BMW reorganizing design team / staff (FAZ article)

[bigjae1976]

Van Hooydonk designed the bangle butt on the E60/E65…not Bangle.

Bangle designed the E38, E46, and E39.

I think BMWs have gotten exponentially uglier under Van Hooydonk. The F series were meh. I did like the G series pre-LCI 7 series. But I can’t find much else that I like.

So I don’t see much changing here.

[Evinrude1975]

I won’t miss him.

[Tejas1836]

Originally Posted by jwong77

Not sure why everyone hates on Polestar here. Compared to other big EV makes, it doesn’t look all that bad to me.

They have design problems with their rear ends

[jwong77]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Van Hooydonk designed the bangle butt on the E60/E65…not Bangle.

Bangle designed the E38, E46, and E39.

I think BMWs have gotten exponentially uglier under Van Hooydonk. The F series were meh. I did like the G series pre-LCI 7 series. But I can’t find much else that I like.

So I don’t see much changing here.

Yeah it’s kinda sad how he’s been going downhill on his designs. One of my favorite BMWs was designed by him e92, but he’s been getting worse since then.

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Van Hooydonk designed the bangle butt on the E60/E65…not Bangle.

Bangle designed the E38, E46, and E39.

I think BMWs have gotten exponentially uglier under Van Hooydonk. The F series were meh. I did like the G series pre-LCI 7 series. But I can’t find much else that I like.

So I don’t see much changing here.

I think the F series cars were all good looking. I think the G series of the last 7 years or so, outside of the 4 series and M3, all have traditional BMW dna and are good looking cars. I think the X3, X5, and pre LCI X7 are all good looking.

The new G60 5 series is just a flop, in my opinion. Powertrains aside, I think they had promising ideas and botched the last leg of the process. It’s just kind of boring in some ways but without being traditional and it’s tacky/cheap in other ways.

The new 7 series is pretty loud. It’s not that it’s bad looking. In person, it has immense presence. It’s just radical for a BMW 7 series. It looks like a comic book villain’s car, in a way.

But the worst they did the last several years was inside. If they weren’t going to spend the money to do the new screens right and recess them into the dash with a natural integration, then they should’ve just skipped it. One of the main reasons I can’t see myself every buying a 3/4 series of the current generation is the screen just plopped on the old dash. It looks like an afterthought that was forced. And it takes up the whole dash.

[huskerdoc2020]

I think many agree that Kia has amazing designers. Unfortunately they are on Kias.

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by huskerdoc2020

I think many agree that Kia has amazing designers. Unfortunately they are on Kias.

Not a huge fan of Kia design. It’s fine for Kia but not my cup of tea.

[TonM3]

It's about time.

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by huskerdoc2020

I think many agree that Kia has amazing designers. Unfortunately they are on Kias.

Yeah they are good in their own right and scream a particular segment with no real dna or legacy/evolving designs.

What would you say makes Porsche continue producing good designs? They all look like a Porsche, can’t say the same for Kia, and lately can’t say so for BMW either. Mercedes and Audi have done a far far better job at maintaining their own identities, they are not perfect though.

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Van Hooydonk designed the bangle butt on the E60/E65…not Bangle.

Bangle designed the E38, E46, and E39.

I think BMWs have gotten exponentially uglier under Van Hooydonk. The F series were meh. I did like the G series pre-LCI 7 series. But I can’t find much else that I like.

So I don’t see much changing here.

I am not sure I agree with your statements here. If memory serves right those days Bangle was in charge of design, and if Wikipedia is to be trusted, what you said is incorrect about E6x

And in my personal opinion the Bangle butt on the E6x is actually a fairly eye catching design that still stands out from the crowd on the road.

There was a huge uproar about the headlights of the new gen G6x likely to look similar to E6x as a huge design win by the same set of us here on the forum.

[NGT2]

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

Yeah they are good in their own right and scream a particular segment with no real dna or legacy/evolving designs.

What would you say makes Porsche continue producing good designs? They all look like a Porsche, can’t say the same for Kia, and lately can’t say so for BMW either. Mercedes and Audi have done a far far better job at maintaining their own identities, they are not perfect though.

I’d say Cadillac has done a good job, as well. Regardless of if you like them or not, they look like Cadillacs.

[stoked335d]

Hope they fire all those designers that worked on the iX and G80 M3/4 etc with fugly front grille.

[Masander]

Bring Chris Bangle back asap

[geddylee]

This must mean that the X3 and 5 series early returns are somewhat disastrous.

[rwdbmwonly]

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

I am not sure I agree with your statements here. If memory serves right those days Bangle was in charge of design, and if Wikipedia is to be trusted, what you said is incorrect about E6x

And in my personal opinion the Bangle butt on the E6x is actually a fairly eye catching design that still stands out from the crowd on the road.

There was a huge uproar about the headlights of the new gen G6x likely to look similar to E6x as a huge design win by the same set of us here on the forum.

Christopher Chapman designed first gen 1 (E87), Anders Warming E85 Z4; neither from Bangle but under his watch as the ultimate design boss. Flame surfacing is rooted in Anders’ Z4 design language.

[GuyOh]

Get rid of Domagoj Dukec!!!!!

[Hedoniste]

Very good new… 👍

[atopa2002]

Originally Posted by jwong77

Yeah it’s kinda sad how he’s been going downhill on his designs. One of my favorite BMWs was designed by him e92, but he’s been getting worse since then.

E9X saloon and estate were designed by Joji Nagashima. Marc Michael Markefka designed the coupé and convertible aka E92/3

They were all under Bangle, chief of BMW car design at the time

[Erebor]

I hope you guys realize, that this new designer team will start to have an impact on cars released in 2030. Everything up until that point is already in the books. Neue Klasse design is finalized.

[Msparta]

Originally Posted by NGT2

I think the F series cars were all good looking. I think the G series of the last 7 years or so, outside of the 4 series and M3, all have traditional BMW dna and are good looking cars. I think the X3, X5, and pre LCI X7 are all good looking.

The new G60 5 series is just a flop, in my opinion. Powertrains aside, I think they had promising ideas and botched the last leg of the process. It’s just kind of boring in some ways but without being traditional and it’s tacky/cheap in other ways.

The new 7 series is pretty loud. It’s not that it’s bad looking. In person, it has immense presence. It’s just radical for a BMW 7 series. It looks like a comic book villain’s car, in a way.

But the worst they did the last several years was inside. If they weren’t going to spend the money to do the new screens right and recess them into the dash with a natural integration, then they should’ve just skipped it. One of the main reasons I can’t see myself every buying a 3/4 series of the current generation is the screen just plopped on the old dash. It looks like an afterthought that was forced. And it takes up the whole dash.

I disagree here on the new gen screen setup. I think the interior design language is spot on while the outside design language can be a bit wonky.

The clean slate long form rectangular screen is prob one of the better looking tech in any vehicle / brand I have seen implemented.

Many brands try to copy bmw and the interior in my opinion is steps ahead of most all makes and models. It is almost a mix of what Apple and Tesla would be if they had a child (vehicle screen).

While all our opinions differ I also love the rear design of the XM while not so much the front.

I also feel design language from the last gen M6 is timeless even when compared to what replaced it the m8 (lines that resemble a mustang).

Perhaps this new design team overall can thank us for our varied and unfiltered feedback.

Long overdue.

[bavarianboar]

I feel the need to post this here that I posted in another thread just 2-3 days ago. This is Instagram of the most famous (current) BMW designer in our modern era.

[Nahlem]

Exiting to see what's coming next i like some of the new models and some of them i didn't like as much exiting to see what the new design language will be.