WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 23, 2024 15:36:06 GMT
We should call you Nostradamus. 😛
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 24, 2024 11:52:39 GMT
And now I have the loaner. It’s not a Lamborghini but it was parked next to one. Oddly for a rental (although it’s years since I last rented) it’s nearly two years old, but has barely a thousand miles on it. It has the near-black wipe-clean interior we had in the demo car; much prefer my blue fabric one. It also has the previous version of Idrive, which looks more like the one in the i3, just completely different, so I can’t find anything. But it’ll be OK. It has the glass roof, which I didn’t notice till I was halfway home. And no speed limit bongs, which I (weirdly) kind of miss. It even has a towbar, not that I’m likely to be using that.
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Post by Humph on Aug 24, 2024 15:28:37 GMT
What is it? I can see that it’s a BMW from the badge and grille but I’m not very up on the newer models. Is it more or less the same as your car or is it a different one?
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 24, 2024 17:15:49 GMT
Ah, I didn’t report the full conversation with Enterprise. They weren’t sure on Tuesday whether they’d get me an iX or a Q8 Etron — which I thought might be interesting, if only to vindicate my choice. By yesterday it was confirmed as an iX, so I knew what to expect.
And the weather this morning was so filthy that I was very glad not to have to deal with unfamiliar controls as well as rain, spray and standing water. After I got home and was properly coffeed up, I sat in the car and turned off all the options I don’t have or don’t use in mine. And turned on the speed limit bongs.
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Post by Humph on Aug 24, 2024 17:33:18 GMT
I must of course have seen more than one iX, but I can’t remember what they look like. I suppose they must have registered with me as a BMW SUV without realising what the specific model was. Selective perception no doubt on my part. I think we all tend to notice things we know about more than things we don’t. I hardly knew Jeep Renegades existed until my wife wanted/got one and now I see them regularly.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Aug 24, 2024 18:07:55 GMT
You'd remember if you'd followed one, especially in white, quite oriental looking.
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Post by Humph on Aug 24, 2024 18:18:19 GMT
Looks a bit obese from that angle. Although it probably doesn’t feel like that to drive. A lot of cars look a bit plump now of course.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 24, 2024 19:59:17 GMT
So would anything! That's taken with a very wide-angle lens, like a phone selfie with a huge nose. You'd never see it like that with the naked eye. I wouldn't call the rear view svelte but I think it's well proportioned.
I misread the mileage on this one. The 1000 miles is a trip reading and the total is more like 17,000, which seemed not to appear until I'd switched off. Information appears in different places in the older software version, which I'll probably get used to just in time to get my newer one back.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Aug 24, 2024 22:29:52 GMT
I must have wide angle eyes because that is what struck me about the iX I followed a few weeks ago. Admittedly, the rear haunches weren't quite so wide but it did look a bit stretched between what was above the glass line and the metal work. Just looking a bit lacking in lighting vs metalwork. I think what really emphasises the height of the vehicle is the positioning of the rear reflectors, they are at the bottom of the bumper. Compare that with where they are on a low to the ground Focus RS which is on 19" wheels.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Aug 24, 2024 23:01:44 GMT
Looking at the facelift to the 3 series I had, then the new 5/i5 and the Neue Klasse.... BMW must have the new Chris Bangle in charge of design. And still people buy the cars.
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Post by dixinormus on Aug 25, 2024 5:38:40 GMT
Nice to have a like-for-like replacement Wd. Not the panelbeater’s 1.0 Corsa E courtesy car in the days of old!
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 25, 2024 6:35:24 GMT
Just looking a bit lacking in lighting vs metalwork. You don’t have to like it, of course, but I think that’s intentional. Have a look at the picture of mine on p14 and you’ll see how you can trace the line of the rear lights along the sides, through the door handles and (my camera isn’t clever enough to show this) the front lights too. I suspect that idea went into the design very early, and it then led to the curious clamshell tailgate because they didn’t want to break the line of those lights. The bottom half of the internet will always do its thing but, for what it’s worth, I think Bangle’s designs have worn pretty well, especially the 5 saloon (LHD wipers apart.) The current 5 looks over-conservative by comparison. The iX was designed by an autonomous team. There are some rather nice videos on the BMW corporate site where they talk about the choices they made. But features like the slim headlights and the flattened surfaces above the wheels are appearing on more recent designs too, like the iX2 I tried (and didn’t fit into) in the showroom the other day. Nice to have a like-for-like replacement Wd. Not the panelbeater’s 1.0 Corsa E courtesy car in the days of old! Funny you should mention that. Enterprise yesterday mixed up my reservation with one under a similar name and offered me a Corsa. When they realised who I was, they ushered me into another room with carpets and armchairs to do the paperwork on the iX. 🤠
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Post by Humph on Aug 25, 2024 8:47:08 GMT
Or to put it another way, if it was alive, you’d strongly advise it not to wear leggings… 😉
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Aug 25, 2024 10:55:46 GMT
You're right, WDB we all have different tastes. The door handles and the light line don't work for me, the headlight line follows the bonnet line to the base of the A pillar which is higher than the rear light line.
I think Bangle did his best work at Pininfarina. BMW put handcuffs on him. I find most German car design a bit staid, that applies to all the brands. Interesting to read Bangle is now back in Italy with his own company located between Turin and Monaco.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 25, 2024 12:26:13 GMT
The door handles and the light line don't work for me, the headlight line follows the bonnet line to the base of the A pillar which is higher than the rear light line. Have another look. There are three lines: the top of the bonnet, the gap where bonnet meets wing, and the line through (not above) the headlamps that continues aft through the door handles. The three converge in the painted area between the ‘grille’ and the badge. You still may not like it but it does look intentional to me… …especially as the corresponding lines in the i3 do the same thing and converge at the equivalent point, just below the badge.
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