BMW Design

What do you like more?


The classic BMW design cues: softer more elegant lines

http://www.bmwusa.com/NR/rdonlyres/A52B9F34-C576-42DF-9F48-5CC96793C7C4/0/0442_features_options.jpg
http://www.bmwusa.com/NR/rdonlyres/81F5921B-E152-4A3F-BC63-F225D65FB322/0/0437_features_options.jpg


Or the new ones: sharper more agresive lines

http://www.bmwusa.com/NR/rdonlyres/444906B9-9DA9-4B60-B491-6B6EED91D6A1/0/0450_features_options.jpg
http://www.bmwusa.com/NR/rdonlyres/5E6AC167-02A1-47EE-B211-B33C9513EF8F/0/0428_features_options.jpg

No question, I prefer classic hands down. I don't like the new styling at all.

I like the classic design...but I do love the Z4...cant wait til the wedge a M3 or M5 engine in there!

I'm a bigger fan of the older stuff though i have to say i like the Z4's 'flame surfacing' styling.
The new 7 is challenging and not as easy on the eye as the old one, though on big wheels it does look good imo.
The new 5 is a mess, the X3's strange angles make it look like a concept car and not a finished article; the (new) 6 also looks clumsy though i'll have to see the X3 and 6 in the flesh before i make up my mind definitively.

All in all i prefer the older stuff but hey, design moves on. I didnt like the E46 when it came out and now i do, so i may change my mind about the new stuff. Im sure many will.

Gotta say Classic. I love e30 M3s and all the E36s. Yep deffinataly love older 3 series.

I like the classic design...but I do love the Z4...cant wait til the wedge a M3 or M5 engine in there!

I pretty much totally agree with you. I new Z4 is gorgious ( I especially dig the back) :naughty:

I like the new 7 Series, the Z4 and the 6 Series.


But the 5 Series looks like a Daewoo at the back and is generally ugly as sin and the 3 Series facelift made the E46 look goofy.

I like the new 7 Series, the Z4 and the 6 Series.


But the 5 Series looks like a Daewoo at the back and is generally ugly as sin and the 3 Series facelift made the E46 look goofy.
Agree with the above statement regarding the 3-series facelift (only the saloon though). And actually, the E-class has also lost some of its identity. If you've seen one in that gross cream exterior on standard wheels it looks like Korean crap.

Coming to think of it, i dont think the new BMW designs are particularly more aggressive than the old ones.

* Pre-facelift, the E46 3-series, head on is a very aggressive design. As is the E36, for that matter

* The new 5 may look aggressive from some angles, but so did the old one, and that one wasnt weird

* The revised X5 looks a little goofier and as a result less aggressive

* The X3 doesnt look aggressive at all, especially next to the original X5.

* The new 6 and 7 do admittedly look aggressive, but only because they're so challenging and weird to look at.

Before you think to yourself "this guy's going in circles", look at it this way: the original 6-series was aggressive and elegant at the same time, a truly great design. Some of the new ones may well be aggressive but you'd have to be employed by BMW (or be partially sighted) to call them elegant. Much has been lost. Old styling wins.

i don't think the new designs are ugly, just not fitting, for lack of a better word i can't think of at the moment. i prefer the old styling no question. and if memory serves correct, the designer who's behind this new direction bmw has taken was fired. please correct me if i'm wrong but i vaguely recall reading that somewhere.

as for the new 5 series, the front end reminds me too much of a pontiac grand prix. those tail lights? can someone say WRX??

in conclusion. old > new.

and if memory serves correct, the designer who's behind this new direction bmw has taken was fired. please correct me if i'm wrong but i vaguely recall reading that somewhere.

Bangle hasnt been fired. There are online petitions going around saying he should be though :evillol:

BMW wouldnt fire him as it would be an admission of having messed up... now when do companies ever do that? ;)

i think the new designs look a lot better. personally i think the new design is smoother looking and i like the smoother look. once people get aquinted with the new designs, i think that more people will like them.

as further examples of current and future BMW styling here are some spy pictures of the upcoming 1 series

pictures curtesy of autoweek

story:
http://autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?port_code=autoweek&cat_code=carnews&loc_code=index&content_code=06463267

http://autoweek.com/weekart/2004/0209/1seriesmain.jpg
http://autoweek.com/weekart/2004/0209/1seriesrear34.jpg
http://autoweek.com/weekart/2004/0209/1seriesside.jpg

that looks okay, but it still a station wagon. the coolest station wagon, okay, sports wagon is the m coupe. that thing looks cool i think.

as for the new 5 series, the front end reminds me too much of a pontiac grand prix.


