Bye Bye Amber

[BzsBimmer]

So reading the press release specifically this part...
"M-specific styling touches abound in the driver-oriented cockpit. Dual circular gauges – a BMW hallmark – are illuminated in an elegant white light with glowing red needles. "
I thought the amber lights were a traditional BMW thing... now they're going the way of Acura and other imports?
I thought amber was better for the eyes and now BMW is switching...

[JEllis]

glowing red...glowing amber...sounds like the same old guages to me...

[nusevad]

i always thought of it as red, amber is more orange IMO. But w/e who cares.

[mofomat]

Amber is the tradition for non-M BMW's, but red needles is the tradition of M cars.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

"M-specific styling touches abound in the driver-oriented cockpit. Dual circular gauges – a BMW hallmark – are illuminated in an elegant white light with glowing red needles. "

I think that's what he's getting at.

[Romo]

I agree on this one; Amber is what it should be, the white is a non BMW thing ( although the M5 and M6 have it), why change all things that used to be the best ever made in car manufacturing industry??
I do not like it personaly, I can understand there are more people feeling the same here....................

[Romo]

Originally Posted by mofomat

Amber is the tradition for non-M BMW's, but red needles is the tradition of M cars.

In the past M cars had always amber lighting ( my E46 M3 has it also, it is al little less orange than non M BMW`s, but amber non the less), with te arival off the new M5-M6 they changed it into white, not for the better IMO.

[esquire]

i'm sure part of bmw's reasoning was to set their M cars apart from the rest of their vehicles. bmw undertakes serious research in determining which colors best engage the driver, without distracting him/her from the road. their choice for white certainly wasn't capricious.

[lucid]

Originally Posted by Romo

I agree on this one; Amber is what it should be, the white is a non BMW thing ( although the M5 and M6 have it), why change all things that used to be the best ever made in car manufacturing industry??
I do not like it personaly, I can understand there are more people feeling the same here....................

+1

[BzsBimmer]

Originally Posted by esquire

i'm sure part of bmw's reasoning was to set their M cars apart from the rest of their vehicles. bmw undertakes serious research in determining which colors best engage the driver, without distracting him/her from the road. their choice for white certainly wasn't capricious.

True but if you look back at BMW history, orange or amber was used because of their involvement with the aviation sector and that the use of that color was best for reducing eye fatigue at night. Likewise, the use of blue was the total opposite. I'm not sure because I haven't seen it myself but I would venture to say that the white light could just be an LED which would have shades of blue hue to it.

In any case, their M cars have enough to set it apart from other cars but I can see your argument. I was just whining.

[southlight]

We had that topic some time ago. I like the white design very much:


[source: m5board.com - http://www.m5board.com/articles.php?id=34&page=1 ]

Best regards, south

[E90330iS]

I think it looks good. We'll get used to it

[Romo]

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

True but if you look back at BMW history, orange or amber was used because of their involvement with the aviation sector and that the use of that color was best for reducing eye fatigue at night. Likewise, the use of blue was the total opposite. I'm not sure because I haven't seen it myself but I would venture to say that the white light could just be an LED which would have shades of blue hue to it.

In any case, their M cars have enough to set it apart from other cars but I can see your argument. I was just whining.

+1 on the eye fatique

If they realy want it to set apart from a non M BMW, they should have build a whole new driver centric cockpit again, not only some fancy, non functional white lights IMO.............................
Al the magazines made the same remark about the interior; it is way to close to a regular 3 series, an M3 is realy something special, but the interior/cocpit has no M3 feeling about it, they realy did mis the chance to make something special, just plane as it is, is a shame IMHO
Now I do like the car, and I realy want one, I`m pretty shure I`ll buy one next spring, but the interior is still a big minor for me. My E46 M3 is a whole different game in that respect, the best interior ever made IMO, I do enjoy it every day................

[The CSL]

Crikey, the RS4 only gets a new wheel, seats and carbon fibre trim to differentiate it from the A4. The M3 gets a new wheel, seats and type of CF trim as well.

[TheDreamer]

Originally Posted by The CSL

Crikey, the RS4 only gets a new wheel, seats and carbon fibre trim to differentiate it from the A4. The M3 gets a new wheel, seats and type of CF trim as well.

Yeah, but if BMW ever wants to stop being accused for "playing catchup" to the competition by all those sales-seeking admen, they have to do more than merely match the RS4. In every respect.

Not that I'm advocating comparison between the two. That's been done enough. Personally for me the M3's big downside is the bland interior. I prefer the RS4/c63AMG Interiors

[lucid]

Originally Posted by Romo

+1 on the eye fatique

If they realy want it to set apart from a non M BMW, they should have build a whole new driver centric cockpit again, not only some fancy, non functional white lights IMO.............................
Al the magazines made the same remark about the interior; it is way to close to a regular 3 series, an M3 is realy something special, but the interior/cocpit has no M3 feeling about it, they realy did mis the chance to make something special, just plane as it is, is a shame IMHO
Now I do like the car, and I realy want one, I`m pretty shure I`ll buy one next spring, but the interior is still a big minor for me. My E46 M3 is a whole different game in that respect, the best interior ever made IMO, I do enjoy it every day................

+1 again. i've been whining about exactly the same thing, but we are simply stuck with the uninspring interior of this awesome performance machine.

[Romo]

So it is Lucid..........................

Can anyone tell me; why change about 80% off the exterior, and about 2% off the interior??? That doesn`t match, and the poor result is all to visible.....

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Romo

So it is Lucid..........................

Can anyone tell me; why change about 80% off the exterior, and about 2% off the interior??? That doesn`t match, and the poor result is all to visible.....

maybe your answer lies in the fact that the M is a performance oriented vehicle and the exterior modifications such as the wide-mouthed front fascia, hood air intakes, side gills, lower slung posture, widened fenders, hood bulge, and carbon fiber roof all serve to directly or indirectly improve performance.

[Romo]

Originally Posted by esquire

maybe your answer lies in the fact that the M is a performance oriented vehicle and the exterior modifications such as the wide-mouthed front fascia, hood air intakes, side gills, lower slung posture, widened fenders, hood bulge, and carbon fiber roof all serve to directly or indirectly improve performance.

That is obvious offcourse, but that is not my point. The point is the have forgotten to do something special with the interior, they could have done a little bit more to make it realy M3 worthy............................

[The CSL]

The interior, especially the dashboard, is one of the most expensive components in the car, so to redesign it in any way, would be uneconomical. Granted though, the seats are very bland to my eyes and the interior looks worse with iDrive and that CF leather in it.

[Tobizach]

Originally Posted by Romo

That is obvious offcourse, but that is not my point. The point is the have forgotten to do something special with the interior, they could have done a little bit more to make it realy M3 worthy............................

I would agree interiors are important, when your driving the majority of the time will be spent looking, using and enjoying the interior. Heck you cant see the outside of the car, while your sitting in it