I've bought 19 BMWs. Let me talk about my understanding of luxury cars | A letter from the car owner

| This Issue's Brand: BMW

| This Issue's Car Owner: A post-70s car owner, engaged in the investment industry. Has purchased 19 BMWs. Including seven 5 Series from E60 to the current G68, several X5s, 7 Series, X7s, electric models i3, iX3, i5, iX, and M Power series M3, M6.

I am a seasoned BMW car owner, and everyone calls me Big Cousin Bimmer.

Since 2003 until now, I have purchased 19 BMWs, and currently, the car I drive most frequently is the electric model i5 of BMW.

My Understanding of Luxury Cars: Safety, People-oriented

Nowadays, many new brands have emerged in the market, and I don't reject them, but I find it quite puzzling.

Cars are a durable consumer good, but the current consumer focus has successfully been shifted to the so-called intelligence, refrigerators, color TVs, and large sofas in cars.

People have overlooked the essence of a car as a means of transportation: the mission and delivery, active and passive safety, and the quality and durability of the car. And these are the most fundamental reasons why I have been persistently purchasing BMWs for so many years.

BBA's definition of a luxury brand places more emphasis on safety.

Mercedes-Benz focuses on passive safety. When a Mercedes-Benz vehicle has an accident and the airbag is triggered, the car window will drop by a few millimeters. The reason for this is that when the airbag pops out, it will compress the air inside the car, which may puncture the passenger's eardrum. After the window is opened, this risk disappears.

Mercedes-Benz even considers the safety of the eardrum, which is indeed admirable.

BMW's safety concept is reflected in the chassis and handling. For example, when making an emergency avoidance, due to the excellent handling of BMW cars, it can use a smaller S-curve to avoid obstacles. BMW's excellent handling ability makes most accidents a false alarm. Moreover, BMW is also very well-positioned in terms of passive safety.

BMW has large-scale research and development centers in many places around the world and invests a large amount of funds in innovation every year.
 

Before a BMW car is launched on the market, the research and development takes 3 - 4 years, and with testing, it requires at least 6 and a half years. It needs to undergo millions of kilometers of testing in various extreme environments around the world, and after the testing, continuous corrections are made until it is finally put into production.

Beyond safety, my understanding of luxury includes the following several points:

First, privacy. For these cars that want to be highly intelligent, don't even talk about privacy.

Behind the high intelligence, others can remotely see everything inside your car, including the location. And the car owners have no choice in this matter; otherwise, this function cannot be used. I don't approve of such a thing, but many people don't care. Even if the privacy is leaked and it becomes popular on the Internet, it is still considered a good thing?

Second, balance.

Now many cheap household cars are made into high-performance cars, which is very dangerous. You should know that most ordinary customers do not have racing experience.

I bought a BMW M6. The configuration of this car in all aspects is in line with its speed. The body and chassis have sufficient support, the tire grip is good, and the suspension is also sufficient to handle. But it is very uncomfortable. This is a pure-blood performance car, and it will be a bit worse for daily household use.

Performance is performance, and household use is household use. BMW does a great job. But now, for a car of two or three hundred thousand yuan, a very high acceleration performance is configured. The speed is comparable to that of a racing car, but the vehicle configuration does not meet the safety requirements of a racing car. A set of racing-level brake system is more expensive than your car! How can such a car gain trust?

Third, it is what the brand does when it turns its back to the consumers.

For example, for the rear screen of the vehicle, my i5 is optionally equipped with a rear 8K high-definition cinema screen. Although it is expensive, the experience is very good.

I once asked some people from new energy vehicle companies. The cost of the rear screen of some of their cars is only a few hundred to a thousand yuan, while the cost of this screen of BMW is over ten thousand yuan. This is the difference in quality. Being usable and being good to use are two different things.

The same goes for the electrically operated suction door. The purchase price of BMW is over ten thousand yuan, but the cost of many new energy vehicle companies is only a little over one thousand yuan. Why does BMW do this? Is BMW stupid? This is the bottom line of traditional brands. Using better and safer accessories can open the door for rescue in extreme cases when an accident occurs!

