[gomzi]

Originally Posted by GTO

If BMW could sell a 3 series with:

- Either a 6 cylinder petrol or 6 cylinder diesel

- 6 speed manual transmission

- NO electric seats, electric mirrors, a complex network of 75 computers collaborating on a private network, traction control, seat memory, climate control (knobs just work fine), 2 million lines of software code that - among other things - tell me when my service is due, headlamp washers, auto lights & wipers, in-dash tv monitor, multi-function steering wheel (a pure 80's BMW wheel will do just fine, thanks), sunroof, parking sensors, and, last & definitely the least, run flat tyres.

heh, this description reminds me of the E36 beemers. To me a 90's black BMW M3 still remains the image conjured up in my mind when I hear "BMW"(or maybe its because thats the first beemer I ever drove

But kudos to BMW India, they have shaken up things with the CE. Like many others here, i'd guess the top end 3/C prices will see a drop in the next few months.

And maybe a more aggressive price war, lowering the sticker shock even further. All the better for us

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by GTO

If BMW could sell a 3 series with:

- Either a 6 cylinder petrol or 6 cylinder diesel

- 6 speed manual transmission

- Xenon headlamps, 6 airbags, ABS and the engine start button

- NO electric seats, electric mirrors, a complex network of 75 computers collaborating on a private network, traction control, seat memory, climate control (knobs just work fine), 2 million lines of software code that - among other things - tell me when my service is due, headlamp washers, auto lights & wipers, in-dash tv monitor, multi-function steering wheel (a pure 80's BMW wheel will do just fine, thanks), sunroof, parking sensors, and, last & definitely the least, run flat tyres.

I'm buying. Forget the CE (corporate edition) : They should call such a pure driving machine the EE (enthusiasts edition). 200 kilos lighter, faster and about 4 lakhs cheaper.

P.S. Actually, that's just like a CSL! Bare, basic, pure BMW...just like how a true driving machine ought to be.

A Bare Minimum Workhouse edition.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by gomzi

heh, this description reminds me of the E36 beemers. To me a 90's black BMW M3 still remains the image conjured up in my mind when I hear "BMW"(or maybe its because thats the first beemer I ever drove

Originally Posted by neoonwheels

A Bare Minimum Workhouse edition.

You betcha, the older gen M3s (and even 325's) are what immediately come to mind. Pure German mechanical bliss, no messy electronics. Just a honest-to-goodness robustly engineered product.

[RakishRam]

Originally Posted by khoj

GTO maybe interested TBHPians can form a buyers group and put up the proposal to BMW.

huh something I always wanted to do, informed the BMW sales chaps in Bangalore a few times to bring a 6 speed manual 3 series and I will be the first buyer.
let's put a proposal or email to BMW for this, 6 cylinders and 6 manual gears

[recshenoy]

Originally Posted by GTO
Soon enough, one German will add equipment to their so-called Corporate / Executive editions. And the rest will have no choice but to follow. Any prizes for guessing who that will be?

who is this GTO?

what is Audi doing BTW? No news of any corp edition from them!

Guys,
Any pics of Merc corp edition?

[jaidevmurti]

Guys checked out the Merc Executive Edition in Gurgaon yesterday - on road price with Haryana registration is INR 27.6 lac for non metallic (white) and INR 28.3 lac for metallic colors.

Leather seats inside are almost as good as the ones on the Elegance. Diesel engine is fantastic. Ride quality is significantly better than the Beemer ( have driven the 320d Highline) and there is a noticeable difference. NVH levels seems to be better than the BMW , rear space is about par for course considering they are all essentially fairly compact sedans.

Diesel engine seems almost as if not more manic than in the BMW and a satisfying teutonic roar can be enjoyed every time you drop the hammer. Contrary to what was mentionedd earlier while the steering is different the controls have been retained for the audio and MFD.

I hate the central speedo - the small needle on the outside takes a lot of getting used to - i prefer the beemer's more conventional layoput - which i think is way more legible. Or maybe I am just spoilt by the digital display on my Civic.

While both cars are fantastic and there is definitely a certain cache associated with either the merc or beemer - I still strongly believe that the presence of cars like the superb - haunted only by skoda's woeful A.S.S - still make eminently more sense in our markets.

Having said that I anxiously await the launch of the BMW X1 which just might tick all the boxes that I need:

- High GC
- Auto
- Diesel and efficient
- and at 30 lacs on road (hopefully)for a beemer - more justifiable than the x-trail (brilliant car jus horrible pricing and limited service network - not to mention no auto available for TD in North India - I just don't get how manufacturers expect us to buy without a TD vehicle.)

[AlokSriva]

Soon enough, one German will add equipment to their so-called Corporate / Executive editions. And the rest will have no choice but to follow. Any prizes for guessing who that will be?

Originally Posted by recshenoy

who is this GTO?

Has to be BMW for sure.. The spoilsport who ruined Merc and Audi's party with the CE, would take it to the next level by providing more features in the CE

I inferred this from what Flyingspur has mentioned in one of his recent posts - the front seats now in CE have gone semi-electric (from what they were initially when he picked his CE).

Maybe its a matter of time when we would have the CE itself becoming the full blown version - or am I a beggar riding my horse shaped wishes

[viraj_s85]

Great news indeed for Indian customers.

When Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki gone do that same with their Bikes in India ???

