Originally Posted by xQx
Okay, first, I'm not saying the reason we all have BMW's is because we want to cheaply flash cash around. There's good reason to by a M4 or M5 over say a Porsche 911 or Mercedes C63 AMG. But as I say below - if you want the cheapest & most recognizable prestige performance, you buy the BMW.
Personally, I think BMW is to the German car industry as Rolex is to the watch industry.
It's expensive enough that it's exclusive, but as far as German cars go, BMW is cheap. (certainly in Australia they depreciate like nobody's business, so you're going to be able to get into a modern looking BMW well before you can get into a Porsche or Mercedes)
In the UK it seems enough hairdressers buy Porsche Boxters and enough soccer mums get around in Caymans that they don't get the same 'driven like you stole it' reputation.
And unless you're talking about very expensive AMG models, Mercedes styling is old and stuffy and performance is so uninspiring, that they're generally the choice of 'old money' rather than 'new money' - but Mercedes these days seems to be more synonymous with 'quality and safety' rather than 'performance and money'. ie. Yesterday's volvo driver is today's typical Mercedes owner.
To come back to the watch analogy, if you've got new cash and you want to flash it around, you buy a Rolex and a BMW. They're exclusive, they're prestigious and recognizable.
But if you actually _have_ money and you want prestige and performance, you buy a Patek Phillipe or Jaeger Lecoultre, a Porsche 911, BMW M series (like, a real one, that starts with an M, not just a 2 series with a body kit), a Mercedes AMG, a Nissan GTR, an Audi R10 or a Ferrari etc.
Finally, there's the stereotype that BMW drivers are arseholes and I think that's as true as the stereotype that Volvo drivers drive slow and cyclists ignore road rules. A big part of that is self-selection. If you're an aggressive driver and you've got enough cash, at some point in your life you're going to buy a BMW. They market themselves as a 'drivers car', so it makes sense that someone who loves driving (ie. doesn't just sit in traffic passively and let the world go by - someone who take the opportunity to make the daily commute fun and interesting by driving assertively) is at some point, going to want to know if the car lives up to the marketing.
The second part is that every BMW that I've owned does live up to the marketing. Some cars make you want to hit yourself every time you want to go fast. When you mash the throttle on my wife's subaru, the gearbox takes about 5 seconds to decide which gear it wants, then the engine slowly winds up to speed. ... meaning that car you pulled out on is now mashing the brakes because you rudely cut them off. Honestly, every time I try to "drive" that car, it makes me want to punch myself in the face. Compare that to a BMW I6 or V8, where you've got a symphony of wind-up, instant power response and a nice little flashing "DTC" light on the dashboard telling you you're limitation is grip.
It's a car which really rewards you for pushing it.
Or to put it more succinctly: If you drive like an arsehole at some point in your life you're going to buy a BMW; then when you do, you find it's a car that thoroughly rewards you every time you drive like an arsehole.
It doesn't mean that everyone who drives a BMW is an arsehole, it just means we're going to get more than our fair share of arsehole drivers.
Lastly, I'd actually say there's one brand of car that's quite likely to take over BMW for this particular stereotype - and that's Mustang.
Mustang have copied the model: Expensive enough that not everyone can afford, but very cheap for what it is, and first and foremost a car which is powerful and fun to drive.
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