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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Originally Posted by WJGreer
True, but they all build to spec, and the specs are different in a Kia than they are in a BMW. Or a Ford.
I'm not going to get into the E90 versus F30 interior quality conversation here, because that gets religious fast and it's not what this thread is about. But I will say that in my line of work I drive a different rental car almost every week, and I do see a difference in the quality of interior between a $25,000 Chrysler 200 and a BMW. I just do. Jeep Grand Cherokees and Cadillacs are different, but there's another price point.
You make a good point about the cost of the German labor force. I think, though, that the same could be said for the Americans, which is one of the things that's been killing the industry here for decades, and also one of the reasons Hyundai and Kia are making so much progress.
Someone said that they were disappointed in the M3 interior as a $70,000 car. Right - the M3 is a $45,000 car with a $25,000 powertrain. I suggest sitting in a 5 series to see what BMW thinks an interior should look like in a $70,000 car.
People all think that since the Mustang is a new model, Ford will deliver it with a different level of fit and finish than anything they've done before. It is nice that they are moving to a modern rear axle arrangement - but I do expect the interior and the overall level of refinement to still be of a Ford. There's nothing wrong with that - I own and love an Explorer myself.
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