Was Chris Bangle right all along?

[Ari]

I loved the old E39 BMW, and like so many others, hated the Banglized E60 that replaced it.

But I must admit, I saw a really tidy E39 on the road yesterday, and boy it looks dated!

Meanwhile the latest F10 BMW looks great! But it clearly owes more to the E60 than the old E39.

Which rather begs the question, despite all the flack Chris Bangle got for "ruining" the 5 Series, did he really have the right idea all along and was just ahead of his time?

E39



E60



F10

[Krikkit]

I've always thought Bangle's designs were reasonable, if not stellar. The boot on the 6 is awful, but the 5 and 7 make up for it in my eyes.

[anonymous-user]

Yes I think he did get it right in retrospect, but that's without taking anything away from the E39. They're all very colour sensitive and a pre-facelift E39 in doom blue as in your picture is probably the dowdiest of the lot IMO.

A really nice E39 in the right colour, preferably a facelift sport, or an M5 or B10 is still a thing of proper beauty in my eyes. The early E60 generally looks more "modern" but again in the right colour with the right wheels I think they can look great.

[SuperchargedVR6]

E39 = Nice
E60 = Not so nice
F10 = Nice

Is it me or, for want of a better expression, do cars shelf lives expire faster these days? I clearly remember the MK2,3 and 4 Golfs being launched over several years, but it feels like I've blinked my eye and Marks 5,6 have come and gone, and 7 is just round the corner.

Or is this just a sign of getting old?

[Herbs]

I posted similar on the BMW 4 series coupe post earlier this week.

We seem to have similar outlooks on life if the elderly driving thread and this is anything to go by.

[4key]

I like all of them and always have, they can all look either dire or stunning depending on the trim level though.

[isaldiri]

Bangle definitely did not get it right in my opinion but (very unfortunately) he was ahead of his time in the sense that most new cars have morphed into a bloated mess these days so much so that seeing an E60 isn't quite as offensive to my eyes as it was back in 2003...

[DrTre]

Visually the e39 is dull as ditch water and badly balanced, the e60 is vastly better. The f10 is just vast

[marsred]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

E39 = Nice
E60 = Not so nice
F10 = Nice

Is it me or, for want of a better expression, do cars shelf lives expire faster these days? I clearly remember the MK2,3 and 4 Golfs being launched over several years, but it feels like I've blinked my eye and Marks 5,6 have come and gone, and 7 is just round the corner.

Or is this just a sign of getting old?

Ah yes, when summers were longer and it snowed in winter and kids played outside a lot... sounds like you're just getting older

[Ari]

charltjr said:

Yes I think he did get it right in retrospect, but that's without taking anything away from the E39. They're all very colour sensitive and a pre-facelift E39 in doom blue as in your picture is probably the dowdiest of the lot IMO.

A really nice E39 in the right colour, preferably a facelift sport, or an M5 or B10 is still a thing of proper beauty in my eyes. The early E60 generally looks more "modern" but again in the right colour with the right wheels I think they can look great.

That's an interesting point. The E39 I saw was in bark blue (just a coincidence that a dark blue one came up in a search for images). Agree about brighter colours and the Sport spec, but it's still an old looking car now (not a bad looking car, the E Type is an old looking car but stunning. But it is old looking).

[Ari]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

Is it me or, for want of a better expression, do cars shelf lives expire faster these days? I clearly remember the MK2,3 and 4 Golfs being launched over several years, but it feels like I've blinked my eye and Marks 5,6 have come and gone, and 7 is just round the corner.

Or is this just a sign of getting old?

I'm afraid so ol' chap. Now settle down, here's your coco...

[Ari]

Herbs said:

I posted similar on the BMW 4 series coupe post earlier this week.

We seem to have similar outlooks on life if the elderly driving thread and this is anything to go by.

[otolith]

You've just got used to the bloody things being everywhere.

[Crafty_]

Not really a BMW fan, but the F10 front bumper looks awkward, the area below the grilles is too deep and the whole grille area looks as if it protrudes too far and is too boxy, that area on the car in the middle picture looks better.

maybe the inner part of the headlights could be pulled out a bit to meet the grille area.

[AC43]

To my eyes Bangle's designs were ....errr....challenging to say the least,

The new ones all represent a return to form for BMW design. The latest one, in particular, looks fabulous to me.

Bangle added so many downright odd curves, radii and details all seeming applied at random with no relation to each other.

Maybe he was trying to shock or something.

Anyway to me he was an abberation and I'm very glad he's handed the reins back to some sensible people

[Mermaid]

In years to come, the E39 will be looked on more favourably than the E60 - the E39 will be a classic, the E60 - I don't think so.

[snotrag]

But you've delibeately chosen a very ugly pic of the E39, alongside nice photos of the later ones. Gimme 2 min and its easy to swing the balance...

[Ari]

snotrag said:

But you've delibeately chosen a very ugly pic of the E39, alongside nice photos of the later ones. Gimme 2 min and its easy to swing the balance...

Go on then!

[snotrag]

Looks much better, non?


BMW E39 by kity54, on Flickr


Bmw E39 540 by michalekmilan, on Flickr


BMW E39 528i by reihesechs, on Flickr

[Leins]

Personally I think he got it very wrong. A succession of bloated messes, to reuse a previous posters phrase, and threw away decades of crisp, elegant design

Although I have to admit that the E39 isn't exactly my favourite looking BMW anyway. This, on the other hand, might be 25 years old in design, but I still love it