That was what I thought when I first saw the new 5 series. I thought I was just full of crap, but now I feel a little better :smile: . But really, cars design can only go so many ways....their all begining to share similarities in a more simple aspect of design.

The February issue of TG magazine has some pics of the 1-series and sketches of the 4-series. Tech specs are very interesting, especially for the 4-series. The styling of the 4 is along the lines of the new beemers, but is one of the better ones imo.

The facelift of the 3 series screams out "WUSS!!!!" I wouldn't buy one, part of the reason I went pre-facelift, I don't give a shit if the trade-off gives you an extra cog in the manual tranny.

The fiver is well a lot better in the flesh, but still looks outlandish and extremely odd.

The 7 has finally grown on me, as has the 6.

The Z4 always has been stunning from Day 1 :D

The newest 7 Series is passable, and has even grown on me a bit. But, it will never match the beauty and timelessness of the previous model without major revisions. The new 5-Series is a total disaster and makes me wonder if Mr. Bangle doesn't need to look into a nice set of bi-focals.

The Z4 actually isn't bad, although the "metal flaming" or whatever BMW calls it is pretty goofy IMO. Unlike the new 5 and 7, the Z4 is an improvment in looks over it's predecessor. But, that isn't saing much as the Z3 never fit very well into BMW's lineup from a "looks" standpoint IMO.

The new 6 Series isn't unnatractive, but it isn't particularly stunning by any means either. ANd, for that level of cash I want some "stun" in my style thank you. The 8 Series, and the old Six Series cars as well, were gorgeous automobiles. There definately seems to be a downward trend in the styling of BMW's overall IMO.

Frankly, I find BMW's new styling direction saddening as the previous 5 and 7 Series cars were absolutely gorgeous cars just like the old 6 and 8 Series cars I mentioned above. It appears pretty obvious to me that BMW can no longer be considered a designer of truly striking and timeless automobiles. Those are words I never thought I would hear myself say.

and if memory serves correct, the designer who's behind this new direction bmw has taken was fired. please correct me if i'm wrong but i vaguely recall reading that somewhere.

Apologies del!
Chris Bangle has indeed been "promoted" (i.e. fired) from direct styling responsibility for all future BMW models.

Thread here (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=190046)

Guess that answers the old vs. new debate

Well as an update R&T published some spy photos of some upcoming BMW models.

Sorry for the pic quality but my scanner is not set up so i had to se my digital camera. And of course i could not find the pics on the R&T website.

Those are pics of the upcoming 4 series (coupe version of future 3 series)
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/13360bmw1.jpg
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/13360bmw2.jpg

cabrio version of the future 3 series
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/13360bmw3.jpg


2 series coupe
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/13360bmw4.jpg


IMO finally BMW got back on the right track especially with these new 4 series and of course the 3 series since it will look very similar

the convertible looks even better than the Z4

I'm not too sure about the 2 series though, for some strange reason the back end of it reminds me of the RSX

Interesting designs. There's a lot of 6-series in the 4, which looks a little slab-sided to me and the headlights strike me as a little cartoonish. The proportions are more or less right though. Im with you on the resemblence between the 2 and the RSX, but i like the 2 overall.

i really like the new designs of the bmw's. it seems they are more smoother and sleek looking to me. i also agree that the 2 does look like the rsx.

See that's where i disagree. The 4 looks too fat imo

the 4 does seem a little big for a 2-door (reminds me of a toyota solara cuz its a big 2-door also). but other than that, it has some striking designs. the 2 series is my fav cuz it is small. does anybody know what engines come with these cars?

The 4-series is rumoured to be topped by a 432is, with the M4 having a V8.

The top 2-series will supposedly have a 240bhp (off the top of my head but i think it's right) 4-pot.

classic for good reasons

http://members.roadfly.org/nikat/8%20and%20new%206.jpg

http://members.roadfly.org/nikat/8%20and%20new%206%20(2).jpg

http://www.bmwworld.com/pics/5er/10343_1024.jpg

Yeah, you definately are not doing the new 5 or 6 any favors by showing them with their predecessors Panzer. The 8-Series makes the 6-Series look like something the cat drug in. And, the last two generations of 5-Series are enormously more attractive than the new 5.

The new 4 Series is a step back in the right direction IMHO.

8-series > new 6

I don't like the way the new ones look. The old ones looked mean as hell! (even in the Junkyard! :D)

i agree the classic bmw's look the best... the only design i like is the new z4 compared to the z3....

I like the new designs more aggressive looks. Makes my older bimmers look a little sleepy.

Only exception is the 8 series and the 6. The 8 series Is , was and always will be one of my favorite cars. The six comes close but the 8 is still better.

Having said that the 6 is so far the best new design out.