that's funny!!! Saw one today and .........looks like they missed something on styling for sure! How many shapes and sizes does the 3 series ....I mean 4 series come in now??
BMW's for all!!!!!!!!

I hope I don't sound to pretentious .


Oooops.

 

I saw a red X4 yesterday and I have to say it looked quite good until I saw the rear. But the front and the side profile weren't bad at all. Because of the boxy stance, it looked bigger than the Macan, initially I thought it an X6.

 

The rear is the problem (although the rest of the car is marginal from a design standpoint too). The good thing about the X4 is that it is a little bit less ugly than the X6.

For those of us in the US that remember the Aztek (one of the most colossal new cars ever launched), the X4 and X6 evoke memories of the world's ugliest car.

 

How many X4 owners are getting impromptu thumbs up from complete strangers as they drive through an intersection?

 

Maybe not the thumb....

>

 

llooll.



Yes. What's annoying is that cars like the Toyota Avalon come with LED headlights and taillights STANDARD.

Wow! Color me shocked. No LED taillights on any F30 for the entire generation is a disaster. The E90 facelift even has LED taillights for Bimmer's sake!

 

Wow! Color me shocked. No LED taillights on any F30 for the entire generation is a disaster. The E90 facelift even has LED taillights for Bimmer's sake!

I had an e93 with full LED rear DRLs, brake lights and indicators. They looked hot! Then they brought in the 3 series / 4 series with the cheap ass halogen lights, they look so cheap. That has been my biggest objection to the current BMW line up (with a few exceptions) the finishing (mirrors, headlights, tail lights, detailing) all looks cheaper than a 1990s Korean hatchback.

 

I don't hate the X4 drivers, just the X4.

 

Seems to be they're just trying to justify their purchase of the wrong car in the segment. Personally, I'm not a fan of the X4.

So you bought the X4 over the Macan, what did you miss....

The last comment, 'Macan just doesn't have that presence and uniqueness!' gave me a good laugh.

Mr Hot/Ice -
Is this an X4 Vs Macan flame fest ?

If so here's my take -

First the biggest positives of each -
1)The huge plus for the Macan is the PDK (It even is the reason why I opted out of keeping my Cayenne ).
2) The X4 has free maintence and for those who lease cars BMW is way ahead of the leasing spectrum .

Now the negatives
1) The X4 will simply not outperform a Macan Turbo .
2) The Macan option price list is outrageous .

Comfort - The BMW thread talks about comfort but the simple truth is that a large SUV like a Cayenne or X5 has more spaciousness than both the X4 and Macan . With that in mind giving up space ought to come with winning peformance .

Reliability - I have no issues with my Macan but I feel both Porsche and BMW are equally prone to mechanical and technological quirks . I call this a tie !!

Thus --
Big SUV - Cayenne
Sport SUV - Macan Turbo
Sport Coupe - 911
Sport Coupe with big savings over a 911 - M3
Sport Sedan - M3
Bargain vehicle - 328i
Bargain SUV - Audi Q5


BMW is a real contender . I would not buy an X4. I also would not buy a Macan S . If I were saving money I'd be looking at a 328i or a Q5 . Both are much cheaper and have all types of price and lease incentives .


But Throw price aside and load up a Macan Turbo with all the trimmings and in the small SUV segment there is no contest . It's the king !!

 

BMW really isn't "ahead of the leasing spectrum" if they artificially ***** their cars out. The market pays what the car is worth and will buy a car that's worth buying and lease one that's worth leasing. Macan speaks for itself in this regard. The BMW is a cheaper car, simply put.

Also the Macan option list is one of its biggest advantages. Like a true premium/specialty car, you can personalize it and customize it as much as you'd like, at a cost. It's an enthusiast driven formula and will ensure that no two cars are alike, this being antithesis to "fleet car" status. The X4, a much more mass-market, ease-of-manufacturing style with its bundles and less personalization, less consumer centric. I think this is a big Macan advantage. The Macan is more expensive because it's a more desirable and special car that outclasses the X4 (think 911S vs M3).

