A
German luxury automaker that made the best driver's cars for common
people until about
five years ago when they started losing comparison tests to Audis, Cadillacs, and Lexuses because of controversial styling and subpar driving dynamics.
Before 2008, BMWs won 95% of comparison tests from
Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Road and
Track, Automobile Magazine, Inside Line, Autoblog, Autocar, and other automotive publications. However, they lose most comparison tests nowadays because BMW has softened their vehicles to the point where Audis, Cadillacs, Jaguars,
Mercedes, and Lexuses are as luxurious as ever, but now have best-in-class handling as well.
Mercedes sport packages and AMGs have also dealt a swift blow to the BMW brand. The Bangle era, M suvs, non-enthusiast vehicles such as the X6 and 5-Series Gran Turismo, sloppy handling, and the death of their naturally-aspirated inline-6 ultimately let to BMW's demise.