[vb-saan]

I liked the 6GT and they have priced it quite well. But that new grille! With the glossy black strip in the middle, it is almost Kia-isque now... not cool!

[Amit_Kapoor4750]

Superb collection from BMW. With very competitive launches lined up for the year, BMW is here for the number two spot for long. All the cars are extremely good looking with minimalist design and classy interior, and those mills under the hoods need no introduction. On the other hand, Audi is losing its shine and have become too common on the road(Thanks to A4).

[blue_pulsar]

Came across this shocking video from PowerDrift:

https://youtu.be/Nb4I4mU3f8k

I wonder what's going on here.

[Sahil]

Mighty impressed with BMWs line up. They finally have a car that can really give the E a run for its money. Introducing air suspension at sub 60 lakh pricing was a great move! The E only offers this in th E350 which is much more expensive. Hopefully MBIL will be forced to offer this on the E200/220d also to match up. God bless competition!

The M5 although expensive makes the C63s,M3,M4 seem overpriced.

Glad they are offering a more hardcore version of the M4 now but wish they priced it better.

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

l

I wonder what's going on here.

Overreaction! Really doesn’t seem like such a big deal if they had to prep the stall for something more important. They weren’t rude. The jurnolist is trying to sympathy seek. Drama queen.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Overreaction! Really doesn’t seem like such a big deal if they had to prep the stall for something more important. They weren’t rude. The jurnolist is trying to sympathy seek. Drama queen.

Nah. I agree he has a point. The were most likely prepping the stall for Sachin Tendulkar but they could have waited.

The BMW stall was unnecessarily rude and arrogant to media as Sachin was there the whole day on Day1. Only if you knew someone or were from a popular media house could you get some decent response. Luckily we did.

You don't disturb when the journo is in the middle of video shoot. That's rule #1. It is very very irritating to be disturbed for photographers / videographers. Time is limited and a lot to cover in very little time. These sort of things really get to you in that stress.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

Came across this shocking video from PowerDrift:

I wonder what's going on here.

Poor Management by BMW or there may have been some history but cutting in between a video is just not done.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Nah. I agree he has a point. The were most likely prepping the stall for Sachin Tendulkar but they could have waited.

The BMW stall was unnecessarily rude and arrogant to media as Sachin was there the whole day on Day1. Only if you knew someone or were from a popular media house could you get some decent response. Luckily we did.

You don't disturb when the journo is in the middle of video shoot. That's rule #1. It is very very irritating to be disturbed for photographers / videographers. Time is limited and a lot to cover in very little time. These sort of things really get to you in that stress.

Very true, and good he went ahead and posted it. In anger he could have just not posted the video at all, or just to stay in neutral terms, cut it short. Good that PD went on to show the entire episode, even if that means BMW might not invite them to some further launch/events.

[AdiSinghV12]

Originally Posted by ACM

Poor Management by BMW or there may have been some history but cutting in between a video is just not done.

The BMW area was by far the most friendly, met the BMW India president as well for the 2nd time and he personally made sure I checked out the M5 'in detail' and the new i8. When proceeded towards the Merc stall I literally saw people being spoken in a very rude way even for touching the car. My friend was with me who heads one of the JLR dealership in Delhi and we made a note of it and told the senior most Merc guy present there and he said the bouncers are from some security agency and not from any brand in particular but it was still no excuse for people being treated 'really badly'

[suhaas307]

Great show by BMW at the 2018 edition of the Expo!

Loved that they took this opportunity to kit out most of their regular cars and even showcase the drop-dead gorgeous i8 and i3S.

The 6GT is a great addition to the line up, and the new X3 should make life difficult for the competition.

The M5 is an absolute treat, and arguably the best sports sedan out there. In fact, even the regular 530d is such a fantastic piece of kit, it makes you wonder if you really need to consider the new E at all, especially if you do some driving yourself.

Originally Posted by Sahil

Overreaction! Really doesn’t seem like such a big deal if they had to prep the stall for something more important. They weren’t rude. The jurnolist is trying to sympathy seek. Drama queen.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Nah. I agree he has a point. The were most likely prepping the stall for Sachin Tendulkar but they could have waited.

The BMW stall was unnecessarily rude and arrogant to media as Sachin was there the whole day on Day1. Only if you knew someone or were from a popular media house could you get some decent response. Luckily we did.

You don't disturb when the journo is in the middle of video shoot. That's rule #1. It is very very irritating to be disturbed for photographers / videographers. Time is limited and a lot to cover in very little time. These sort of things really get to you in that stress.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling journalists to leave the area and cordon it off from the media and general public, especially if you've got to beef up security. But, and this is a big BUT.. there is no place for arrogance at all. And the security officials were reeking of arrogance.

There was one particular guy, some Colonel, who seemed to have been in-charge of security, and he took it upon himself to personally manhandle the media and generally be condecending to anyone who posed genuine questions.

I don't consider myself as a journalist or someone from the fraternity, but I was miffed by the way the security handled the media and I felt bad for the way they were treated.

The media, having spent their professional time and money in obtaining the necessary accreditation for the event, have every right to access all the stalls in order to cover the event. And if certain areas of the stalls are cordoned off, the media have the right to know the reasons for being denied access and also deserve to know when they will be permitted to cover the stall.