The Macan S will outperform the X4 3.0 hands down. The Macan Turbo will outperform it a little more, yet at a much larger premium. IMO in this 3 way, the S is best positioned.

 

BMW really isn't "ahead of the leasing spectrum" if they artificially ***** their cars out. The market pays what the car is worth and will buy a car that's worth buying and lease one that's worth leasing. Macan speaks for itself in this regard. The BMW is a cheaper car, simply put.

Also the Macan option list is one of its biggest advantages. Like a true premium/specialty car, you can personalize it and customize it as much as you'd like, at a cost. It's an enthusiast driven formula and will ensure that no two cars are alike, this being antithesis to "fleet car" status. The X4, a much more mass-market, ease-of-manufacturing style with its bundles and less personalization, less consumer centric. I think this is a big Macan advantage. The Macan is more expensive because it's a more desirable and special car that outclasses the X4 (think 911S vs M3).

The Macan S will outperform the X4 3.0 hands down. The Macan Turbo will outperform it a little more, yet at a much larger premium. IMO in this 3 way, the S is best positioned.

I do not like leasing . However , BMW nearly leads the pack of luxury cars in percent of cars leased and Porsche isn't even on the list .BMW not only subvents their leases but offers high residual programs , reasonable rates , and low payments on select vehicles. They also offer exit strategies and convenience in just about every category and that's why their leasing customer retention is huge .


Porsche on the other hand will cream the value of their own car and have MRM factors which define the awful configurations that sit on most dealership lots (unsold and often times unleased for months) .


"BMW is the cheaper car" - Compared with Porsche I agree but that's what keeps BMW customers . It's that same pricing comparison which keeps Porsche owners away from exotic cars (Ferrari. Mclaren, etc) . I agree on the mass marketing concept too. When a car offers bang for the buck it attracts a buying segment . The BMW segment is looking for luxury, sport, and convenience with a defined cost . Even though free service is fused into the purchase price it does become an established boundary .


I disagree on personalization . Look at any flagship Turbo S (991, Panamera,Cayenne) . Just about every option is included as standard . Sure one can order deviated stitching or special dial colors but the main gear is on every model . It's the base models which become a mess of decision making choices .

 

I have a 5 Series that has a similar MSRP to my Macan. Guess which one I'd pay practically sticker for and actually buy due to it selling me on the experience, not to mention pay way more for? Guess which one I'd only rent for a massive discount? I love both in different ways. One is buying into a dream, the other is buying a great car that markets itself as aspiration yet models itself after mass consumerism appliance. The other, actually holds onto its dream car status, regardless of its price.

Believe me, Porsche's biggest strength is that they don't have to resort to Mercedes/BMW like leasing. They have no desire to cash in on their brand and milk it in that way, and they're in a position where they don't have to.

Audi also upholds the more "dignified" no "lease throwaway" culture very purposefully to build up a cachet that BMW and Mercedes garnered in the past during their own rises. And it's working wonders in getting Audi right alongside revered BMW and Mercedes in brand appeal and cachet.

For the record, I love BMW. Best car I've owned so far and best experience yet. But they don't compete with Porsche, literally they are extremely different brands. Porsche is like an exotic nowadays between the two, as BMW expand onto so many segments re branding the exact same chassis, and discount/incentive/rent their cars in a diluted fashion. Porsche expand so much more concisely and with such focus that it comes across as more an art than a boardroom decision. They sell that image and walk the walk.

 

Ventilated seats are what sold me!

 

I agree very much with @K-A..

I am/was very happy with BMW, but it's comparing apples with oranges experience and ownership wise.

Also, with Porsche we all more or less 'complain' but pay the same for options, with BMW the (random/lease) discounts are destroying their brand image/value.

Our company parking lot holds over 200 beemers, but only 1 macan: mine.

