BMW Design - What happened?
Discussion
I was just looking at the new cars that BMW currently offered, especially with the launch of the new 7 series, and I just wanted to comment on what has changed in BMW.
Back in the early 2000's the BMW's looked great, especially the E39 and the E46, providing great looking cars for the average car buyer. Even the E38 was a very slick and gangster looking, a true barge to its name and really was and still is an impressive car alongside the other offerings from the 95-03 era. Those cars aged very well indeed and still can be very desirable cars now, especially with the E39 M5 and the E46 M3, both of which are now renowned cars that have a great market. These had slick designs with perfect, minimalistic lines.
After the era of the early 2000's, a man going by the name of Chris Bangle came in to the designs of the cars (not all however) from 2003 onwards and created somewhat 'bold' designs which created much criticism towards the cars of that era. This is the cars such as the E60/E63/E65 era cars. While the E65 was a very unique design which was generally not well received, the LCI update for that car created a somewhat very nice looking barge in my opinion, with big bold design elements such as the massive front kidney grilled and the rear trunk lid. The E63 was a generally disliked car in terms of design at the beginning, but the design aged over time and the E63 is now a very nice looking grand tourer car in my opinion. This can even be said about the E60, which also followed the same trends in design over the E63, and is now a somewhat nice, slick car with great, smooth and curved lines and is now accepted by many, compared to when it came out. Overall, the design of the Chris Bangle era was initially not so nice, but slowly became better over time. Indeed, one could say it aged well.
Even the E70 X5 was a very nice design over the blocky, muscular E53, leading on to be one of BMW's great, well known cars that went alongside other options such as the Range Rover and even the Q7 that people looked at when shopping in the luxury SUV market.
Also, the E90 was a good, simple but sleek design when it came out, along with the coupe variant and only looked better when the car went through the LCI phase. This car was well known amongst the roads of the UK and still is a very desirable car that people look at, especially with the LCI making the E90/92 series have more technology and still is seen as a modern car 5 years after the LCI.
The E87 was a varied car in terms of the response it received, but it gained the status of the first 'baby BMW', with it even gaining hot hatch status with the 130i, which went against strong competitors such as the S3 and the Golf V R32.
Now, the designs have changed so much and are just 'sheepish' they seem just acceptable against cars that BMW now compete with. The designs now seem like they are fitting in and not defining BMW, like how the previous cars could be told that they are BMW's from their design, in my opinion. They're just a bit too normal.
Now the designs just don't seem up to scratch in my opinion.
So then, what happened?
For reference:
E46 - 3 Series '98-'06
E39 - 5 series '97-'03
E65/66 - 7 series '02-'08
E60/61 - 5 series '03-'10
E63/64 - 6 series '04-10
E90/92 - 3 series '06-13'
E70 - X5 '07-'13
E87 - 1 series '04-'11
Back in the early 2000's the BMW's looked great, especially the E39 and the E46, providing great looking cars for the average car buyer. Even the E38 was a very slick and gangster looking, a true barge to its name and really was and still is an impressive car alongside the other offerings from the 95-03 era. Those cars aged very well indeed and still can be very desirable cars now, especially with the E39 M5 and the E46 M3, both of which are now renowned cars that have a great market. These had slick designs with perfect, minimalistic lines.
After the era of the early 2000's, a man going by the name of Chris Bangle came in to the designs of the cars (not all however) from 2003 onwards and created somewhat 'bold' designs which created much criticism towards the cars of that era. This is the cars such as the E60/E63/E65 era cars. While the E65 was a very unique design which was generally not well received, the LCI update for that car created a somewhat very nice looking barge in my opinion, with big bold design elements such as the massive front kidney grilled and the rear trunk lid. The E63 was a generally disliked car in terms of design at the beginning, but the design aged over time and the E63 is now a very nice looking grand tourer car in my opinion. This can even be said about the E60, which also followed the same trends in design over the E63, and is now a somewhat nice, slick car with great, smooth and curved lines and is now accepted by many, compared to when it came out. Overall, the design of the Chris Bangle era was initially not so nice, but slowly became better over time. Indeed, one could say it aged well.
Even the E70 X5 was a very nice design over the blocky, muscular E53, leading on to be one of BMW's great, well known cars that went alongside other options such as the Range Rover and even the Q7 that people looked at when shopping in the luxury SUV market.
Also, the E90 was a good, simple but sleek design when it came out, along with the coupe variant and only looked better when the car went through the LCI phase. This car was well known amongst the roads of the UK and still is a very desirable car that people look at, especially with the LCI making the E90/92 series have more technology and still is seen as a modern car 5 years after the LCI.
