Car and Driver?s affection for BMW sports sedans has cooled during the past five years as the Bavarians have shifted focus from hard-core driving enthusiasts to their growing throng of luxury customers. The unfortunate side effect is a diminished emphasis on the attributes we prize: an astute balance between a supple ride and laser-sharp handling; impeccable braking; and?most significant?a clear and concise dialogue between the driver and the road through the steering.
To air our grievances, we met with BMW driving dynamics expert Johann Kistler. While his current assignment is as project director for the new 2017 BMW 5-series, due for introduction later this year, Kistler guided development of the past two generations of 7-series sedans and was responsible for the move to electric power steering (EPS) for the current (F30) 3-series, which was introduced for the 2013 model year. Kistler began our conversation on the Car and Driver wavelength?by reflecting on the 1974 BMW 1602 owned by his wife: ?This is her favorite and quite an amazing car.
?That car is what we started with, all the feedback you can get. There?s no support [power assistance], so you have a lot of force. To remedy that, we added hydraulic assistance, and you get all the messages from the road delivered to the car. That means good information and bad information. When we moved to EPS, we learned how to divide the good and bad messages for the customer.?
Asked to cite an example of bad information, Kistler...