 

Each brand is very different and each user experience is different based on miles/usage. That being said my experience with the competition: 2001 Mercedes CLK 430(new) - loved it, super reliable, great V8, very comfy.(7 years owned), 2006 BMW M5(used, 12k miles) - bland interior, beast over 50mph, clunky and gas wh*re in lower gears, very comfy active seats, plenty small issues....usually electronic, bad menu/computer system. (owned 4 years), 2013 Audi S4(new) - Very fast, smooth gears, stunning interior, very good computer system and controls/steering, very uncomfortable hard seats. ( 1 year).

I figured I would write this considering I owned all three brands people will most likely compare to or come from. As for the X4, I just don't think it's worth comparing, then again I never liked the look of the Range Evoque and don't think it's worth comparing either, but people gush over it. I've driven many friends cars, 335's, X5's, S550's, Amg's etc. Don't worry about what others like, it's about what fits you best. That being said the above three brands all sell this many vehicles in the US, Audi, 158k, BMW 200K+, Merc 200k+. Porsche sold over 40k last year for the first time ever.

My experience owning the Macan S a month: The smoothest ride, stunning interior and amazingly comfortable seats, and I love the design. And it's kind of nice they won't make a ton(at least for now)...but given the reviews and owner feedback...I have no doubt this will be back ordered for some time to come.

 

Have been leasing BMW X5 for the last 10 year. Our 2014 X5 is the 4th one we leased. We could spend the entire day here discussing if that is a good deal but in my case it makes total sense. It is my wife's car to drive to work and take kids to school everyday. It is our family car in the weekends. We don't put more than 12k miles/year in the car. She loves the car, the way it drives, the size, etc... We always keep the configuration around $65k and lease for 36 months. Every time our leasing is up for renewal I shop around and try other comparable SUVs which in my case are Mercedes ML, Range Rover Sport, Porsche Cayenne. I always try to config these cars with similar options and keep their MSRP very close to the X5. Not once in the last 10 years any other manufacturer could beat the deal I got from BMW. It is very simple: BMW has a massive leasing program and they are able to provide deals that no other manufacturer I mentioned above can beat. We currently lease a 2014 X5 with a MSRP of $67k for 36 months and 12k miles/year. I put less than $3k down which was the first payment, taxes and fees. My monthly lease is around $700/month. And during the 36 months I lease the car I have $0 maintenance costs. I have a dealer next to my work and when the car needs maintenance they give a 5 series loaner. I took that leasing deal to my Porsche SA. Even before I showed him he said if I was talking about leasing a Cayenne vs a X5 we should not even start the conversation. I asked him to run a quote anyway. For the same MSRP with almost all the similar options I had to put down almost $6k on the Cayenne and my monthly leasing payment was $1,240. Plus I had to pay for all maintenance costs during the 36 months period. When I talked to the Range Rover SA, he told me: I would never lease a RR. The Mercedes guy tried to offer me something more comparable. Still the down payment was close to $5k and monthly payments around $850. Thus, I am not discussing if leasing a BMW is a good deal or not. They way I see it is probably financially wrong but emotionally perfect. I get a very happy wife to drive an amazing car which I change every 3 years and I pay less than $800/month. I have the piece of mind my family is riding in a safe car, I will not have any expenses with maintenance and I really enjoy driving the car on the weekends. Would I buy a X5? Probably not. Would I lease one every 3 years? Definitely yes if BMW keeps the same strategy. when it was time for me to buy my new car I had no doubts in ordering a Macan.

 

Saved for a long paragraph about how Porsche today > BMW today.

Will update this after my Finance exam.

 

Just to be clear I'm not a fan but I saw a Black X4 tonight and it looked great, like a cleaned up X6. Wouldn't surprise me if it does better than expected especially given the heavy discounting, the free maintenance and the cheap extended.

 

The X4 is marginally less ugly than the X6. The X6 has ugly mastered. Every time my wife sees an X6, she exclaims "ugggh what the heck is that thing". The redesigns seem to make it worse, not better.

 

I find the marketing fascinating. I look at BMW, it was a brand that I admired and in my mind they fundamentally diluted the characteristics that made it exclusive and repositioned towards broad based appeal. So far the masses remained hooked. I think the X4 encapsulates what they try to do. They work to achieve some approximation of parity on quality, feign equal status with MSRP and then differentiate on price through heavy discounting and further on cost through the maintenance and extended. Also as has been mentioned on the leasing programs, they so severely lower barriers to entry and then they're hooked into ownership.

