Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
One of Germany’s most prolific auto designers continues to make headlines—as the chief designer of Qoros, the offspring car company of an Israeli-Chinese joint venture. Developed with massive help from European suppliers and styled by Gert Hildebrand, Qoros pushes the envelope in design. If only sales were better; so far, the company has fallen far short of its projected targets. Perhaps the Qoros 2 plug-in hybrid SUV concept launched at the Shanghai auto show, will help.
The Qoros 2 is particularly interesting because it shows yet another new take on the compact crossover. (This, from the same guy that brought us the Mini Countryman five years ago.) One of the stars of the Shanghai show, the Qoros is characterized by vertical elements like the headlights and taillights, the former of which, contrary to recent trends, are not connected to the grille. The wheels remind me of classic 1970s Italian wheel designs, while the rest of the piece is described as combining “Shanghai spirit with German-inspired design.” One of the coolest new ideas is stamping the car with nine stamps made of jade, symbolizing the designers that worked on the car. I hope the crossover makes it into production, and it would be cool to see it join the Qoros 3 sedan outside of China at some point down the road.
Awesome AMGs
Another awesome pairing: I pitted a brand-new S63 AMG against a 1986 500 SEL that was modified by AMG at a time when the Affalterbach-based tuner was still slightly frowned upon by the suits in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim.
In the old Benz, the automaker’s contemporary 5.0-liter engine is bored out to 5.4 liters of displacement, and it produces a healthy 335 horsepower. By contrast, the regular 500 SEL on which this AMG is based could only muster 228 horsepower in Europe and an even more pitiful 184 horsepower in the U.S.
I have driven various W126 S-class models like this 500 SEL in my life—I took a 420 SEL on a top-speed run the very day I received my driver’s license—but this AMG is the fastest I have ever driven. It fires up with a rumble and accelerates with a discreet wail and, most importantly, with great urgency. Top speed is a remarkable 162 mph.
In its time, the AMG’s black-out trim was considered sort of an embarrassment. Today, it is an exercise in modesty and restraint, at least when compared to the modern S63 AMG which I drove right next to it.
The S63 AMG is probably the pinnacle of luxury sedans today, just as the AMG 500 SEL was in its time. And unlike so many other brands, it has managed to preserve its ancestors’ specific character and soul. Which brings me to BMW.
BMW is Fighting for Its Soul
Ruthless cost-cutting and a focus on ex-CEO Norbert Reithofer’s “i” EV pet project leave BMW fighting for its soul. In the past, sublime styling, a deep devotion to engineering, and an obsession with speed produced nothing short of automotive icons, not to mention a lineup of deeply satisfying everyday cars. My father’s first car was a 2002; I owned an E36 M3 up to 2012; and on top of that, I have used many BMW cars as benchmarks in evaluating the competition. But is there a (conventional) BMW model today that doesn’t find its match in a competitor’s offering?
Issues are looming. Many performance models prove to be a real disappointment on the track—or, conversely, good on the track but intolerable on the road. Tangible quality and durability issues are barely kept under the lid. Replacing the silky-smooth straight-six with souped-up four-bangers has robbed core BMWs of their soul. And the push downmarket with front-wheel-drive models is not just a distraction for the brand, but the models appear to also fall short of profitability targets.
At least the latest word is that these models won’t come to the U.S. market; BMW North America must have lobbied hard to keep the 2-series Active Tourer and Gran Tourer away. Meanwhile, the vaunted i3 is falling woefully short of sales predictions, and Mini offers no relief either. The brand’s trial-and-error product strategy is beginning to leave markets cold. The fact that Herbert Diess, the last true “car guy” on BMW’s executive board, has left for greener pastures in Wolfsburg, does not bode well. The new CEO, Harald Krüger, while one of Reithofer’s men, needs to find and reclaim BMW’s soul.
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