I mean Yamaha selling R15 (150cc) at 1.15 compare to P220 or ZMR which (220 cc) at 85-95 K

Plus when are we gone get our hands on R125, CRB 600 or even R6 with such high price tags and govt. restrictions

[manishk123]

Originally Posted by GTO

Interesting news, Samyak. Please update this thread once you hear from him this evening.

BTW, I received my FIRST tele-marketing call from Mercedes today. The first ever (always thought it's so un-Mercedes to cold call). "Sir, would you like to upgrade your Merc. The new E Class is a fantastic machine". The pressure is on...Merc's putting a lot of heat on its dealers.

They've taken quite the clobbering from BMW last year. The new E Class took Merc to the top of the exec segment, but BMW's 320D Corporate edition is registering unreal numbers. Get this : Nearly 300 cars versus 90ish for the C & A4.

End of the day, only one person benefits from competition : I, the customer.

Me too! I went to the showroom to decide on the M class, instead, one of the sales guys started hounding me to upgrade my 2007 E class with only 13,500kms for the new one. That too wanted me to pay a difference of 25 lacs and switch to a car with a lesser powerful engine from 280 (V6) to 250 (4cyl). Kept calling saying he had a ready customer for my old car. Ultimately i had to get really rude with him and told him not to call again!

[YSooSeriouss]

The Executive Edition C220 cdi comes to 30.5 lakhs ON ROAD with Mumbai Registration. Add 62500 if you dont want it in White.

[FlyingSpur]

Didn't you get any pictures?

Originally Posted by YSooSeriouss

The Executive Edition C220 cdi comes to 30.5 lakhs ON ROAD with Mumbai Registration. Add 62500 if you dont want it in White.

For a little less than that I got my Beemer AND the 5 year / 100,000 km BSI. And yes, metallic paint too I've never understood the justification behind this 62k they charge for metallic paint. What a load of crap.

[barcode]

They have a car on display? Did they mention about the availability and how soon they would start delivering? T&T Delhi was quite clueless on all accounts. Maybe because I was talking to them before the EE was launched, and now they wanna act all clueless and push me a fully loaded one

Cheers

Originally Posted by jaidevmurti

Guys checked out the Merc Executive Edition in Gurgaon yesterday - on road price with Haryana registration is INR 27.6 lac for non metallic (white) and INR 28.3 lac for metallic colors.

Leather seats inside are almost as good as the ones on the Elegance. Diesel engine is fantastic. Ride quality is significantly better than the Beemer ( have driven the 320d Highline) and there is a noticeable difference. NVH levels seems to be better than the BMW , rear space is about par for course considering they are all essentially fairly compact sedans.

Diesel engine seems almost as if not more manic than in the BMW and a satisfying teutonic roar can be enjoyed every time you drop the hammer. Contrary to what was mentionedd earlier while the steering is different the controls have been retained for the audio and MFD.

I hate the central speedo - the small needle on the outside takes a lot of getting used to - i prefer the beemer's more conventional layoput - which i think is way more legible. Or maybe I am just spoilt by the digital display on my Civic.

While both cars are fantastic and there is definitely a certain cache associated with either the merc or beemer - I still strongly believe that the presence of cars like the superb - haunted only by skoda's woeful A.S.S - still make eminently more sense in our markets.

Having said that I anxiously await the launch of the BMW X1 which just might tick all the boxes that I need:

- High GC
- Auto
- Diesel and efficient
- and at 30 lacs on road (hopefully)for a beemer - more justifiable than the x-trail (brilliant car jus horrible pricing and limited service network - not to mention no auto available for TD in North India - I just don't get how manufacturers expect us to buy without a TD vehicle.)

[ahuja365]

I still feel the prices are high and they should have done this before but lets wait and expect something also from audi.That just shows the value for money is a hit in India and decreasing prices when they still have margins as they are charging for cbus and costing is for ckds.If they get it further down it is sure to create ripples across all segments.

[samyakmodi]

Originally Posted by viraj_s85

Great news indeed for Indian customers.

When Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki gone do that same with their Bikes in India ???

I mean Yamaha selling R15 (150cc) at 1.15 compare to P220 or ZMR which (220 cc) at 85-95 K

Plus when are we gone get our hands on R125, CRB 600 or even R6 with such high price tags and govt. restrictions

OT::
The norms say that a bike below 800cc can not be imported in the country unless its on TR.
so we can very well forget them coming anytime soon. even if they do come, with the current norms of about 115% duties, it's not viable to buy a 600. most of the buyers would rather shell out a bit more for a litre class bike instead. and NO - they usually never think whether they would actually ever be able to harness the potential of the litre class bike or not!

and whether anybody agrees or not, the bike market is upshifting for sure. with the R15 bringing in the "performance" era again, bajaj coming up with the ninja 250, KTM entering the market and hard to believe price tags for the harley davidson start off line up.

now its only going to get better - now only if the govt. would revise the duty structure just a bit, OR maybe the companies start bringing in their bikes CKD, and assemble them here just to attract lower duties.

i guess because of the chennai assembly plant, BMW should be considerably cheaper even with all the bells and tinkles and all the electronic wizardry!!

time for AUDI to wake up and come up with a variant of the A4 2.0 tdi under 25 lacs.

[YSooSeriouss]

They have one car for sale today( Mumbai or Thane region registration only). I asked for Pune registration and they said you ll have to wait another 2 months.
There is also a new C250 CGI or something petrol coming out soon