The security at BMW simply did not care. They told us point blank that we are not allowed inside at all, and at any point in time. And they couldn't confirm if we will allowed during the course of the Expo.

Originally Posted by AdiSinghV12

The BMW area was by far the most friendly, met the BMW India president as well for the 2nd time and he personally made sure I checked out the M5 'in detail' and the new i8.

They were extremely friendly on day 2 (business and media day) and allowed us to check out all the cars, including the i8 and the M5 in detail. We were even accompanied by a BMW exec who ran us through all the finer details of the cars. But on day one, it was a completely different story.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by AdiSinghV12

The BMW area was by far the most friendly, met the BMW India president as well for the 2nd time and he personally made sure I checked out the M5 'in detail' and the new i8. When proceeded towards the Merc stall I literally saw people being spoken in a very rude way even for touching the car. My friend was with me who heads one of the JLR dealership in Delhi and we made a note of it and told the senior most Merc guy present there and he said the bouncers are from some security agency and not from any brand in particular but it was still no excuse for people being treated 'really badly'
Attachment 1729587

Attachment 1729588

Did you know someone at the pavillion? Did anyone there know that you own a 3 series and a 740Li or did you tell them?

Sorry for OT.

That said BMW hall was filled with a lot of good cars and bikes. They had nicely speced out cars.

[AdiSinghV12]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Did you know someone at the pavillion? Did anyone there know that you own a 3 series and a 740Li or did you tell them?

Sorry for OT.

That said BMW hall was filled with a lot of good cars and bikes. They had nicely speced out cars.

Yes, had a lot of people at the stall I knew personally and a couple of them told a couple of them about the BMWs I own / owned and then the 8-10 minutes I spent talking to the president and having a cup of coffee together with him set the stage as he personally accompanied me to the i8 and people were looking or else my own friend who had accompanied me was about to be thrown out when he was leaning on cars and clicking selfies

Looking at how Mercedes area bouncers were treating the people I didn’t dare to be there for long as it’d have been really embarrassing if someone spoke rudely for “touching the car”. Same with Tata, we were not allowed to see the car from inside. Spent most of the time at BMW then as it was like the ‘safehouse’

[Turbanator]

I checked out the M5 'in detail'

Apparently, they have sold out the first lot which they are supposed to get in April/May and now they are accepting orders for June/ July

The security at BMW simply did not care

I think it's more of an attitude problem, lack of respect for fellow beings by people in position.

[Akshay1234]

Very interesting stall this time by BMW.

The 6GT which replaces the old 5GT looks to be launched with spot on pricing. Its got the air suspension and rear seat entertainment, which are not present on the E class. Also the 250bhp engine against less powerful petrol engines of rivals. They should have launched the diesel too, which would have really given them sales. I see this eating a lot into the 520d market once the diesel is launched, its got a better rear seat, better suspension and a much larger boot.

The X6 35i is about 20 lacs cheaper than what the 40d was launched at a few years ago. The 40d is now 1.29 ex showroom, which honestly is a joke and also explains why they probably haven't sold more than a handful yet. But the 35i at 94l should sell a few, since they've priced it bang on with the GLE43. But they are only offering white as the exterior colour which is strange.

I'm surprised the new M5 is launched at pretty much the same price as the older one was sold at. But I simply can't understand why they are raising the prices of the M3/M4. These cars are not doing because because they were 20l overpriced since the time they have been launched, and instead of adding the competition pack BMW should have made the prices more realistic.

[84.monsoon]

Looking through the brochure and spec sheet of the 630i GT:

https://www.bmw.in/content/dam/bmw/m...20Brochure.pdf

https://www.bmw.in/content/dam/bmw/m...0Specsheet.pdf

This seems to be an incredible value car for 58.9 Lacs compared to the 530i sportline which retails at 52 lacs. In addition to the features in the 530i sportline, they have provided:

• Air suspension
• Higher torque output from engine (400 NM versus 350 NM in the 530i)
• Apple Car Play
• Panoramic glass roof instead of regular sunroof
• Electrical sun blinds on rear side windows
• Much better rear leg room
• Reclining back seats, electric operation and comfort cushions
• 4 zone climate control instead of 2 zone
• Sensactec leatherette dash top
• Rear seat entertainment system
• Electric tailgate
• New drive mode - Comfort+ (So, 4 drive modes instead of 3)
• Adaptive LED headlights (in place of normal LED headlights)
• Active rear spolier
• Plus, it is available in Mediterranean Blue, which is not an option in 530i.

Incredible package and BMW is going all out to battle on the E-Class turf with this package. I would probably buy this instead of the 530i that I did last year if the 630i was available then. The local dealer tells me this is a strictly introductory price till March 31, BMW has still not factored the customs duty hike on CKDs into their pricing which will probably happen shortly.

The only things missing which may come in Luxury Line or M-Sport Diesel trims may be 360 degree camera, remote control operated parking and Nappa Leather instead of Dakota Leather.

[Rehaan]

Note: I've updated posts 10 & 11 with some pictures of what MINI had on display at the show.

LINK TO MINI POST