Quote:
Originally Posted by brainblade
as far as the size..i have no idea why the f10 grew so much in size and bulk from e60..is it that bmw sees greater deannd in china where they prefer the 5 and its size--is it that 7 series, or large luxury crusiers are going the way of the dodo bird in the US and the f10 was designed to replace lost share? i believed the e60 had perfect interior space and the f10 is borderline too roomy. So i do think its possible to maintain the same interior space yet shrink the exterior. if next generation lose weight, i hope exterior dimensions dont grow.
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Chinese market may grow to the point where it dictates what the rest of us get but, for now, longer wheelbase models, are fulfilling their needs. F10 size most likely in response to E-class which grew to silly interior proportions (wasn't far from S-class interior dimensions) after the W124 model.
If the F80 M3 hand a better interior and more refinement, I'd be tempted. As it stands the forthcoming C63 AMG replacement is more likely to be a better 'small M5'.
Where MB differs from BMW is that they don't restrict the refinement in the C-class, whereas the 3 series always seems to have a glass ceiling to distant it from the 5 series (probably so that they don't get current 5 series drivers jumping into less profitable 3 series; BMW attracts drivers looking for sportier cars than MB, which usually means smaller, less weight, etc.).
Current gen A6 is a little bigger than the F10, so (again IMHO) would predict G30 to grow in size a little. Not sure if 7 series sales are yet at a point where it will be discontinued (the 2013 7 series I was given to road test drove worse than the F10 (interior was slightly better though), but some people will always just think bigger is better and be prepared to line BMWs pockets accordingly - all good as profit=development funds). Let's not forget that X7 is also on the cards.