The E87 was a varied car in terms of the response it received, but it gained the status of the first 'baby BMW', with it even gaining hot hatch status with the 130i, which went against strong competitors such as the S3 and the Golf V R32.
Now, the designs have changed so much and are just 'sheepish' they seem just acceptable against cars that BMW now compete with. The designs now seem like they are fitting in and not defining BMW, like how the previous cars could be told that they are BMW's from their design, in my opinion. They're just a bit too normal.
Now the designs just don't seem up to scratch in my opinion.
So then, what happened?
For reference:
E46 - 3 Series '98-'06
E39 - 5 series '97-'03
E65/66 - 7 series '02-'08
E60/61 - 5 series '03-'10
E63/64 - 6 series '04-10
E90/92 - 3 series '06-13'
E70 - X5 '07-'13
E87 - 1 series '04-'11
rohrl said:
I think you can date the decline of BMW design to quite a precise moment. It's when the E46 was facelifted and the front indicators were turned upside down.
I still can't quite believe that the company that made this -
now makes this -
Not only that- its front wheel drive!I still can't quite believe that the company that made this -
now makes this -
Treason!
GroundEffect said:
somynameiswhat said:
rohrl said:
I think you can date the decline of BMW design to quite a precise moment. It's when the E46 was facelifted and the front indicators were turned upside down.
I still can't quite believe that the company that made this -
now makes this -
Not only that- its front wheel drive!I still can't quite believe that the company that made this -
now makes this -
Treason!
OP, I think the F30 3 series is a good looking thing.
Shame it lost its older brother's engine
lord trumpton said:
I think that the current crop of BMW look pretty tasty (especially mine)
The reason why BMW have gone down the volume route with a car for every niche is because that have to. BMW is still owned and controlled by the founding family. If they don't stay financially strong then they would get taken over.
They have to respond to the market and make what people want to buy
I've owned countless BMW over the years and even today, you can jump right into any model and they still have that familiar layout and slightly over weighted steering. They are still a quality brand that stand out from the rest.
Any model they make (good or bad) is instantly recognisable as a BMW yet still remain individual - unlike the s
te Audi produce
All audis basically have the same exterior and interior, no doubting that. The reason why BMW have gone down the volume route with a car for every niche is because that have to. BMW is still owned and controlled by the founding family. If they don't stay financially strong then they would get taken over.
They have to respond to the market and make what people want to buy
I've owned countless BMW over the years and even today, you can jump right into any model and they still have that familiar layout and slightly over weighted steering. They are still a quality brand that stand out from the rest.
Any model they make (good or bad) is instantly recognisable as a BMW yet still remain individual - unlike the s
te Audi produceAnother thing to comment is that BMW want more money to make the cars look ok, the base spec ones look horrible with average everything from trim to lights on the car. The more you seem to pay for e.g luxury, m sport then the better the car looks. A 335d m sport looks much more BMW than a 320d company car spec. That's just marketing essentially.
gizlaroc said:
Haha, love these threads, had Mercedes last week, now BMW and I guess Audi next week?
People driving old cars say how badly designed modern ones are, people driving modern cars say how nice they think they look. What a surprise.
Most of the older BMW "Classics" just look a chavy now when you see them on the road. Sure they were nice at the time, but I don't think many have dated that well.
Can't say I get excited about anything in the BMW range at the moment, I have a current X3, but it is the family car, it does it what it does well and I quite like the look of it, nothing more than that though. Went to get a touch up pen the other day and I didn't even have a look at the cars in the showroom, nothing there I would want.
In the end, I'm only providing a view on the current design state according to my taste, not hating. Some are well designed. In fact, we'll be looking soon for a much newer replacement for my aging E39. Maybe an E70. People driving old cars say how badly designed modern ones are, people driving modern cars say how nice they think they look. What a surprise.
Most of the older BMW "Classics" just look a chavy now when you see them on the road. Sure they were nice at the time, but I don't think many have dated that well.
Can't say I get excited about anything in the BMW range at the moment, I have a current X3, but it is the family car, it does it what it does well and I quite like the look of it, nothing more than that though. Went to get a touch up pen the other day and I didn't even have a look at the cars in the showroom, nothing there I would want.
gizlaroc said:
somynameiswhat said:
In the end, I'm only providing a view on the current design state according to my taste, not hating. Some are well designed. In fact, we'll be looking soon for a much newer replacement for my aging E39. Maybe an E70.
Yeah I got that, I'm the same to be honest. At least this thread was a bit less aggressive than the Mercedes one last week, where people were only buying new cars to 'impress the neighbours' or 'because they are new money' etc. etc. Some right t
ts on that one. 
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff