BMW no longer the Ultimate Driving Machine

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/07/bmw-drops-ultimate-driving-machine/

BMW has used the tagline "Ultimate Driving Machine" for 31 years. During that time its sales in the U.S. have gone from 15,007 units in 1974 the year before the ad slogan began to 266,200 units in 2005. While producing outstanding automobiles during that time may have something to do with the brand's success, no doubt the tagline is considered one of the best in the automotive biz (See Poll Results: Best Tagline Ever - Battle Royale). Regardless, BMW is dropping the successful phrase and replacing it with "A Company of Ideas".

I much prefer "Ultimate Driving Machine".

Can't really think of any other memorable car slogans apart from Audi's "Vorsprung durch Technik" – "Advancement through Technology".

Not a good move in my mind.

Just because something is old doesn't mean it needs changing.

Ultimate Driving Machine also suits all of their sporting focus such as now owning their own F1 team as well. "A Company of Ideas" sounds pretty meh to me.

That's fuckin atrocious...

"The ultimate driving machine"... is tantamount to be false advertising on a BMW... I can see how you MIGHT get away with applying it to an M3/M5/M6, but other than that, a 120d, an X3 or an X5 is about as far from the ultimate driving machine as you can get.

Or you on crack?

Are even

Not really... BMWs MIGHT be semi-sporty, semi-comfortable sports sedand, but there's nothing exactly "Ultimate" about them. They're heavy, they're not that quick, they're overpriced, they're not that well built, they're not involving to drive and I just don't see the point.

Sure the M3 is a mildly quick sports sedan and the M5 is rather a tasty express luxury car and the M6 is... well it's an M5 with 2 doors but none of their current cars are what I'd describe the "ultimate" in anything.

Drove an E46 M3 a while back and man did it feel dead to drive, you could just FEEL the weight, and the steering felt just completely lifeless. Turn in was pretty crisp but with the traction/stability control off you could just tell that the chassis was lacking in certain areas.

And after following a new M5 around a racetrack for a while, you can see how easily its weight absorbs all 507bhp... it's quickish once moving, but its through-corner and exit speed are nothing to write home about.