Audi never had an A4 coupe in the first place, I'm pretty sure they introduced the A5 in response to the 3 series coupe... although it's pointless debating who built what first, and even more about who used which naming strategy first, that's not an important race to be leading... what matters at the end of the day is the quality of the product... in that respect, there is not much between the Germans (BMW, Audi, Mercedes)... it's simply personal preference for the most part. The M135 is a great car... that's all that matters.. not which marketing department opened up a different chapter in their "Lets learn our ABC's" the fastest.
Project-i has been a massive gamble for BMW, and logically it should pay off, its the right thing to do, done the right way... whether or not the market will bite... I'm not so sure. Look at the other manufacturers, they put Electric drive trains in existing bodies -- COMPROMISE. They design an electric car the same way as they design a normal car, NO VISION... the i3 and i8 represent new thinking from the ground-up.. cars like the R8 etrone, and the SLS e-cell... they are just lip-service to the idea of electric power, compromised because they are trying to be something they are not - compromisation at this level will not wash..... but like I say, that doesn't mean to say the i3, i8 will sell
As for the "Ultimate Driving Machine", that slogan ALWAYS had holes in it... it's just people being nostalgic - and forgetting BMW have had bread and butter products that have been less than sporting for a long time.
I wouldn't worry about BMW if I were you. They appear to be the most free-thinking of the bunch... their strength has grown through their independence. This has led to them having to take certain paths, make certain decisions, and do things in a certain way... Check out the Audi Financial report 2012 - look at the Hundreds and hundreds of Millions of Euro's going back and forth between VW and it's other subsidiaries... The same with Daimler-Chrysler and Mercedes...
Do I think that BMW's line-up is perfect? No, there's lots I don't like, I would like a supercar, I would like more Z's, is their styling perfect? great? good? or even acceptable? sometimes no... but then I didn't fall for BMW because they made the best looking cars in the world.
BMW still make the great cars they always did... the M3, the M5, the M6, these still sit in the marketplace as those models always have done, we now have great cars like the M135i. The economical cars utilise BMW's great engineering skills, just targeted in a different way, and this era isn't unprecidented, now we have the 320 Efficient Dynamics, 30 years ago we had the 325eta... yes we have turbo-charging, but we also have governmental regulations to meet, and don't forget BMW used Turbo's to create one of the all-time classic BMW's the 2002 Turbo. Yes, we have GT models and Gran Coupe models that blur conventional lines... but there was a time when the lines had to be blurred for us to end up with the E30 Tourer, imagine now if BMW had not innovated and there'd never been tourers? -- there was a time when they had to make bubble cars and rear engined, motorcycle powered compacts in order to just survive... there was a time before BMW made SAV's, there was a time before 3/5/7...
Look past the nostalgia induced dogmas. If an Audi is the product you want to buy, then fine buy one, but if you buy an Audi because they had a naming strategy first, then you are a fool. BMW is a business, and they apply their principles to offer a desirable product to more than just the members of this forum.
You say 'dilution', I say 'choice'. You say 'marketing', I say 'so what... be clever, look at the product, not the presentation'...
I love BMW, I have done since I first saw an E24, I don't give a shit about the badge, I don't give a shit about LED head lamps, or whether or not the LCI will change the tail-lamps, I don't care much for most of the things people on here complain about either, I don't care if BMW are making cars I don't need or don't like... I will care when they start making bad cars.. but for now...