BMW's Game Changer – A Vehicle That Is Redundant Before It's Even On Sale

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

BMW’s new nomenclature dictates that coupes have an even numbered naming convention, while sedans get an odd numbered digit. But with the BMW 4-Series Gran Coupe, BMW has managed to disrupt the integrity of it right off the bat.

The Gran Coupe, said to be the black car in the center of the photographs, is just a 4-door 4-Series with a sloping roof. But a 4-door 4-series is, of course, a 3-Series. Aside from the sloping roof and the presumably missing center seat in the back, how is this at all different from a 3-Series? What’s the selling proposition? At least the 6-Series GC has a competitive set in the Audi A7 and Mercedes CLS, while offering a distinctive package versus the 5-Series. This really doesn’t look that different at all. Then again, luxury niche customers have always been ignored by the Germans…

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Hummer Hummer on Feb 01, 2014

    I've seen several people make point of the 3-series being common as a legitimate reason in and of itself to buy the 4 What about the grand old idea of buying something you want and like, I've never purchased a vehicle on the basis of what others will think of me, they have all been bought because I wanted them and they made me happy. Is image really that big to some of you?

    • Zykotec Zykotec on Feb 01, 2014

      I think BMW too a large degree makes a living on people who buy cars only for the image. Offcourse there are still car enthusiasts who buy them too, because they think they look good and drive/handle well, just like there are some people who buy an ILX or CTS because they like those cars. BMW and Audi, and partially Mercedes has understood the current market of people with a 15 minute attention span though, with a new model released almost every forthnight, without spending an awful amount of money on development. It is the late 50's all over again.This is one reason Ford and Opel , and many Japanese brands are struggling in Europe, with very few models that are not updated often, people just forget that they excist...

  • Gottacook Gottacook on Feb 01, 2014

    It's funny how the German automakers (starting with the first-gen Mercedes CLS and the VW CC; today BMW and Audi as well) began featuring frameless windows in their premium four-door cars at the same time that Subaru began to abandon them.

  • 3SpeedAutomatic R&T could have killed the story before it was released.Now, by pulling it after the fact, they look like idiots!! What's new??
  • Master Baiter "That said, the Inflation Reduction Act apparently does run afoul of WTO rules..."Pfft. The Biden administration doesn't care about rules. The Supreme Court said they couldn't forgive student load debt; they did it anyway. Decorum and tradition says you don't prosecute former presidents; they are doing it anyway. They made the CDC suspend evictions though they had no constitutional authority to do so.
  • 1995 SC Good. To misquote Sheryl Crow "If it makes them unhappy, it can't be that bad"
  • 1995 SC The letters on the hatch aren't big enough. hard pass
  • Ajla Those letters look like they are from AutoZone.
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