http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...._code=02265702

(08:30 April 09, 2003)
BMW's Bangle aiming for distinctive models as automaker shakes up lineup

By HILMAR DUNKER AND PIA KRIX
Automobilwoche

BMW chief designer Chris Bangle wants the automaker's model line to have strong differentiation.

"We needed a scheme that would put everything into a logical matrix," he says. "The plan was not 'everything is like the other one.' Neither was it 'everything has to be different to the other one.' We developed a spectrum which leads into two different directions. At the one end of the spectrum stands the 7 Series with a sculptural, present shape. At the other end stands the BMW Z4."

Without question, the shape of each is distinctive. That can be a good thing, because it signals uniqueness. But it also can open the door to criticism - something to which Bangle is no stranger.

Last year it seemed that Bangle was under fire from all sides. BMW enthusiasts, automotive journalists and even auto executives ripped his redesign of the 7 Series - particularly for the high-end shape of the trunk. Volkswagen design boss Helmut Warkuss, for example, bad-mouthed the BMW flagship as a "bunch of uncoordinated steel plates."

People wondered why the German automaker was being so radical with its most conservative model.

But Bangle took the criticism in stride. "You have to be a little different sometimes," he told Automotive News last October. And it should be noted that the BMW management board stuck to Bangle's design course and has been giving him full backing. Burkhard Goeschel, head of product development, praises the "distinctiveness" of Bangle's work. Bangle himself declares, "When there are controversial discussions about our products, that shows that our cars have personality."

Says Bangle: "The rear has its own personality, which belongs to that product."

But BMW sources in Germany have told AutoWeek that Bangle and his team have been hard at work restyling the car since moments after the reskinned 7 premiered at the 2001 Frankfurt show. Look for an all-new tail and face, with an improved trunk-lid line and the elimination of the eyebrows over the headlights.

BMW is hoping to shake things up with a series of other changes. In July the new BMW 5 Series model will be launched. In the fall, both the X3 sports activity vehicle and the BMW 6 Series coupe will have their world premiere. Next year the BMW 1 series, the 6-series convertible and the 5 Series touring model will follow.

Bangle denies that the 5 Series originally had been designed to be a smaller version of the 7 series but was toned down because of harsh criticism of the 7 Series.

"The 5 series is not a small 7 Series," Bangle says. "That was clear from the beginning on. The development of the new 5 Series had already been in full swing before the 7 Series was launched on the market."

If anything, the 6 Series would be considered closer, he says: "This model has grown from the 7 Series."

As far as the other models go, Bangle categorizes the 3 Series and the planned 1 Series models into the sportive, dynamic group. "The 3 Series is closer to the Z4 than the 5 Series," he says. "It is a little bit sportier. And the 1 sSries will have even more surface dynamics than the 3 series," explains the 46-year-old, who also puts the new X3 sports activity vehicle into this group.

The U.S.-born Bangle, who started his career as an interior designer with Opel, doesn't mind knocking the competition.

"Certain enterprises had a look into the future and then decided to go back into the past," he says. "They build the cars of 40 years ago again - but this time with flat glass."

Bangle says he likes the design of the French carmakers. "Renault creates a very good design. The enterprise goes its own way and continues with a clear style."

Something like that inspires him - even though BMW has chosen a completely different way than Renault.

 

He's seemingly less arrogant in this interview than the one conducted with Automobile magazine about a year ago, right as the new 7-Series debuted.

His attitude was "Accept it bitch."

 

yeah when the top brass says "Get rid of that ugly butt on the new E60," and then slaps you again by saying "while you're at it redesign the E65/66 and get rid of the ugly butt there too!" You probably get a bit humbled after that :chuckles:

 

 

i havent seen this thing yet.

is this pic authentic? if so, then i have lost all respect for the brand.

:barf:

 

Obviously not...it's an Aztek.

 

Jaje, very good with the X6!!! LOL! Wouldn't be surprised if Bangle liked it too. It will be interesting to see the "reskinned" 7 Series now that we've seen the new 5 Series. Does anyone have any pics of the 7 yet? I imagine it is a lot more inline with the pre-Bangle design. I wonder if they will have to "reskin" the 5 after two years too?

 

Oooh... it's the new BMW X6 daahling... :exnbp:






:jerkit:

 

Well, Bangle seems to have the attitude that BMW should be so distinctive that they will start straying from the classic timeless looks their cars have had for years. I know it's only opinions, but BMW's from the 1980s, while boxy, never had 80's cliche style. The look was BMW all the way. And if you look at a 1990 7-series it looks as good today as it did back then. Manbe even better. The current 7-series ten years from now will be dated and stuck with time-locked design cues. You will look at the car and say "oh, yeah. That's the thing designed by Bangle in '03. Ugly, isn't it. I'd never buy one". Who says that about a 1990 750iL? People look and say "now that's a BMW!. Sharp. Love to have one."

 

Precisely my point.... :bowdown: