Quote:
Originally Posted by SCOTT26
POV shots ... in a fantastic location.
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If these images were done in and near Sydney, then the steering wheel ought to be on the right hand side, and the driver would be shifting with the left hand. That might be fine for those people in the UK, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, and a few other places where people drive on the "wrong" side of the road, as it were, but people in the European and American markets can't really relate to that. (I, for one, have never shifted with my left hand.) And if the future BMW coupé featured in the Australian image shots is actually the German version, with its steering wheel on the left, then that anomaly would seem rather contrived to many discerning viewers.
What really counts in the world of car industry image campaigns are the shots taken in western Marin County, north of San Francisco. This location is world famous for its twisting roads and beautiful scenery. Furthermore, it happens to also be in one of BMW's most important North American markets. An excellent example of a car being shown off in this wonderful setting, with occasional summer fog, can be seen by clicking on the Broadband box next to the "Sport in Numbers" choice at the following link:
http://www.porsche.com/usa/models/bo...y/?gtabindex=6
Highlights of the world's sportiest roadster seen in this online video were filmed on the following roads in Marin County:
* Highway 1 (between Stinson Beach and Muir Beach)
* Ridgecrest Boulevard (high above the coast and overlooking Bolinas)
* Panoramic Drive (between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach)
* Fairfax - Bolinas Road (mainly through the redwood trees above Alpine Lake)
I am intimately familiar with all these roads. This place is at its most beautiful in March and April because the grass is still very green, and colorful wildflowers dot the hills. According to SCOTT27 (SCOTT26 in a different forum), BMW was to have done shooting in the San Francisco Bay Area about a month ago. The camera crew was particularly lucky in that the most scenic stretch of Highway 1 was actually closed to traffic during this time, due to landscaping and road repairs just south of Stinson Beach. So there were definitely great opportunities to get excellent photos and videos during this time. Those are the images Americans and Europeans can relate to and are waiting to see. We can eventually expect to see some of them in future sales brochures and TV commercials.
Moreover, as I mentioned previously, since the coupé is to bring back the characteristic sportiness, handling and agility now lost in the heavier and larger 3-series models, I believe there ought to also be video available on the BMW web site that shows coupé on regular street tires doing a full Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit run, with a view not only from a window-mounted camera (which would include the engine sounds), but also from a car following closely behind as well as from a helicopter above.
I'm curious what color the coupé featured in the Marin County shots will have. (Perhaps SCOTT26 is allowed to reveal this, before the shots are officially revealed?) While virtually all BMWs seem to come in either black, gray, or silver/titanium metallic, there has been a recent trend toward white, which is making somewhat of a comeback because it happens to be the safest (statistically least likely to be involved in an accident) and also looks great, even when the surface is a bit dusty. Indeed, BMW's first official M3 video features the car in white, and BMW might be seen as a trend-setter if at the Frankfurt Auto Show all the cars it exhibits are in white while the other German manufacturers continue to stick to the traditional silver.