RE: BMW Concept 4 | Frankfurt 2019

RE: BMW Concept 4 | Frankfurt 2019

Tuesday 10th September 2019

BMW Concept 4 | Frankfurt 2019

"A coupe oozing aesthetic appeal from every pore" says BMW - some may think differently...



So much of BMW’s heritage and enthusiast appeal is tied up in its sports coupes, various CSLs, CSI, CSes, Cis and whatever else capturing the imagination of buyers like little else. Put a straight-six and rear-drive in a handsome two-door body, maybe send it racing at some point, and watch the fans come flooding in. It’s surely a formula BMW will be keen to replicate with the second generation 4 Series, a car due soon and previewed by this Concept 4.

We know what you’re thinking – that can’t be the real grille, because it's a pair of doors from a wild west saloon bar. But this isn’t a drill, and that is the actual grille. “Grabbing the attention at the heart of the front end is the vertical kidney grille”, says BMW, a design which "fits seamlessly into both the proportions of the front end and BMW’s illustrious past.” It’s meant to evoke the original 328 or 3.0 CSI, you see, though it could be argued that the result is a little… heavy handed.


Anyway, with that out of the way, we can concentrate on the rest of the Concept 4 – which, it has to be said, looks pretty damn good. The original 4 Series of 2013 was always a good-looking car without deviating too far from a traditional silhouette, something which seems to have been replicated here. Indeed its creator says that the concept “displays BMW’s signature proportions at their most modern form yet”, with the trademark Hofmeister kink, cab-rearward stance, narrow window aperture and heavily bolstered arches, leaving no doubt as to its rear-drive nature. BMW talks of “tautly chiselled volumes”, “extremely precise contours” and “a rare sense of emotion and dynamism.”

At the rear the Concept 4 is clearly influenced by recent models like the Z4 and 8 Series, its slender horizontal lights and vertical air intakes right at the edges drawing attention to its width. BMW’s view on the 4 is that “purism runs through every element of the rear end”, with “broad and athletic shoulders” and a “brawny stance on the road”. Imagine what an M4 might look like…


A few more final points of note: those wheels are 21-inches and don’t look enormous, which says much for the overall dimensions; the colour is called Forbidden Red and the kidneys, if you can look at them again, are made up of loads of small ‘4’ graphics. Tremendous.

While BMW says this previews the production 4 Series, there’s no word yet on exactly when that car will come. Given the old 4 arrived the year after the 3 Series saloon, it can’t be far off, though; don’t forget, either, that BMWs tend to stick closely to the styling of concepts, so best get used to that grille…









Author
Discussion

DBSnappa

Original Poster:

86 posts

230 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
Stick some big ears on that and you’ve got Bugs Bunny

Greg the Fish

1,410 posts

65 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
The overall shape is rather nice (for a BMW) but..................elephant in the room?

gonzales_turbo

229 posts

208 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
these two guys in one of the photos, I guess they're the designers.

Got a message for you: YOU'RE FIRED!


What a mess! Without mentioning the front, the side and rear are derivative of Lexus and Aston, and being derivative is not what I would expect from BMW. And that's if you can forget the front.

Message to Alfa: if you could just hurry up a bit with the GTV, I'm pretty sure you could steal a few customers from this monstruosity!

DanL

6,180 posts

264 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
Make that front grill about 2 feet shorter and give it a front bumper to mount a number plate on, and it’s not a bad looking thing. The grill is ridiculous, obviously. biggrin

Fetchez la vache

5,568 posts

213 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
fk me sideways. That front!

flatso

1,240 posts

128 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
Come on lads, surely there are still people around that appreciate car designs that put a smile on your face every time you see them. Years and years we have complained about car designs being too stern and martial, finally someone brings some fun into our lives and nobody seems to appreciate it.

Even the designers in that photo-Op are a well thought part of the entire design language being transmitted, from the ill-fitting hot-dog style suits down to the cheeky sneakers and the fake smiles.


HM-2

12,467 posts

168 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
Overlooking that ridiculous grille, I quite like it, but it does look very much like the current E-class coupé in profile:

Dinoboy

2,494 posts

216 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
gonzales_turbo said:
these two guys in one of the photos, I guess they're the designers.

Got a message for you: YOU'RE FIRED!


What a mess! Without mentioning the front, the side and rear are derivative of Lexus and Aston, and being derivative is not what I would expect from BMW. And that's if you can forget the front.

Message to Alfa: if you could just hurry up a bit with the GTV, I'm pretty sure you could steal a few customers from this monstruosity!
Exactly what a thought when I saw that, not an original design at all.

LuS1fer

41,086 posts

244 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
I hope they wiped after they squeezed that one out.

JuanGandini

1,466 posts

138 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
It's almost like BMW are making a parody of themselves with their kidney grille gigantism problem. That concept car has possibly the ugliest front end I've ever seen. The rest works quite well in my opinion though.

csd19

2,171 posts

116 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
Jesus fking titty christ eek

I like every other shot of the car apart from the front end shots, that's ridiculous. Is this another BMW pandering to China's demands?

Need to put a warning in the thread title about that grill.

Harry_523

350 posts

98 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
I saw some magazine renders of the 4 series that had a massive full height grill and thought they must've been smoking something. Turns out whoever did the render must've had a sneak preview of this monstrosity.

Lets hope they pay attention to the reaction to the "concept" (although it looks like one of those "we're calling it a concept but its 90% production" things) and get rid of that grill before it goes on sale. Otherwise they will sell precisely 0.

Bam89

628 posts

100 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
I've had my heart set on the new M440i as my next car, but I think I might have just changed my mind because of that fookin grill

DS240

4,637 posts

217 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
Might not be so bad without that truly awful grille.

Reciprocating mass

6,029 posts

240 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
The ford Edsel of bmw’s

vezna

9 posts

104 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
I love the insanity of that design. Some beautiful lines and then that crazy front end. Awesome stuff. I love it when BMW go a little mad.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

253 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
Holly mother of God.. that is pure turd.

Wills2

22,669 posts

174 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
Sabre toothed 4 series, certainly can't moan about generic design with this BMW.


MrScrot

77 posts

161 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
BMW's design team must have some in joke going on

FWDRacer

3,564 posts

223 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
BMW. #Shakeshead.