 

So your job is to develop an approach that will sell as many of these puppies as possible. You create an attractive leasing program that includes maintenance and warranty through the life of the lease, create a secondary market that picks up the cars after the leases expire, and you attract a whole bunch of people who otherwise couldn't afford $50K to 90K cars. Once they get into that leasing program it becomes very expensive, with a lot of up-front cash required, to switch brands, so most of them don't. If your job is to sell lots of cars, as opposed to making the best cars possible, you're a hero and you're gonna get a zillion $$$$ in incentive comp and stock.

 

I used to love Beemers, had 4 M3's, loved them all. The X4 though is painful for me to look at. I do not like the lines from any angle, just does not sit well with my design aesthetic. I still like some beemers but def not X4/X6. Design seems to be going the way of MBZ where there is not one current model that I even look at.

I tend to stretch my budget to get what my eyes think is sexy! Macan def = sexy. I don't like the Cayenne much, go figure?

 

The X4 though is painful for me to look at. I do not like the lines from any angle, just does not sit well with my design aesthetic. I still like some beemers but def not X4/X6. Design seems to be going the way of MBZ where there is not one current model that I even look at.
I don't like the Cayenne much, go figure?

For you the X4 for me the gran turismo. I too try to love the Cayenne and can't get there.

 

Just the appearance of that thread on their forum is bizarre. Here a lot of us have commented why we got a Macan. I wasn't even shopping for a Porsche but after looking in the $45k category I realized that paying $60k for my Macan S was a bargain for what I was getting. Very briefly looked at an X1 which was actually not bad to drive, but a four-cylinder turbo in an ugly wagonish vehicle was not worth $45k to me. It helped push me toward the Macan. The X4 just looks like an afterthought of a design to me, although it is slightly better than the hideous X6. Regardless, I wouldn't have thought of starting a thread obsessing about how great the Macan is compared to the X4. Frankly I don't see much of a comparison.

Just today I passed a brand new X3 (which never figured into my buying thoughts). It is night and day when you look at the appearance of that vehicle on the highway and the Macan. They are just two very different breeds.

 

Good points IvanC.

I think it's human nature to appreciate validation for ones purchases, especially when they're as... homely as the X4, hence the elaborate post rationalizing their decision and purchase of the X4.

Let's look at Bimmers...

Classic

Muscular

Powerful

Elegant

WTF?!

 

Saw this on the X4 forum. Pretty funny.


Link
So you bought the X4 over the Macan, what did you miss.... - Page 3

 

X4 looks like the Pontiac Aztek

 

Come on Shaun... the Aztec doesn't look that bad.

 

WTF are they talking about the Macan being "cramped inside". Unless talking about the rear, the front is not only THE MOST comfortable and vertically roomy car my 6'5 with long torso build has ever sat in, but it is quite literally THE ONLY Premium Car that I can actually really fit in. Much of that is because thankfully it's one of the only Premium cars that you can get without a sunroof, but even WITH the sunroof it is more roomy than anything I've sat in.

My head is pressed up against the roof of a hideous X4, or any BMW for that matter (including my current 535i which is very uncomfortable for me because of that).

For my tall (torso mostly) and thin build, there isn't a car in the world more comfortable for my proportions, seriously.

.... Not to mention, it's very wide. The use of frontal cabin space especially considering the cars dimensions and sleek roofline is engineering genius on its own.

 

For my tall (torso mostly) and thin build, there isn't a car in the world more comfortable for my proportions, seriously.

you're all torso?

 

Uncanny!

 

I can't figure out why people care so much about the decisions and opinions other people make.

 

@rhoyle Perhaps you are not an insecure lemming? Makes it hard to empathize if you aren't... >

 

The X4 looks horrible. The macan actually resembles an SUV like the cayenne. The X4 and GLA just look like cars stretched a little taller then called cuvs

 

Yeah, an over-inflated compact car.

 

Pity.