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Originally Posted by Kayani_1
Since you brought up the KIA vs BMW and someone else pointed out the difference is shrinking fast due to globalization and same materials being used more or less everywhere give or take a bit.
I recently sold my 2005 E60 BMW 545i spt. pkg after 5 year of ownership it was bought to replace our previous E39 525i.
To replace it I looked at lots of options and went for KIA Optima Hybrid. For the price it is hell of a car that offers lots of features. The car is larger and more roomy, the gas mileage is fantastic, offers plenty of features standard, and drinks regular gas, the maintenance is dirt cheap compared to the BMW. The car is averaging 36.6 mpg mostly all city driving. The interior design is nice and the plastic used is not cheap hard variety. The car looks great and drives nicer then what I expected. It is no performance sedan but then again the new BMW cars do not feel like how they used to either. The overly soft core nature and god awful EPS setups combined with overweight cars is not my cup of tea. The new 5 series almost is as large as my E65 7 series. I think BMW is turning its focus more from sports to luxury and that is not what attracted me to the BMW's in first place.
As a owner of two past 5 series that lasted me last 10 years the F10 did not excite me one bit. If I am going to buy a comfortable appliance then I will save some money while doing it. Thus, a fully loaded Kia Optima Hybrid instead of new BMW F10.
Now as I look towards buying a sporty car. It seems like once again BMW has less to offer and one can get a better offering from say GM with C7 stingray.
On that note based on looks, interior design, and Ford taking care of the engineering flaws that effected Mustangs handling. The new mustang holds a lot more promise and if you look at improvement they improved core areas. In context they made a bigger leap then say a said BMW 4 series did over BMW 3 series coupe. Maybe the next generation 3/4 will make a bigger leap lets hope.
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All this sounds right to me, except that we're making a lot of assumptions about a car none of us has ever seen.
I remember all the excitement generated around the current Explorer before it came out. Now that it's out, it's a really nice SUV, no doubt, and a leap beyond the one it replaced - but still a Ford in terms of fit and finish and refinement. This is not an indictment against Ford; who I think does a very good job at the price point they target. It's just me pointing out that there are some engineering differences between price points. Not so much between Ford and BMW; between price points.
Interesting review of the Optima. That is an excellent car by all reports, and Kia is not buried beneath labor agreements that both the Americans and Germans have. At least not yet. So they do deliver a lot of car for the money. Glad yours is working well for you.
EDIT: One last thing, about the F10. Like you, I also moved from a 2005 545 sport package to my 535xi. I will tell you that I was broken hearted for the first two months because of the difference in the driving experience between the two cars. As I have become more familiar with the F10, I find myself appreciating it more for what it is than I do comparing it to the E60. Most of what you said about the comparison is spot on, and I will not buy another 5 series unless they change the recipe. But it is a stunningly nice car, and for the preponderance of BMW target customers who aren't as picky as we are about chassis dynamics, it must be exactly what they want. I guess the sales numbers say that, anyway.