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I just remember a time when BMW was undisputedly above its competition. I do not believe that is the environment today and I attribute it mostly to the success of the competition. If you wanted M3 performance and practicality you used to have to buy an M3 - now it is a lot more grey. The m2 is great, the f8x comp, and GTS are great but it is the delta between them the GT350r, Camaro ZL1, 911, etc. which is their Achilles heal. Many strikes against the new BMW's is a conversation of value as the American cars are out performing for way less.
Value is debatable between an individual and we all look for different things. Some of us value dollar per performance, some value options and interior, some exterior, some prestige, some four doors, some convertible, some modability, some street performance, some track performance, some 0-60 etc. It goes on forever and most of us value a combination of those factors. Magazines tend to focus on Numbers alone because that discussion lends itself well to print. Many of the reasons we all love BMW's is beyond numbers.
And while the new cars don't really impress me in many regards, I still have a ton of affection for the older cars, which have even less impressive numbers and stand even lower on the totem pole of performance than the new cars, yet I still dream of them.
So its OK if you own a modern BMW that doesnt fare well in the press, just identify what you like about the car and hold onto that and hope BMW preserves that with the next round of releases. I like to listen to what the press say about cars, but my decisions for every car I own or love are all personal.
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