Talk:BMW New Six

I'd query whether the New Sixes were an ancestor to the 5-series: they ran concurrently for many years and the New Six models only disappeared when the 6- and 7-series were launched. The 5s may be thought of as an intermediate series that had no direct ancestor IMO. Stombs 23:25, Dec 18, 2004 (UTC)

You're probably right. BMW World made the claim, but it looks wrong. On the other hand, the BMW New Class models are clearly the spiritual ancestors of the [[BMW 3-Series, and they were produced at the same time, right? --SFoskett 04:41, Dec 20, 2004 (UTC)

As I've indicated in Template:BMW cars, I've always thought the New Class can be divided neatly into the 4-door models (2000 etc.) which foreshadowed the 5-series and the 2-door cars (2002 etc.) which were succeeded by the 3-series. The dates of the introductions of the 3, 5 and 7 series supports this. -- Hotlorp 16:41, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I think it would be wrong to call the E3 an ancestor to the 5-series, as the 5-series arrived in 1972, and the E3 went out of production in 1977, when it was actually replaced by the e23, the first 7-series. It's not ancestor to the 5-series, as it was made to compete with Mercedes-Benz S-class. The 5-series was made to compete with Mercedes-Benz W114-sedans. The long wheelbase version of E3 also supports this, as only the big luxury sedans were available with that option. 83.108.108.137 (talk) 17:24, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

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Why is this page separate from the BMW 3.0 page? I don't think there's a justification for separating on engine size for this car. The reunited page should probably be called BMW E3/E9 (E3 is the BMW name for the saloon, E9 for the coupé). -- Hotlorp 17:30, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

OK, now I've tidied up this page, and moved the BMW 3.0 page to BMW E9, which is also linked from here. -- Hotlorp 16:41, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

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I added some information to correct previous errors on this page and provide further content. My father purchased a Bavaria new when I was 13, and I later bought the car from him. It was in the family for almost 25 years. All my additions are off the top of my head, but I am confident on the quality of the material.--CSBM5 19:53, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

E3 and E9

A lot of information on the E3/E9 page is still wrong or misleading. I have owned an E9 and I have an E3 and I know quiet a bit about both. Would it be acceptable to write two articles (one for the E3 and another for the E9) to update/replace this one? There's actually quiet a bit to say about both cars. Also, the 5-series replaced the Neue Klasse 4-door sedan (ex: the 1800) while the 7-series was the replacement for the E3 (the E3 was BMW's first New Class large sedan). Similarly the E9 was a replacement for the controvercial 2000CS, using the E3 mechanicals, and it was replaced by the 6-series as the large touring/coupe model. The E3 was BMW's first car with the M30 'big six', a very interesting and historically-important engine used until 1993 or so. I really think they deserve two accurate and detailed articles. -- (andrey 15:29, 27 August 2005 (UTC))

I agree that it is worth having separate articles for the E3 and E9. Currently there is a lot of overlap between the two articles, which I think causes confusion for casual readers, so I will try to remove some of the overlap. 1292simon (talk) 19:18, 25 August 2017‎

@1292simon: The current article covers both the sedan and the coupé, and it seems to me that a lay person would initially be best served by reading such an "umbrella article". The more specific article for the coupé is linked as a "main" article so the reader would dig into that if they were interested. I don't think there is enough material yet for three articles (i.e. the overall, and two more specific ones) so I am proposing that we leave the scope of the articles as they stand for now. Do you agree? In any case, I am cleaning up the material and making it less confusing, so if we want to change anything, it will be easier. I am also thinking that the coupé article should be renamed to New Six CS as I get the feeling that for a lay person, this name is better than BMW E9. What are your thoughts? My Gussie (talk) 21:53, 22 May 2018 (UTC)

• Hi My Gussie. Thanks for inviting the discussion. Yes, a separate umbrella article seems unnecessary here. My preference is to have both articles as standalone articles, without one appearing as the "child" article of the other. This is because the E9 exists as a separate model range, not merely the coupe spin-off models of the E3. I think the linking of the articles should be just by noting the commonalities in the intro.

The articles names are a tricky question! Does anyone know where the term "New Six" has come from? I can't find any official reference to "New Six", and when BMW groups the E3/E9 together, they simply call them the "six cylinder cars" of the range (1, 2). If "New Six" is not an official term, then my preference is that the articles be called "BMW E3" and "BMW E9", as per the German wikipedia. Cheers, 1292simon (talk) 08:29, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

Not a full-size sedan

If we have to get technical, yes the New Six was a descendant of the 7 Series as the flagship sedan, but in contrast to the 7 Series, the New Six (E3) was more of a W114 competitor in terms of exterior size as well as engine options too. The W108 was a much, much larger car and that could even be compared to the American landyachts of yore. Both the New Six and the W114 were 195-196" long with a wheelbase above 105"--below 110", and not to mention the W108 even had V8 options! Also, having compared the New Class (1500) and the New Six (E3), the New Six was built to compete directly with the W114, however the New Class was more similar to the W120 which was still in production by the time the New Class was released as both were E-segment cars. BMW happened to have two E-segment cars, but the New Six was more of an in-betweener, since it didn't come with a four-cylinder engine. BMW was more focused on engine over size. 71.94.157.155 (talk) 06:48, 13 March 2022 (UTC)