If the hood line is all about easier production line assembly to save money, then why do the cheaper 3er model variants have no hood line, and the most expensive premium model have the fugly design?
Contrast this to Mercedes-AMG who market their top-end cars on the basis that every engine is lovingly assembled by a single highly trained engineer who signs a numbered plaque in the engine compartment.
What does this tell us about the philosophies of the two companies?
Also, MB are putting in DCTs, and BMW are taking them out.
For current generation cars, the F82 with M-DCT is still streets ahead of equivalent AMG from a driver engagement perspective, but I'm not sure I expect that to continue much longer (since next generation they will both be heavy GT cars). On the design and technology front, BMW are already behind imho.