All Entries Tagged With: "BMW"
This BMW Commercial Got Lost In Translation
Is it just me or do the covered cars look like e28 5-Series sedans?
Super Bowl Redux: 2009 Jason Statham Audi Commercial
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Statham Audi Commercial Super Bowl XLIII
THE gray lady (NYT) is knocking her knees and spittin’ that this year’s Super Bowl is nigh and so are the car adverts that customarily go with. Audi is seeding expectation, once more, that its new ad will stand out just like all its other ads from years before. On that note, I thought another look at my favorite of these adverts – the 2009 spot for Super Bowl XLIII – which features not only a manic Jason Statham and Audi, but delves back in time to see rivals Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus in play. Too much fun for one commercial.
Shock! BMW Stolen In Detroit! And Other Stories…
by Gunnar Heinrich
READ about thieves making of with one of BMW’s press 760Li’s? The MSRP starts at $137,000 not $90K, ahem, Jalopnik. Or that bit about how the filthy practice that is crude speculation is raising the cost of everyone’s trip to the pump? Reuters. Then there was that recent bit the Globe and Mail about an orphan named Saab stuck outside the Cobo Center in the freezing snow. Have you no heart, GM? So cold. So very cold.
eBay Watch! Toy for Christmas: BMW Z3 2.8
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img via eBay Motors ::: 2000 BMW Z3 2.8
KNOWING that more than a few of you likely won’t cotton to this day’s eBay pick, I list the 2000 BMW Z3 2.8 anyway, wary though I am of the probable scorn that awaits. Those who are unaware of the Z3 might ask why the tentative prose?
Classic Beauty: BMW Z8
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: BMW Z8
BMW has sold a few oxbow-lake designs in its time.
The Z8 and the Z1 come right to the top of the list as Bimmers that could’ve been developed further or integrated better or marketed more but were considered too retro or too odd or too much of an already good thing.
Sure, you can see the Z8′s DNA in the wonderful new Z4, but the retro Z8 of the late 90s/ early 00s has been written off like the former thrill of watching a Pierce Brosnan Bond flick. Been there. Done that. That world just isn’t enough.
Our attention and expectations have been diverted to Daniel Craig’s edgier action-jackson Bond in recent years. Much like the relative shock ‘n awe of BMW’s current, beefier lineup. Chalk it up to the inexorable march of time, perhaps. All things change. But I think those classic lines of the BMW Z8 deserve a little more thought. A little more consideration and appreciation.
In an age of the graceless wedge, one design team penned a roadster that dared to be, should I say it? Classic. The Z8 cut it as a BMW boulevardier in a true Dolce Vita sense. In a way, that appeal is timeless. As are the rare Z8′s prices as the roadsters have seen little in the way of depreciation over the past decade – buy-it-now prices are as high as $125K which is near the Z8′s original MSRP.
Sometimes, ox-bow lakes have their virtues.
eBay Watch: 2008 BMW 128i Convertible
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img CarOne via eBay Motors ::: 2008 BMW 128i
BMW’s one-series has had its detractors.
Materials are too cheap, they say. They bemoan that the coupe and convertible both have the face of a pug and the belly of a pig, referring to the squished fascia and the doorsills that seem to sag in a low arc toward the road. It is, also, cynically overpriced.
Or was. The entry 128i convertible starts featuring BMW’s lovely 3L, 230 hp straight-six motor started in the low $40Ks. Time, 18K miles, and a little depreciation have cropped that figure down to size. The buy-it-now price on this still-warrantied black on black, off-lease, babied Texan 128i stands as a more equitable $25,950.
Did I mention that at that price you get a modern Bavarian droptop/boulevardier whose magnificent driving characteristics are more insync with BMW’s sporting heritage than any other (non-M) Bimmer since the E30 3-Series?
Pugs and pigs be damned, that’s one sweet car.
[eBay]
The Ultimate In Tasteful Marketing: BMW + Mad Men
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: img AMC ::: BMW Sponsors Mad Men
READ NY Mag’s recap of season four’s premiere of AMC’s Mad Men.
