Very good observations.

But you might missed an important element of design: the whole is greater than the parts. You can talk to no end about how terrible an element is. But the important thing is that it works as a whole.

Distorted, not fully resolved, odd, etc. Are only elements in the whole. Odd to you, but in a few years it will be redesigned to something more distorted and sells for more (just look at the new 3-series backlights, OMG). What's more important: fitting a product to eye-pleasing design elements, or designing a product to its target audience and therefore making the sales? I think the latter is more important in terms of design: package it to sell.

The new styles are aggressive, overdone, bold yet curvy, with streamlines that remind me of the cars from the earlier times of automotive history. Most cars out there are so smoothed out that they just look like an oval.

Heck, the Z4s are looking very good as long as I have the money for it.


And, oh, AAC. Did you read about that article where the snobbish daughter of the boss (her father is kind of like Donald Trump of San Francisco, his name escape me) fired an instructor, but she totally forgot so that guy still taught in ACC, and his coworkers would hide him when she comes around to visit? But ACC is very good at buying landmark SF buildings and then putting an ACC sign over it, though...