leather, integrated remote illuminated voice-command activated garage door
openers, you get the idea.   They want to enjoy the fruits of their labors,
and when you figure that the average price of all BMWs sold new in this
country is probably in the upper 30s, they want their "money's worth".
Multi-cylinder, multi-valve multi-computer controlled engines are what the
market demands, and so, as a company trying to make a profit, BMW is giving
us what we want.   And when you can buy gas for less than a dollar, who
cares if your car gets 24 MPG instead of 28 MPG?   And I'll bet you dollars
to doughnuts that my high-tech double VANOS 24 valve 2.8 6 cylinder (E39)
gets better gas mileage than your 4 cylinder 2002.  I mean, your car back
when it had the original engine, Don.   I mean, you weren't happy with the
original, right?   M42?  How many cylinders in that?   Uh oh!   I think I
found a flaw in your argument...

Michael

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