[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Sol01

really ? like 5 series GT ? . just out of curosity, is 5GT going to be replaced with a new model in few years or is going to be quietly ditched ? can't argue with the success of X range or X6 for that fact. but come on X4 ?????

Except the 5GT has met sales targets worldwide. We're the only ones that don't buy it.

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by Sol01

really ? like 5 series GT ? . just out of curosity, is 5GT going to be replaced with a new model in few years or is going to be quietly ditched ? can't argue with the success of X range or X6 for that fact. but come on X4 ?????

You aren't listening. The 5GT, which is the the second ugliest vehicle ever built, is meeting its global sales targets. Every single X model BMW has introduced has met or exceeded its targets - the X3 and X5 wildly so.

Why wouldn't BMW try to extend that success into new target customer areas?

[bimmerjph]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

Sports cars are declining

They aren't selling because they aren't sporty!! Not being sporty defeats the purpose of a roadster, and therefore people aren't buying them. Sports cars don't sell on looks and mpg alone.

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by CubanJJ09

for realz BMW give us a brake it's getting ridiculous. I knead a brake frum all these ///marketting ploys!!!!!!!!!!

Generally, the brakes are very good in all BMWs.

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by phillye30fanboy

i like the X6, i think the X4 should be the only model if they're looking for volume sales cus the price tag would be much less and more people could afford it. idk, i just don't like how they're trying to be something that they are not.

We better brace ourselves for "somewhat less". I don't think "much less" is in the cards.

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by EINSER M

cant wait for the X4M

It should be ready around 2021.

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by Mako

My wife loves the X6 but its out of our price range, fully loaded X3 is our max for now. We will probably be looking to replace our X3 around the time this comes out and I am sure it will be considered, BUT there are two major concerns for a family SUV:

1) obviously the cargo space will be smaller than the X3 since its the same platform and size length BUT coupe like styling meaning trunk is probably cut in half (volume wise).

2) Price! the X6 is ridiculous, much higher in price than an X5. If the X4 is a few thousand more (like $3K) than the X3 (with similar options) I think it will sell well.

Now reasons I would still consider it despite these concerns:

-If they can keep the cargo space floor dimensions the same (or maybe a little wider) and if our double stroller (which fits in the X3) can fit in the X4, it will be on the list.
-$3K more for unique styling and hopefully a little better handling and MPG than the X3 would be fine with me, any more and I would just get another X3. Hopefully they will also add more luxury options not available in the X3, like Nappa/Novillo leather and multi contour seats, that alone would make a bunch of potential X3 owners jump to an X4.

For those who think people looking at an X4 will just get an X5 for the same (or close to it) price, that probably is not the case. My wife and I for instance do not want anything as large as the X5, price doesn't really have anything to do with it. We got our X3 for $55K MSRP, which could have easily bought a more basic X5, but it was too large and the MPG is much worse.

You are not the target buyer for an X4.

[SCOTT26]

@ Jason
Prime Palbay for some X4 activity @ Spartanburg over the few weeks.

[manuelf]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

...
The new X4 extends that sportier aspect to the premium entry segment bring everything from the X6 including the sportier aspect to a lower segment.
BMW know that the X4 will be up against a Porsche so the brief is to make the X4 as competitive as possible. It is no use lying down because the car uses an Audi chassis especially when Porsche has publically berated the Q5 chassis and announced they had to re-engineer to become suitable for the Macan.
....

Hi Scott,

having said this - can you tell us whether a M Performance Model is considered for the X4?
According to this site the X4 may come as a M Performance Model with the Tri-Turbo Diesel engine from the M550d. Would be really nice

[GeeRam]

I wounder if one day any of the plethora of X models from BMW might actually gain some decent off-road capability.....

I might consider one instead of the Range Rover that will likely be the replacement of my current BMW.

[SCOTT26]

Originally Posted by manuelf

Hi Scott,

having said this - can you tell us whether a M Performance Model is considered for the X4?
According to this site the X4 may come as a M Performance Model with the Tri-Turbo Diesel engine from the M550d. Would be really nice

There is going to be a de-tuned version of the 50d for the 3er/4er/X3 and X4 which is expected to be released as the M40d which keeps everything consistent.

At Geneva 2013 there will be two new introductions to the M Performance line which will be European only models.

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

I wounder if one day any of the plethora of X models from BMW might actually gain some decent off-road capability.....

I might consider one instead of the Range Rover that will likely be the replacement of my current BMW.

I don't think that is what BMW is trying to do with the X vehicles. The necessary kit to make them capable in that application is expensive and heavy (reference what Porsche did with the Cayenne in 2011), and BMW knows that essentially nobody who buys BMWs takes them off road.

