2019-04-01 BMW Car

APRIL 2019 31

YOUR LETTERS

INDEPENDENTS’ DAY

I know I’ve seen this issue mentioned a couple of times in the
magazine lately, but I just wanted to have a moan about the
standardisation that’s going on with BMW interior and exterior
design styles.
I appreciate that brand identity is very important these days, and
that cars’ ‘faces’ need to be distinctive and easily recognisable. But
surely the BMW design team is over-egging the pudding with the
new 7 Series and X7 front grilles. I mean, come on BMW, does
anyone in the company really think that these look good?
Where’s all the subtlety gone? Things are just getting over-the-
top! When I think back to the understated front end of the E38 7
Series, I can’t see how it’s all gone so wrong. The current 7 Series’
grille is so exaggerated that it almost makes the front of the E65
look appealing, and that’s saying something!
My other point concerns the interiors of modern BMWs. Why
are they all so similar nowadays? Surely, somebody who works
hard, saves their money and finally gets to upgrade from a 3
Series to a 5 Series, has the right to expect an interior that reflects
the jump to a higher level of car? Instead, all they get is a very
slightly scaled-up version of what they had in the 3 Series.
The same applies with the 7 Series, it’s just a little bigger

The recent article about BMR Performance Ltd (One-stop shop,

March, 2019), got me thinking about how so many BMW

owners feel obliged to take their cars to the dealership for all of

its servicing and maintenance needs.

This is all well and good, if you can afford to do so, or

you’re running your car on the company and its servicing is a

tax-deductible expense. But I think it’s becoming increasingly

difficult for ordinary people to pay the hourly rate that

dealerships are now demanding, which is why more and more

people are seeking more cost-effective alternatives.

From what I could gather from the article, BMR Performance

Ltd is just the sort of operation that’s set to start being a real

thorn in the side of BMW’s dealership network. The world is

changing, and well-staffed independent specialists know just as

much as the main dealers, in my opinion, and are just as able

to fix your car – and preserve its BMW warranty – as your local

dealership. In many respects, I think the good ones will actually

do it far better.

This is because customers are far more important to an

independent than they are to a giant dealership. In reality, if you

chop and change between dealerships, it doesn’t really matter

to them. But if you move away from an independent, that’s of

great importance to the owner of the business, so most will go

SELF-INDUCED IDENTITY CRISIS

Graham Willerton appreciates that

cars’ ‘faces’ need to be distinctive,

but believes the designers have

gone too far with the front grilles on

the new 7 Series.

that extra mile to keep you. That means they’ll work better and

with more enthusiasm, as BMR Performance obviously does.

They’ll also make time to talk properly with customers about

their cars, which is such another very important aspect.

Put all this together with much more reasonable hourly

rates, and it’s a no-brainer, in my view. More power to the

independents, I say!

Andrew Falconer, Thornton Watlass, N Yorks

Good independents, like BMR

Performance Ltd, could prove to be

a real thorn in the side of BMW’s

dealership network, thinks Andrew Falconer.

again but, essentially, the same inside as the 5. Car interiors are

important; it’s where we all spend most of our time when we’re

with our cars, so why not make the difference a bit more marked

between the model ranges?

Graham Willerton, Llandough, S Wales

Is it a 5 Series or a 7 Series?

Graham Willerton thinks there’s

just too much similarity between

BMW interiors nowadays.

Right: The E38

front-end was

understated yet

distinctive.