Zitat von reinhard;138377Hier noch ein dem Anschein nach von Hans Zimmer musikalisch dramatisiertes Video auf Youtube:
Schöne Abkündigung. Warum gehen die Scheinwerfer am Ende aus anstatt an? *seufz* Was ist bloß aus der Kunst des Filmemachens gewoden?
...Mike
P.S.: Wer gerne mehr dieser Art von Musik hören möchte, dem sei Thomas Bergersen bzw. Two Steps From Hell empfohlen. Hans Zimmer auf Speed.
I don't like it. In my eyes it tries too hard and is stuck in the uncanny valley of cars. When I look at it, I see the doors and I think "nice touch of Ferrari". I see the rear roof line and think "nice touch of Aston Martin". I see the huge air intakes in the front and outlets in the rear and think "nice touch of Lamborghini". But while all these work on the other cars, neither of them does on the new 8 series. Add the oversized kidney grille atrocity to the frankensteined appearance and there is the in-your-face automotive brutalism that I hoped BMW would overcome. But sadly, no: "This is BMW! Deal with it!"
The interior is better but not by much. At least it seems consistent to me and I like its sleekness, the flowing and continuous lines and the inner door handles in particular. It reminds me of the retro-futurism of the 1960's nuclear-powered concept cars. But again it lacks refinement. Why is there ersatz metal (plastic) on the steering wheel and middle console when there isn't on the doors? I don't expect a Pagani interior but even TVR chose better materials.
From a functional point of view: the less buttons the worse. When you have to take the eyes off the road in case your feet are too cold it's a design failure. Period. And the new 8 seems to fail a lot in that regard.
The old 8 series was an unusual BMW that stood apart, the new one is just kind of a 6. Meh.
...Mike
Are new cars boring? I think most of them are, just as most of them have been in the past. It's the same with movies. There aren't more bad movies made today than in the past, it's just that only the good ones survive and the rest is forgotten. Selective perception. Besides, when you are used to the 8 it's really hard to improve because it's a car that just works in every aspect. Yes, you can always have more, but even a lot of "more" will rarely become "different".
The 90s for me have been the decade where cars began to "just work". They (reliably) did what you expected of them, didn't need to be pampered and didn't require you to adjust to their quirks. Unfortunately the same 90s have been the decade where cars stopped to "just work". They became "smart" and failed. For example, when I release the parking brake, I want it released at that moment and not when the car thinks it should be done. In some cars you even have to struggle with the indicators. Why can't I change the radio stations when I'm in the navigation menu? Menus... I hate menus!
In ye olden days you could operate a car without taking your eyes and concentration off the road. Your feet were too cold? Just yank a lever. Trained reflexes, muscle memory. You didn't have to think about it. But today, you have to take a good look at your LCD, select the appropriate menu (possibly with a user interface that lags like hell) and select your desired temperature. Oh, have I just hit something with my car? Phew, lucky that I haven't been operating my phone instead because that would have been illegal!
Every time I have to drive such an attention whore it distracts me from the driving experience in a way that I don't have an experience any more (at least not a good done). It's just stressful when you can't feel your way around the car.
I find modern cars more annoying than anything else.
...Mike
Zitat von revtor;126512It does already show up on eBay and I guess some of the scale model shops also secured a small supply, so you can still get it. The bad news is that prices (at least on eBay) are almost double what we paid during the pre-order campaign...
Here they are for sale (and apparently in stock) for 80 Euros. It's a regular shop and not ebay.
...Mike
D*mn, I've seen it too late. It even has my leather color.
...Mike
I obviously have watched too many movies 
...Mike
A modern Robin Hood sounds a bit like "take from the rich and sell to the poor". 
...Mike, SCNR
Zitat von Noggie;80244The E31 the illegitimate son of the BMW family? [...] "wow, thats a really nice lineup... but they shouldn't have had that 8'er there... it just looks out of place". [...]
My guess is that it is a bit about individualism. Or uniformity, depending on your point of view. Most humans seek uniformity of some kind to demonstrate affiliation to certain groups. Maybe it's the genetic inheritance. If man wasn't civilized its social structure would be the pack, and the odd one who stands out would... at least arouse suspicions.
The 8 series is the odd one out, no discussion there. Many people like the 8 series but still think it looks out of place and see that as a negative. Do they have the same taste but lack that bit of individualism that is needed to really embrace the car? Do they fear to be the odd one out?
How individual is BMW Individual? Is your 3 series really individual when you order it in "jaune helios" instead of "dakargelb"? Somewhat, yes, but it's still a 3 series with all its implications. It's a very interesting phenomenon that individuality is at the same time desireable and feared. Is it cultural? Is it zeitgeist?
I have always been the odd one out. And I don't care.
...Mike
P.S.: There are only three BMWs that I really like: the E31, the Z1 and the E38 L7. Well...
Yesterday I was fooling around a little with my CSi (unchipped) and by chance did a 0-100 kph run. It was a gentle one - I didn't build up the revs before and during shifting I didn't keep them up. I got it on video and the timecode overlay from where the nose starts to rise in first until it drops during the shift into third (@ ~100 kph) says 6.4 seconds. That's okay by me.
Here's the video (mp4, 4 MB)
...Mike
I believe it's 2.03m (about 80") with the sports mirrors. Unfortunately I cannot find the source so somebody please confirm me (or prove me wrong).
For normal mirrors the overall width is 2.05m (80.7"). Maybe this will still help by being at least an upper limit.
...Mike
