Zapata

the theme of his styles have congruancy.....that isn't easily achieved...as many of the cars we've seen from many manufacturers look so bad....HOWEVER, just because something is artistically sound.....it doesn't make it look GOOD. Yes, Bangal does have some gutz.



i'm sure we'll continue to disagree.

soopa

bad my point is... to me... and many... it looks awesome.


but... the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Zapata

agreed.....although his tweaks on the 7 series were improved the looks by leaps and bounds.

I just wish he would go through these version releases before the car hits the market and not after the fact

Python2121

i think the z4 was a really cool design, and thats basically the only thing i like. Did bangle influence the iDrive system?

i dont think bmw was every "about" styling for the future. Its about concervative, masculine styling.

kansaiwalker1

I still like the previous generation 5 and 7 series better. The new versions remind me of women wearing too much make-up.

In the new 5 series the over-styling of the front and back just degrades the overall look of the car IMHO.

chungkopi

i agree with soopa. bangle is brilliant! i like his new designs way better than the old!! well, i agree that the new 3 series is weird. i hope they make some changes. it would be just too hard to come up with something better than the current 3 series. but what is so good about the last gen 5 series? i thought it was just too boring. presence? what presence? it is freakin' old people's car!!!! but this new 5 series has more range to attract lots of people including me if i had $. z4 looks better than z3, also new 7 series looks much better. it is a big step up from the rest of boring saloons, and i'm lovin' it!! also, M4 looks brilliant, and 6 series looks awesome even though he didn't design them. also, i still don't understand why people don't like the new interiors. it is much better than the last gen's outdated dash!

Sarlacc

1) the current 3 series is one of the best looking sedans ever, especially the M3, its sporty, yet classy and very muscular.

2) The last gen 5 series was so classy and slick. It had a presence without being obnoxious. It knew what kind of car i was without having to try and standout in a crowd, and yet it always managed to do so. Again even more enhanced with the M5

3) Most the new interiors are non-functional. They are trying to hard to be art rather then being part of a "drivers" car. And since BMW is supposed to be the ultimate driving machine the interior should be catered toward the driver (and it always had been.) but now (at least with the new 5) there is tons of wasted space, bad layout, horrid interface, and werid sculpturing that not only looks bad but serves no purpose. The new TL, TSX, Accord, upcoming GS and slew of others beat the shit out of the new 5s interiors in both form and function.

Zapata

1- 5 series a young persons car?????? All i see in the drivers seat of 5 series is middle aged males and females. Hence old persons car.

2- 6 series looks worse than the GTO if that's even possible.

Python2121

very well put

Sarlacc

1- First car I bought was an old 85 528 at 17, and one best friends is now 27 and drives an 02 540 6spd I know there always exceptions to the norm

2- GTO just looks boring as hell. And I would hate on the 6 so much, but like every other bimmer bangle fucked up the headlights and the signature grill (which ruins it for me.) I dont even mind the interior so much on that one. BUT its still no 8 series

Davediego

bring back the guy who designed the generation before bangle for the exteriors and get someone completely new to do the interiors.

kansaiwalker1

werd

chungkopi

GTO is better than 6 series? what are you smokin?

chungkopi

no way this is better looking than 6 series

Crazy Bimmer

zapata likes bland looking cars, thatsthe reason hes on his 2nd CLS

Zapata

don't get me wrong, bungle....uh i mean bangle did a awesome job with the z4 and the 7 series .

goldmember

I have no problem with any of the front ends of what Bangle has done, but I think the rear on every car he has touched (except the Z4) has turned to absolute shit. Watch the Top Gear episode where they reviewed the 6-series, he points out that when you open the trunk of the car, it's a fucking Porsche.

How original.

Bangle might be an artist and all, I have no problem with the new Lexus/Toyota like move of pulling back the headlights, but the rears are so ugly, it makes me sad to see the upcoming M5 have such a nice engine with such a disgusting ass rear.

Zapata

Maximized

This is great news for BMW. I have said for years that Chris Bangle has degraded the whole BMW brand. My father had a 98 740iL and it was the best car he owned. When it was time for the new (745) to come out, my dad put a deposit down for one without seeing the car. When he saw the car, he got his deposit back and bought a 330i. The new 7 and 5 are UGLIER than the previous generations vehicles they replaced. Not only has the exterior design become ugly, but the new interior's are NOT functional and not what I would expect from a "drivers car".

Zapata

well put....

Sarlacc

Isnt this exactly what I had said earlier in the thread?

ferizzo

haha, he said "I'm loving it"

Actually I like the new Z4 and the 7. I like the 6 as well. I do prefer the e39 5 better though as well as the E46 3.

Python2121

Heres my take on it. Car enthusiasts are the first to trade in styling for preformance. Most of BMW's target is not preformance enthusiasts, and care more about how the car looks. seeing as how it seems less then 1/2 of the people like some of the new designs, and not 1 person likes EVERY car he has produced (which is not the case with the old ones), they probably scaring off a lot of potential buyers.

also they need to re-think their market stratagy, because a cheap bmw degrades their image (as someone said)

dom

Stole this from A-CL.com


If this is true, its about freakin time.

larchmont

Hey, 20 minutes and nobody gives a shit about this yet!

Just wait though.

ClutchPerformer

Ouch (if it's true). :P

fdl

dom

Even if this is true, BMW will still ahve to stay the course with these Mangled designs, at least for a few more years. I'd guess each model will see some minor changes for a few years until they're back to normal.

dnb

larchmont

Can't wait till tsx-mdxman sees this.
He's not exactly Bangle's biggest fan.

captainjack

Well, I care.
If Chris Bangle wants to express his sexuality at BMW, that's just dandy. You go, girlfriend.

In fact, ANY designer should be free to be out at ANY car maker.

ABP-CL9-TSX

hopefully this is true, but like others said its going to be some time before BMW gets back on the right track with their designs.

I don't know if this is true or not, but did Bangle design the E30 and E36 BMWs?

Junkster

The reprecussions of Bangle's experiment at BMW will probably last at least another 3 to 5 years, since some of his latest designs are just being introduced into production. It will be interesting who they go after in replacing Bangle. We discussed this in another thread, but if BMW searches within it's design studio for a new head, it might end up with some of Bangle's protoges ending up at top. That would mean that BMW will still end up with either a weird design direction or just go back to the stoic designs they perfected in the 90's.
My hope is that BMW select from one of the independent studios to head their design team. I think those types of designers, who work on creating one-offs of many brands, would recognize the design heritage of BMW and design accordingly, without creating too much change all at once. BMW has gone outside of it's own design studio in the past for a car, and if they are serious about replacing Bangle, than I think they should look towards Italy.

Junkster, whose wondering if Bangle will be hired to head another brand anytime soon.

fdl

I wonder how history will view the bangle designs. Often times something disliked is one day praised.

larchmont

He'll become first assistant to Frank Gehry, the architect who did the Guggehmeim Museum in Bilbao, Spain among other things:

http://www.GreatBuildings.com/cgi-bi...bilbao_001.gbi

dom

They one day may say that he was ahead of his time etc, etc....blah, blah. But the cars will always be ugly.

BTW, I've seen the bew 5 in person and I kind of liked it, except the back.

7or8

This just in...

Chris Bangle has been hired by Honda!

ABP-CL9-TSX

If Bangle lead Honda's design team then it looks like Honda's designs will down hill! If it hasn't already with the new Accord, Civic Si hatch, and Honda SUT.

jlukja

Any idea when he'll begin his training? Those Honda/Acura designers have a lot to teach.

7or8

He got hired as a janitor at the N. Carolina plant.