Tuesday, March 1, 2005

BMW BMW is taking pains to ensure its new 3 Series retains the wide appeal that's made it the world's best-selling luxury car.

2005 Geneva Motor Show

Carmaker hopes 3 Series wins over new generation

BMW reinvents the superstar of its lineup

By Christine Tierney / The Detroit News

Error processing SSI file BMW Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

GENEVA -- BMW is taking the safe road for once.

2005 Geneva

After polarizing buyers with the radically redesigned BMW 7 Series sedan and again with the midsize 5 Series, the German automaker is taking pains to ensure its new 3 Series retains the wide appeal that's made it the world's best-selling luxury car.

In redesigning the 3 Series, which thrilled car enthusiasts with its superb handling at an affordable price, BMW AG has tempered some of the styling and high-tech flourishes that have ruffled fans of its Ultimate Driving Machines.

The new, fifth-generation 3 Series sedan, which will be unveiled today at the Geneva car show, is a bit longer, taller and wider than its predecessor.

Test-drivers praise its responsiveness and agile handling -- BMW's trademark strengths.

And the contemporary but clean lines of the compact four-door are unlikely to a spark much controversy with enthusiasts.

"With the 3 Series, they've made a real effort to pull back," says Peter DeLorenzo, founder and publisher of Autoextremist.com.

While BMW advocated change almost for the sake of change with the new 5 and 7 Series cars, "there was no other agenda with the 3 Series other than to make it a proper 3 Series. It's clearly an evolutionary design, not meant to jar hard-core BMW fans," DeLorenzo said.

BMW faced the task of updating the 3 Series for a new generation of buyers without alienating those who already considered it a near-perfect expression of style and performance.

"Our expectation for the new 3 Series is to set a new benchmark in its class, as we did with the current model," says Wolfgang Epple, BMW project director for the new car.

Plenty is riding on the car's success. The 3 Series accounted for more than a third of the Munich-based carmaker's global sales of 1.25 million vehicles in 2004 -- and more than 40 percent of BMW-brand sales.

BMW CEO Helmut Panke describes the car, first launched 30 years ago, as "the soul of the BMW brand."

In the United States, BMW sold more than 100,000 3 Series sedans, coupes and convertibles in 2004, leading in a segment crowded with strong rivals, such as the Mercedes C-Class and the Audi A4, as well as new entrants including the Acura TL and the Lexus IS and ES cars.

A brand-new and sleeker IS -- as well as a small Cadillac designed for the European market, the BLS -- will be shown for the first time in Geneva.

But the show's star attraction is the 3 Series -- not only because it sets the standards for the small luxury car segment, but also because BMW's styling direction, first seen in the 7 Series sedan launched in Germany in 2001, has come under intense scrutiny.

Critics savaged the 7 Series' chunky trunk and baffling iDrive system, packed with 700 functions ranging from temperature to suspension settings. Its U.S. sales have declined for two consecutive years although the 7 Series is still a relatively new model. In the face-lifted version of the 7 Series, also on display in Geneva, BMW has tweaked the lines of the trunk.

Demand for the 5 Series, launched in 2003, also is weaker than the company had anticipated. Mercedes-Benz's older E-Class sedan outsold it last year in the United States.

Like most BMW customers, District Judge Bailey Taylor of Mount Washington, Ky., is fiercely loyal. Taylor has owned BMW vehicles continuously since 1983, and he has two BMW cars now -- a 1995 3 Series and a 1997 5 Series, both designed when the talented Wolfgang Reitzle headed vehicle development at BMW.

But Taylor, who teaches high-performance driving techniques as a side occupation, says he's not tempted by BMW's new offerings.

"The new cars are still a blast to drive, but their hideous styling and Buick-like cockpits virtually ensure that my next new car won't be a BMW," he said, adding that "BMW execs have insinuated that BMW customers don't like the new styling and iDrive because they aren't bright enough to appreciate them. Talk about arrogant."

In spite of such defections, BMW has boosted sales worldwide after expanding its range to include a new 1 Series compact; an upscale 6 Series convertible and a coupe; and a smaller sport utility vehicle, the X3.

Both the BMW group, including the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, and the BMW brand division reported record sales last year. The company has not yet reported full-year earnings, but net profit rose 11 percent in the first six months of 2004 to $1.5 billion.

So far, the company is sticking by controversial designer Chris Bangle. He was promoted last year to oversee design for all brands and given a seat on the board. His assistant, Adrian Van Hooydonk, who helped design the 7 Series, was put in charge of BMW-brand design.

But the constant carping of onetime BMW fans in Europe and in the United States seems to have dampened the carmaker's zeal to keep pushing the boundaries with its styling.

Epple says the 3 Series' subdued design partly reflects the vehicle's middle position in the model range. In terms of styling, "it's not as close to the 7 Series as it could be -- that was a decision."

The 3 Series will be available with a wide choice of engines, including two 6-cylinder offerings in the United States, and six-speed manual or automatic transmission.

It accelerates faster than its predecessor, going from zero to 60 mph in just under 6.3 seconds, but is around 5 percent more fuel-efficient because the engine was constructed using lighter metals, such as magnesium. A redesigned chassis creates a feeling of precise control, and the car is generously equipped with safety features, such as run-flat tires.

In addition to the sedan, BMW will introduce a new 3 Series station wagon later this year, a redesigned coupe in 2006, a new convertible and a high-performance M3 in 2007.

The 3 Series owes much of its success to the company's strategy of producing several variants and spacing out the launches to sustain demand over the life of the model. The current 3 Series' annual sales peaked at 561,000 in 2002, the model's fifth year. Sales declined in the past two years but not steeply.

"That's quite a satisfying (sales) curve," said BMW spokesman Michael Rebstock. "We'll have new models of all the variants to hold this curve" with the new 3 Series.

However, the 3 Series compact sold only in Europe will be discontinued, now that the automaker has a new entry-level car, the 1 Series.

Despite the disruption caused by the model changeover, BMW expects in 2005 to match or increase last year's 3 Series sales.

You can reach Christine Tierney at (313) 222-1463 or ctierney@detnews.com.