2008 BMW 135i: BMW Doesn't Fix What Isn't Broken

Completely agree with texases. You are deservedly going to receive a lot of negative feedback for that statement. There are many, many features and designs on the BMW I had 15 years ago that I would gladly replace on my '07. BMW leads the charge in over designing systems. In fairness they are probably only responding to customer demands – customers who aren’t satisfied with the fact that their vehicles don’t have a lot of faults in the areas that really matter for drivers.

+1 to texases and m3shmem3 (or is that +2?). BMW has messed with whatever they can mess with (the turn signals spring to mind too). Why they haven't touched the pedals is beyond me. Careful, the next 7-series will have magic pedals that actually form themselves to your feet! And then cost $2,000 to replace for just the pedal itself.

"So unlike most manufacturers who make changes to their cars just for the sake of change, when BMW finds something that works it sticks with it. Smart move"

Hmmm... so I wonder why the conventional console mounted gear selector has been changed twice in the last few years? Do BMWs finally have an OFF button for their climate control systems?

PS- for as much credit as BMW receives from the press and fanboys the only product they offer that consisently earns positive reviews is the 3 series. Many seem to be lukewarm about the new 7 and the 5 series seems to draw polar opposite opinions during every test. The Z4 has been heavily criticized while the materials, ride and value of the X3 have always been questioned. Is it possible that the BMW brand is more impressive than the vehicles themselves? Just a thought...

Back in the day before most you even knew Edmunds.com existed, people used to preach to me how you didn't see BMWs come loaded with all these frivolous electronic doo-dads and chassis electro-trickery. They handled fine because of the expert chassis tuning and the interiors were basic and barren because the focus was to be on the road. I wonder where that guy is now.... I think his name was merc1 or something. First iDrive, then variable ratio steering, dynamic anti roll bars, variable shocks, CBC, etc.

Well iDrive has been changed twice since 2002 so I guess it was definitely broken. Problem is, no one was asking for it in the first place. BMW definitely thinks is gauges arent broken and they've looked about the same since the early to mid 90s.

Good point about the shifter- why was that moved in the first place? What about active steering. All the reviewers say the standard setup is superior and don't understand why BMW even came up with active steering.

gonna agree with all above that BMW is pretty much the prime example of fixing what isn't broken.

At least that there is a nice dead pedal!

I find this post ironic after all of the recent comparisons of the E38 7 Series and the current generation in looks and a vast majority of people think the car peaked 8-10 years ago.

When I read this post my mind spiraled into thinking about how I am still floored by the simplicity and beauty of the E39 M5 compared to the E60 M5, which other than the engine it does nothing for me--especially considering that the ones that were built with a proper manual transmission are almost mythical they're so rare.

Not fixing what isn't broken certainly seems to apply to their pedals but they decided to "fix" their shifter which wasn't broken and was perfectly fine but is now "broken", overly complicated and takes up more space than it should.