BMW's ARE PERHAPS THE BEST REAL WORLD PERFORMANCE CARS... They are in my opinion the best passaenger cars built in active safety.. I don't know of any luxury performance car that can stop on a dime the way a BMW can or remained controlled in an emergency maneuver.. Not to mention, considering the weight of these cars, and the luxury features presented, they represent a tremendous value when it comes to feel for the road, and driver experience.. Japanese cars, I'm sorry to say (Lexus) that compete with BMW's lack the feel for the road, have poor modulation particularly in the handling, and braking department.. Yes, on paper they represent a tremendous value for the money, considering HP figures, size and equipment.. The difference is in the driving.. At least BMWs are usable, they combine luxury, and performance meshed in together... If people are buying these cars for the status and the mystique, please explain your rational behind consumers who buy C5's and Porsches and Ferraris.. They must be even bigger fools considering how uncomfortable, expensive to maintain, and impractical these cars are...

YOUR SUM-UP OF BMW IS TOTALLY WRONG... For many years BMW has advertised that although their cars will probably exceed the performance requirements of typical American drivers, its performance features will just make driving at 55mph that much more enjoyable... Your data and research is inconclusive, and as an advertising executive I am surprised at your lack of knowledge in this area...

: I recently got flamed for a post which demonstrated how every model of BMW had a cheaper and quicker competitor. A few readers posted statistics siting otherwise, but these were for 328i, 528i, 540i, and M5 models that are manually shifted, and therefore cannot be compared to their classmates (which are automatics). In the end, BMW models are slower and more expensive than their competitors (with identical transmission type), with the exception of the X5 (although the ML55 is not significantly more expensive but significantly quicker).

: Acceleration is the most significant real-world performance statistic in American driving conditions. 75% of all driving is done between stoplights in straight lines, with speed limits of 30-50 mph. 20% is done on freeways, which have speeds limited to 70 mph (therefore negating the significance of top speed). The remaining 5% is done on winding roads. For purpose of argument, let's say .1% of driving is done on race courses.

: Certainly, BMWs excel on winding roads and at race courses, but as I've made clear here, winding roads and race courses compose only a small percentage of all driving conditions. In the overwhelming majority of driving conditions, a better performing vehicle (in real-world terms (ie, acceleration)) is available for less money.

: None of this is to say that BMWs are bad cars. They're excellent, and in all but a few cases (318, 528, 740, and Z3) are better all-around cars (in my opinion) than their competitors.

: "So the whole point of this long-winded post is to say that BMWs are not the best accelerating cars in their classes?" you say. No, that's only the support for my point. My point is that acceleration is really the only relevant real-world performance statistic. I'm sure I'll hear from BMW owners here who road race their cars and measure their cars' performance by their lap times. But I point out that the 98% of the time that you're not racing your car, you're accelerating from stop light to stop light. And in those conditions--the preponderance of all moments you and your car spend together--your BMW is a less than "ultimate" driving machine.

: All of which raises a second observation: "Why do you care?" I care because I work in advertising, and I'm fascinated by how marketing skews consumers' perception of fact and truth. BMW has gone to great lengths to portray their cars as real driver's cars. In commercials, most models are shown screeming through tight turns in a mountainous country side. I can't imagine that BMW owners get such an opportunity more than a few times a year.

: A lot of people have bought into the BMW "mystique." And they've paid significantly for it--these are expensive cars. The majority of them will barely explore the road-course abilities of their vehicles. For them, their BMW is a fashion accessory. They could have bought a less expensive vehicle, but they instead chose a car which enhances their image (yes, BMWs are safe, luxurious, and well-built, but the Japanese meet them in all three categories and for less money, so it's image which tips the scales for these owners).

: That said, from the replies to my original post, I can see that most participants in this forum have a well-grounded appreciation for their BMW. I think the majority of BMW owners here would like to distance themselves from the popular image of the BMW owner, and for that I support them.

: Where I differ from other participants here is in their view that their BMW is a superior performance machine because of its road-course manners. I think I've made clear that most of what makes a BMW special and unique is put to no good use on American roads. For that reason, I use my C5 as my daily driver and use my 540i for the occasional times I need 4 doors.

: I hope you understand that your BMW (with very few exceptions) is not a real-world performance car. Enjoy your BMW for what it is: a very well-built, refined, and balanced road car whose qualities are largely wasted in American driving conditions.

: If you want to reply, please avoid:
: "You're an idiot" (or similar term for stupid person)
: "Go away" (you could have scrolled past my post)
: "Didn't you claim to own a used 3-series" (that post was a practical joke--I thought most would catch the sarcasm)
: "You're inconsistent. You say BMWs are better all-around than their competitors, but also say that most owners buy them for their image and that they are poorly-performing cars." (that's not being inconsistent, and I wouldn't call them poorly-performing either)
: "You have no life" (don't we all have interests that seem frivolous to others?)