The X series are higher-clearance, all wheel drive, [somewhat] larger cargo capacity versions of BMW sedans. That's their target; it's worked astoundingly well for them.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

I wounder if one day any of the plethora of X models from BMW might actually gain some decent off-road capability.....

I might consider one instead of the Range Rover that will likely be the replacement of my current BMW.

Yeah, that seems like a long shot. It's just not good product alignment. People who want a strong off-roader buy a Land Rover. People who want a driver's car buy BMW. I much prefer the way our X3 drives to the way the LR2 drives, but I recognize that our X3 is not nearly as competent off road.

[cjwb1984]

Hopefully BMW will differentiate the X4 as much as they did with the X6 and X5. There is also the Range Rover Evoque, for those that's cross shopping that SAV market.

[bmwguy2002]

Not sure why the X6 made sense while you had access to the X5.

I approve the X4

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

Yeah, that seems like a long shot. It's just not good product alignment. People who want a strong off-roader buy a Land Rover. People who want a driver's car buy BMW.

If you want a drivers car, you buy a rwd BMW.

I will want the higher driving position of a 4x4/SUV, but if I have to have a 4x4, I want to go and play with it off-road......afterall, what the point of having a 4x4 if you don't make use of it.
A 4x4 that never goes off-road (or can't go off-road) is like buying a dog and barking yourself

X3,X5,X6 etc might as well just be rwd.

[georgek]

I live in an area with a very steep, long driveway and frequent icy conditions and often snow. FWD vehicles are in impossibility for me and I insist that visitors park up the street during winter. I'm a very active house/yard guy and must have some cargo capacity (mower, power washer rental, mulch, plants, occasional boxes). My '07 X3 is getting long in the tooth and hope get something more sporty with style. Been eyeing the A5 (love the body, all-wheel, fold down rear seats) but I can't get over the fact I will lament the overall lack of cargo. The X4 just may be an ideal fit. I just may have to head ot the NAIAS and steal a peak.

How much snow is there in London? How many hills? Not all of us desire 4x4 for off roading. It can be a necessity for 4-5 months of the year in some locales.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

If you want a drivers car, you buy a rwd BMW.

I will want the higher driving position of a 4x4/SUV, but if I have to have a 4x4, I want to go and play with it off-road......afterall, what the point of having a 4x4 if you don't make use of it.
A 4x4 that never goes off-road (or can't go off-road) is like buying a dog and barking yourself

X3,X5,X6 etc might as well just be rwd.

Horses for courses. You explained your preferences, and I explained mine. Neither of us are wrong, or right. There are buyers who value each set of preferences, and the new X3 is selling really well, so there must be something attractive about it.

This is a statement of fact, and is incorrect: "A 4x4 that never goes off-road (or can't go off-road) is like buying a dog and barking yourself"

There's a lot more to all wheel drive than off-roading. AWD offers better traction and stability in bad weather conditions, and especially snow and ice. That's the point.

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

This is a statement of fact, and is incorrect: "A 4x4 that never goes off-road (or can't go off-road) is like buying a dog and barking yourself"

It's not incorrect.

People got along just fine all those years ago (me included) without fake 4x4's.

Far too many people swallow the marketing crap that sees fit to dumb down the majority of the population into believing you 'need' a fake 4x4 to survive ....... and you really don't.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

It's not incorrect.

People got along just fine all those years ago (me included) without fake 4x4's.

Far too many people swallow the marketing crap that sees fit to dumb down the majority of the population into believing you 'need' a fake 4x4 to survive ....... and you really don't.

You're being intentionally obtuse in order to avoid being wrong. So far you've said that the "point" of 4x4 is to go off-road and that buying a 4x4, only to drive it on the road is like "buying a dog and barking yourself"; which is to say it's pointless.

Two things you're saying don't make sense:

1) 4x4 and AWD aren't the same thing. BMW doesn't make a true 4x4, but it's besides the point, because there's still a point to owning a 4x4 and driving it on-road only.

2) Just because you can "get by" without it doesn't make it pointless. I can "get by" riding a bicycle, but driving a car gets me there faster, and I'm not all sweaty when I arrive. An AWD car offers an improvement in stability and road holding under all conditions, and is especially advantageous in snow or ice.

That's the point.

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by GeeRam

It's not incorrect.

People got along just fine all those years ago (me included) without fake 4x4's.

Far too many people swallow the marketing crap that sees fit to dumb down the majority of the population into believing you 'need' a fake 4x4 to survive ....... and you really don't.

People got by with horses for years too. Giddyap!

[naheeda]

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