Another example is that I bought a BMW iX. The leather used in this car is made from olive leaf extract, which is particularly environmentally friendly. The design of the entire vehicle's carbon cage is more secure. BMW's claim of environmental protection is not just for show. Many of the configurations provided by BMW are not just for show but are thoroughly and well done from start to finish.

Why Have I Been a BMW Fan for 22 Years

In 2003, I bought my first BMW E60 5 Series, a second-hand car worth more than 500,000 yuan, and it is also the most classic fifth-generation Eagle Eye. Except for the tires which are made in China, other parts are basically pure imports.

The most real reason for buying this car initially was that when I was in my early twenties, a girl I liked very much finally chose a man driving a BMW 7 Series. Are men driving BMWs so charming?

At that time, a brand new 7 Series cost more than one million yuan. In 2003, this was already the price of a house. Therefore, very few BMWs could be seen on the road. BMW was a symbol of money and social status. Such scarcity and symbolic meaning is one of the meanings of luxury.

This second-hand BMW I purchased has constructed my car evaluation system. In the more than 20 years of buying and using cars later, I have also more deeply understood the connotation of BMW as a luxury car brand.

If someone asks me what driving pleasure is? Then the answer must be "BMW".

For example, the steering wheel design of Mercedes-Benz is an inward-buckling type. During driving, it gives a feeling of getting tighter and tighter, and you must hold the steering wheel with both hands.

While the steering of BMW's sports steering wheel is precise, direct, and has no dead zone, bringing an excellent driving texture. The steering force is just right, neither too heavy nor too light, making the driving process natural and smooth. The feedback performance of the steering wheel is excellent, which can control the vehicle more quickly and accurately when driving at high speed, enhancing the driving pleasure.

And the fifth-generation BMW 5 Series I bought has a very high configuration, a 6-cylinder engine, a 6-speed gearbox, BMW's own iDrive system, and the world's first active steering system. The actual feeling of this active steering technology is quite amazing. I think only with such configuration and experience can a car be called a luxury car.

During the more than 20 years of driving BMWs, I feel that the changes in BMW cars are quite significant. From the previously heavy steering wheel to the current light and precise steering wheel, from the previously tight and more distinct road-sensing suspension to the current chassis with stronger filtering ability and a combination of handling and comfort.

BMW has been making progress, making compromises towards comfort, but also retaining the driving pleasure. And the configuration of BMW is actually more abundant.

20 years ago, only a few speakers were called high-fidelity audio, but now, many BMWs are standardly equipped with a 16-speaker Harman Kardon, and high-end models are even equipped with a 30-speaker Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Tweeter car audio.

Another example is that in the early 2000s, my BMW had a very awesome configuration, HUD head-up display. Wherever I went, I would ask people to come to my car to see this HUD. Although it was still in the initial form of the product, it was indeed one of the most advanced and trendy configurations at that time.

Now, for a BMW of more than 300,000 yuan, HUD, liquid crystal instrument panel, Harman Kardon audio, these are all arranged. Compared with the cars we bought before, the price of BMW is lower, but the configuration is better and more abundant.

The market rumor of "reduced configuration" cannot be generalized. In fact, it is just that the customer needs have changed, and BMW has made adjustments to the configuration.

For example, for the trunk power supply of the BMW X5, the latest generation of BMW X5 has canceled this configuration. I asked some BMW technicians, and they told me that BMW has conducted user research, and more than 90% of users have not used this configuration, so the new model has canceled it.

Isn't it progress to cancel and replace functions with low usage rates?

I will continue to support BMW, but I also hope that BMW, which once led the era with active steering technology, HUD technology, and ultimate driving pleasure, can keep up with the current industry's technology update speed and have faster and newer iterations in terms of intelligence.

At the same time, I also hope that BMW can organize more fan activities across the country to allow more people to experience the charm of the BMW brand and the updated products in a relaxed and pleasant activity.

「Every year, hundreds of new cars are released, and the technological iterations are dazzling. In the end, it is the products that speak. How a car performs, what kind of experience it brings to the car owner, and what story it shapes still need to be told by the car owner. 36Kr Auto has listened to a large number of automotive users' accounts and launched the "Car Owner's Letter" column to convey their voices.」