RE: BMW extends Gran Coupe family with new 2 Series

[Touring442]

Alex_225 said:

It's a no from me! They've taken a nicely proportioned car in the previous 2 Series Coupe and made it fussy and ugly.

If this is in the same segment as the new CLA, I'd take one of hose in a heartbeat. The original was a complete dog but the new one is very smart. The A3 saloon is also tidy looking, even more so compared to this.

The 2 Series Coupe wasn't a pretty car but it was certainly unique and characterful in the way the 1 Series Coupe was. It was probably the final incarnation of the 2002/E21/E30 line.

[Tim bo]

slowcars1 said:

I was curious so I looked at the article again and yes, you are correct. The images are embedded with fixed width and height attributes in the image tag that do not match the true aspect ratio of the image.

Here is the example of the first image from the article:

 <img alt="" src="https://ph-classic-prod-images.s3.amazonaws.com/nimg/41133/2GC_13.jpg" width="600" height="450"> 

The raw size of the image is 600px by 450px, but the image is being resized to 574px by 454.75px which does not maintain the original aspect ratio of the image of 1.33 and is being shown with an aspect ratio of 1.26. This means that the photos are being elongated in height so the cars appear taller and stumpier than they actually are in the original photos.

Yep I suspected the aspect ratio was off. Nice to have a proper explanation so thankyou.

I looked at the rear-end in the article ...



... and I straightaway thought jesus that looks tall! It can't be right. And by your explanation, it isn't right, and it isn't that tall.

I've learned to reserve judgement until I see cars in the flesh. Pictures rarely do them justice, particularly when the pictures are completely bloody skewed as these ones are.

I remember thinking the new Z4 looked disappointingly bloated in the PH Pictures when it was first released. When I saw my first one in the flesh I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't look as horribly bloated as the pictures implied.

[JD]

I think you are all mental; I can’t see a difference between the PH ones and bmw ones

[Touring442]

To be fair, Adrian Van Honkytonk has pulled it off - this is quite an achievement.

[aaron_2000]

Touring442 said:

They haven't made a four door Convertible version of this yet.

I feel like we're watching the demise of BMW in slow motion. Attractive cars being replaced one by one by sh*t like this. The 4 Series is on the chopping block and after that, it's only the 5 Series left as a reminder of how BMW used to be, elegant and well proportioned.

Audi must be laughing all the way to the bank. Tragic.

The current 5 Series is round and bland. The current 3 Series isn't bad. Think I'd rather have an Audi or Volvo over a BMW or Merc these days.

[4941cc]

Shiv_P said:

So the 2 series is a coupe of the 1 series. The 1 series is now FWD.
The 2 series is RWD.
The 2 series GC is FWD.

Wtf

For the last generation, the 2 Series was split in two halves, the coupe and convertibles (F22 & F23), based upon the F20 1 Series platforms which had longitudinal engines and a RWD drivetrain. The MPV type ones 2 Series Active and Gran Tourer (F45 & F46) were transverse engined and FWD based upon F55 MINI platforms and drivetrains.

All they've done is taken the development of a new compact RWD platform out of the equation and built everything FWD/AWD on the F55 Mini platform to save huge costs as it makes so little difference to the majority of buyers in that sector.

[okenemem]

please no

[FN2TypeR]

fk me, that is bad

[Mr Tidy]

It could have been great if it had RWD and a straight 6 petrol engine like the 2 Series Coupe - but it is just another cynical Mini-based cynical marketing exercise IMO.

[BorisnBertie]

I'm now starting to feel privileged to own an E39 5 series.. so much has gone wrong with BMW design since those halcyon years.
Originally the Bangle era cars didn't float my boat at all. They seem to be getting better looking against the current crop!

[sr.guiri]

Wasn't it Chris Bangle who was responsible for making BMWs ugly?

Surely he can't STILL be heading up the design team? Or maybe his son has stepped into his shoes and he too has a misplaced idea of what is attractive.

I'd like to see their wives. Ugly as f*ck, you can imagine

[sr.guiri]

Did a quick search for Chris Bangle's wife, her name's Catherine, apparently. They have a business together, but she doesn't feature in any of the photos.

Nuff said!!!

[Tim bo]

sr.guiri said:

Wasn't it Chris Bangle who was responsible for making BMWs ugly look interesting and set them far apart from the competition?

Fixed that for you.

Though rather outré for a car manufacturer, a field where design is typically conservative, Bangle's admittedly polarising designs are widely attributed to driving BMW's modern commercial success story, catapulting them ahead of Mercedes as the world leader in premium car sales.

sr.guiri said:

Surely he can't STILL be heading up the design team?

Indeed not. He stepped down in 2009. He was replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, a member of his team.

Hooydonk's designs, such as the F10, have been derided as too bland.

[anonymous-user]

Tim bo said:

Indeed not. He stepped down in 2009. He was replaced by Adrian van Hooydonk, a member of his team.

Hooydonk's designs, such as the F10, have been derided as too bland.

After the E60, the F10 was utterly underwhelming to look at. Just a lazy 3 box blob with a propeller badge. The E60 looks fresher even now than the F10.

[Escort3500]

Mr Tidy said:

It could have been great if it had RWD and a straight 6 petrol engine like the 2 Series Coupe - but it is just another cynical Mini-based cynical marketing exercise IMO.

And if it looked decent.