I have a 2006 BMW 325i sedan. But I got it NOT because it is the “Ultimate Driving Machine”. It’s not even close, and it may have been better if we had all just used the non-triumphalist, more low-key German, “Freude am Fahren”; and let it go at that. Howver, I do enjoy its quality, design, aesthetics, cornering ability, and “sure-footedness”, not its acceleration or well-rounded vehicle capabilities as a sedan.

But let’s look at this. Can we say perhaps that a vanilla BMW is the “Ultimate Performance Driving machine”. Well, not quite: what do we mean by “performance”? Perhaps we can say that it’s the “Ultimate Sporty Performance Driving Machine”? OK, but what about road conditions and weather? If it’s snowing and icy, and the pavement has expansion joints or tar strips, what then? My experience here has not been good, to which the chattering teeth of my rear seat passengers can attest. Perhaps we can say that a vanilla BMW is the “Ultimate Sporty Performance Clean Road Good Weather Driving Machine”.

Great. But what do I do when my little sail boat with trailer needs to be towed. The 325i is listed as a no-towing vehicle. So substantial towing driving seems to be eliminated. Moreover, what do I do with the face chord of oak that my neighbor offered me for my wood stove this winter. I can’t seem to pack it usefully into my trunk and back seat, nor would I want to mess them up that way. So serious, grubby loading driving seems to be out the window as well.

And there is, of course, my cabin in the North Country, with a 3000-foot dirt road through the forest, interspersed with protruding roots, boulders, dips, and bumps. I can’t say this is truly an “off road” situation, since it is a road, albeit marginal. But I’d sure hate to take out that front air dam because of poor ground clearance. Damage is a problem. I guess we can’t do unimproved road driving either.

So, what have we got in our growing list of modifiers for the word, “driving”? Simply this: a vanilla BMW is the “Ultimate Sporty Performance Clean Improved Road Good Weather Non-towing Non-hauling Driving Machine”! Gee, that doesn’t leave a whole lot of “driving” categories left.

So if we consider “comprehensive” as a key ingredient for the definition of “driving”, not only restricted sporty driving, then may in fact ironically discover the real “Ultimate Comprehensive Driving Machine”: a simple 4-door pick-up truck with augmented suspension to tame the “twisties”!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tjhEqjXu3A&feature=rec-r2-2r-1-HM

“Nice article!
the German version of the slogan “freude am fahren” would translate nice, but it has a similar message as “the Ultimate Driving Machine””

Well ‘Freude am Fahren’ means as much as ‘pleasure by driving’, right?

However, I disagree on your take on the joy campaign. I think it is trying to convey the sense of driving pleasure one get from driving a bimmer rather then saying it is “fun” like a VW. After all, bmw’s other title is “Sheer driving pleasure”, and what better way to do it then capture that sense of satisfaction from a driver’s face. So yes, driving a BMW IS fun and the pleasure is derived from it’s performance (as seen by the old guy in the convertible from the ad).

Remember, bmw was identified too closely with the yuppie class back in the 80′s and when the stock market crash, sales also went under because it was seen only as yuppie car. So the brand as to expand without endangering it’s core attributes. You don’t have to young, yuppie or old to enjoy driving a bimmer.

Companies such as BMW have survived throughout the decades not simply because they make good products, but because they found their niche in the market and focused on that. One of my largest fears with BMW is that they would attempt to break out of their automotive niche and become the next VW/Toyota/GM/etc. But it’s not their role to produce 46 trillion cars a year. Their target market shouldn’t be 17 year old girls who just need something cheap to get them by through the end of highschool and college.

That’s not their role, and any attempt to seriously compete with another car maker on their terms will likely end badly.

The “Joy” campaign, IMO, is BMW trying to hone in on Volkswagen. VW has long-since been the “cheerful” car maker. They’ve always had a bit of playfulness in their vehicles. I’m afraid that if BMW has VW in their sights in an attempt to pick up a few percentage points in the market, they will very potentially risk losing some of the qualities that have endeared them to millions of people over the years. It’s that aggressive, purpose-built, almost austere personality that is BMW. It’s not joy. It’s not fun. It’s not light-hearted. It’s not a Hallmark emotion. Those are for other people. BMW is in the business of building great drivers’ cars. IMO, they should remember their role in the automotive world and stick with it.

For me it’s not the question of the slogan, it’s all about whats behind it,… as you said when they did the “Ultimate Driving Machine” they actually did make focused drivers cars… now it looks to me like they are trying to change identity and therefor change the slogan that came with the old identity.

The new Z4 is a perfect example, as most reviews show that this car was not designed with “A drivers car as a priority” but rather designed to be nice, soft and friendly… So it’s more a joy to own and to be in this car but not necessarily a pure “joy of driving”… it’s more appealing to an average happy person or family that like to have a nice pet and a nice car that they love without carrying the label of a hardcore driving car or a show off car, but rather just the car that’s part of the daily happy life … it’s very similar to a concept that VW was working on for a while and it’s nice and effective but it wipes out decades of BMW history with it.
I think BMW is changing and over growing in many directions and losing their heart in the process, and that’s historically speaking the beginning of the end.