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      03-10-2014, 04:38 PM   #109
Z K
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Drives: E90 M3, G20 M340i
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: San Francisco

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Quote:
Originally Posted by RR-NYC View Post
You are arguing a point I'm not making. I am not talking about whether someone could make an identical BMW for 10% of the cost. I'm asking whether you would buy a counterfeit BMW i.e. someone stealing the design and manufacturing an exact replica of a BMW M3

But to your point, A price of BMW parts is not indicative of the cost of goods - the aftermarket manufacturers are proof of this. You are paying for R & D, design, and brand
Yes, you are. A "identical" replica would have all the exact same features, performance of the original but cost 10% of the original... if it is exactly the same, I don't see why I wouldn't buy it. Maybe it's a rip-off but it'd be the performance bargain of the century!

But as I mentioned, you can't compare a car to a watch. The car, if you add up even just the parts costs, has way less margin than a luxury watch. So as I said, you can't use your car analogy to compare to watches.

A $10k watch probably costs no more than $1000 to make. Yes, R&D costs add up.. but a lot of the mechanicals are the same for the past 50 years or more so the R&D is well paid for. Basically, you are just paying for the badging.
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