Logan Hill’s take was as concertedly analytical as what we’ve come to expect from New York‘s coverage of the series that depicts the madness behind the Brylcreem of Madison Avenue in the 60s. In his article, Mr. Hill referenced a line from Andy Warhol which applies nicely to cars and BMW’s ad campaign, in particular. Let’s reintroduce it here:
Warhol once said, “Lock up a department store today, open the door after a hundred years, and you will have a museum of art.” (Lock up an office in 1964, then pop it open on AMC in 2010, and, with a lot of creative license, you’ve got quality TV.)
How true.
BMW, who’s sponsored Mad Men‘s previous season, was presenting sponsor for this season’s premiere. And true to the show’s vintage nature, BMW’s commercials would’ve sated Janus himself – looking past first, then present.
In one of the spots, we see the BMW 5-Series in earlier forms – notably the E28. A BMW rep talks candidly on camera about the elegance of BMW’s past 5ers while we see company footage. Later on, another spot showcases the now familiar current bodystyle F10.
Past und present.
The last ad markets the bread ‘n butter 3er. We see E30 vintage 3-series sedans and then beauty shots of the current lineup while listening to chatter about “performance sedans”. The past and the future play equal parts again in a symphony for your attention (and hopefully dollars).
These spots culminate into great messaging by BMW.
Part of Mad Men‘s wide appeal is that the series reintroduces some of the glamorous aspects of commercialism in post war American society. Any company that associates itself with that classic aspect is making a case for the enduring appeal of its own brand’s identity. When is a bottle of Clorox art? When we see a bottle from the 60s deliberately re-presented.
When is a BMW art? When we see an vintage 5-Series in its former element. Being the Ultimate Driving Machine. This campaign ranks as an important departure from most car advertising which focuses on right now.
After all, to fully and faithfully subscribe to a brand identity like BMW, you have to maintain an appreciation for the past in order to ask buyers to re-invest in the present and the future.
BMW’s underwriting for Mad Men is mad marvelous.
DIY: Removing Door Panels E38 7er & W210 E-Class Illustrates Design Similarities
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: Door Panel Removal Videos E38 7-Series & W210 E-Class
HOW a car is put together says a great deal about the caliber of the engineering and design teams at work behind all the marketing hype and brand imagery. Layout is, to be plain, where the rubber meets the road.
It’s intriguing then to remember that despite being distinct marques, Mercedes-Benz and BMW’s cars are rather similar. Besides sharing part suppliers, there’s Teutonic commonalities in how each company manufactures their autos.
Consider these two videos as cases in point. Both are illustrative DIY films on how to remove the interior door panels without resorting to crowbar and hacksaw. We see a helpful technician work off an E38 gen. BMW 7er’s door panel (and burn his finger in the process) and another tech do the same (albeit more orchestrated and professionally edited) for a Mercedes-Benz W210 gen. E-Class.
The two cars share surprisingly similar construction traits, though it’s clear that the E-Class represents the older school formula of leaving the bulk of the electronics on the console and not the door. Seems wise, in hindsight.
Have a look.
Baroque Angel: Former Star of the Munich Police Force
by Gunnar Heinrich ::: YouTube ::: BMW 501
SOME time back, I was on an assignment covering a small town’s board of selectmen meeting when the item regarding budget allocation for police transport arose. Step forward the town’s sheriff who, as humble as pie, asked politely for the council’s consideration in letting his department lease two Harley Davidson motorcycles.
To support his case and show due diligence for finding the best rate for the tax payer, he submitted a paper showing competitive quotes from several local Harley dealers. The board chatted amiably amongst themselves for a moment, asked the top cop a question or two, and then voted.
The police department got their Harleys for summertime cruisin’.
In this video from Deutsche Welle TV, we’re introduced to retired Munich cop Herbert Joksch who pridefully shows us his former patrol car – a green 1950′s BMW 501 known as the “Baroque Angel.” Early predecessor to the 7-Series, BMW’s 501 was Munich’s luxurious answer to the Mercedes 300.
Herr Joksch remembers:
“When you were standing outside [directing traffic] for seven hours at a time and then some fellow policeman drove through the square in a Baroque Angel, all you could do was wave to him briefly. It wasn’t a feeling of envy. But your dearest wish at that moment was to one day be allowed to sit in that car.”
Officer Joksch, members of a certain police force Stateside know just how you feel.
