[GenXer]

Most everyone is awed by BMWs from the past, and some restore them with lots of enthusiasm and reverence.

Fast forward 40 years from now. Will anyone in the future be restoring F and G generation vehicles like today's collectors do? Will anyone fuss over trying to restore a broken circuit from an LED headlamp and painstakingly reprint a circuit board to make it work? Or perhaps try to find an old computer to recode iDrive?

Have modern cars become as disposable as plastic bottles, or will future generations find today's BMWs worth restoring?

[M5Rick]

Future generations... but when it comes to our cars and the jalopies they'll be driving in 40 years I can see many being restored and driven.

[MPOWER5266]

People are already restoring E36's so probably. I think with the advances in production and use of plastics they may not need restoration as much as a freshening up.

[chassis]

Nothing is new under the sun. Yes, today’s BMWs will be restored.

First gen X7
Current gen X3 M40
Late 2010s X5M
All/most M models

It will be interesting to see how repairable i models are in the future. A new stream of replacement parts and skills are needed for motors and power electronics.

[ItsGary]

Originally Posted by chassis

Nothing is new under the sun. Yes, today’s BMWs will be restored.

First gen X7
Current gen X3 M40
Late 2010s X5M
All/most M models

It will be interesting to see how repairable I models are in the future. A new stream of replacement parts and skills are needed for motors and power electronics.

I don't see the X3 M40i being one of those vehicles. The X3 M however I could see potentially. This whole SAV/SUV market is honestly for boomers.

[Darth One]

Sure. Far in the future, when everyone's driving soul-sucking self-driving roombas, i can see someone yearning for a good turbo-spooling, farty-backfiring F8x BMW

[vreihen16]

I think that the big wildcard will be if older cars will have been legislated off of the roads in 40 years. Cash for clunkers took a whole generation of hoopties out of circulation. With the environmental movement going after fossil fuels and "smart" safety features that will surely have cars talking to each other to avoid collisions, it may not be possible to drive a car as we know it in 40 years. Insurance for "dumb" cars and insane registration fees could prevent them from being driven by common folks, just like Japan's laws do by increasing fees for taxes and two-year inspections as cars age.....

[F32Fleet]

No, because in 40 yrs people will have forgotten how to actually drive or insurance rates will practically mandate self-driving cars.

[Moflow]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

No, because in 40 yrs people will have forgotten how to actually drive or insurance rates will practically mandate self-driving cars.

If we move to government mandated self driving cars, it'll probably be a few M cars that still have value and nothing else.

Some old rich guys will still want to drive them on the race track, but there wouldn't be much use for an old, cool, but historically not that significant BMW.

If self driving cars ARENT mandated, then I think most of the current lineup will still have a following. My bet is that in 40 years someone will come up with some sort of universal replacement solution for car infotainment systems, because nobody is going to know how to program for/get parts for/work on that shit 40 years from now.

[Soterios]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

No, because in 40 yrs people will have forgotten how to actually drive or insurance rates will practically mandate self-driving cars.

This feels like the sad but correct answer.

There will be some auto museums that piece crazy rare cars together I'm sure. One day there will be a new exhibit with a story about finding the last known example of a base model three series from way back in 2004. It'll be worth millions.

[ted99]

I think that the not so distant future will block cars from "freeways" in urban areas that do not have some sort of station-keeping, lane keeping, accident avoidance technology that will permit safe "platooning" of cars with much closer following intervals. This will be needed to increase the carrying capacity of roads. For instance think of how much time could be saved if lookie-loos in the opposite lane of a freeway didn't slow down to see an accident on the other side. We already see a precursor of this in Houston with some toll roads prohibited for any vehicle not having a toll tag. When this kind of thing happens, only old cars of significant interest will be restored. I agree that "restored" probably means the electronics and paint, not rusted out body panels--like today.

[MarkDemma]

My guess is that the problem with restoring cars from our current time period in say, 50, 75 years will be the electronics. Have any spare IEEE-488 or RS-232 cables laying about? That's what you'd need to connect to a printer from the 80s. The "classic" cars people are restoring now are pretty simple things, imagine if you needed to replace an ECU or sensor when that tech would be beyond obsolete.

Also, if things are bad enough due to climate change in 50 years, ICE cars might be totally banned by that point.

[MmmmmM2]

Restoring an F30 seems like a great idea said no one ever.

[Feddersen]

Some will probably try to keep the ICE cars alive but they will most likely only be the special cars like fx M4, M8, 135i, M240i, M2 and so on. I just don’t see normal 3, 4, 5, 7-series or X-cars to be saved for the future.

In 40 year the kids will say: “Grandpa – tell us about the ancient times were personal transport had to be controlled by persons using their hands and feet. How was that even possible?”

[pz619]

This might be a homer pick, but I think the M2 might fill the restoration criteria. Small RWD coupe, powerful motor, and 6MT. It's the reason I bought it.

But yeah, let's follow up in about 40 years to see if I'm right. I'll mark it in my calendar.

[Germanauto]

Anything remotely sporty will fit the bill, so like a 2-series or 3-series (whatever sportiness is left of it).

[vreihen16]

Go find a 25 year-old car with a factory analog car phone. How old are the BMW models that lost their 2G iDrive connectivity when the cellular system was shut down? At least in terms of electronics, today's cars in 40 years will be paperweights.....

[Meeni]

Not sure how gasoline will be available in the future. That could render restoration a very nice activity if procuring gas to actually run the car is difficult/special order from the internet or something.

[Humdizzle]

e30
e46
1M
e92 comp
e60


I think those M cars will be restored later on. Mainly because NA engine and 6 speed. The 1M being the exception with its low production numbers.

[Feddersen]

Originally Posted by Meeni

Not sure how gasoline will be available in the future. That could render restoration a very nice activity if procuring gas to actually run the car is difficult/special order from the internet or something.

Thats just the foundation for a new hobby: Home brewed gasolin

[heavyD^2]

Originally Posted by Meeni

Not sure how gasoline will be available in the future. That could render restoration a very nice activity if procuring gas to actually run the car is difficult/special order from the internet or something.

It will be available the same way they do it today by extracting it from the ground. People like to associate automobiles with O&G but the truth is that we use byproducts in nearly everything in our day to day lives like chemicals, plastics, lubricants, power generation, heat generation, the asphalt we all drive on, etc. Planes for example emit more pollution than automobiles and there's no electric solution for them. Despite what the fear-mongers preach O&G is going away anytime soon so indeed keep your jewel car for restoration.

[chassis]

Natural gas is the new coal. Hydrocarbons will be around for the foreseeable future.