On page 24 of the January 2006 Issue of Automobile Magazine, there is an article on the 2009 BMW 7 er with artist's photos and remarks by BMW Board Member Bernard Goschel. The design looks derived by from our beloved e60 !!!!!!!! When I glanced at the article I thought the images were of a refreshed e60. Memorable quotes from the BMW Board Memeber: "Maybe we have been a little too courageous. ..... The trick is to come up with shapes that are BMW like, but not too radical." Fine, but please don't rip off 5 er. Similarities include:
1. Trunk design
2. Trunk/c-piller relationship
3. Twin kidneys and horizontal air intake proportions
4. Rocker panel profile
The balance of the design while elegant is conservative. The car will have more electronics.
I protest BMW's lack of courage.
BMW, stick with leading edge design. Let the others follow BMW design. Do not cave in to senile trolls that won't buy your cars anyway.

 

I am confused... ripped off by whom? What car? The next 7? MB S Class? Any chance you could scan the page, or find a link?

 

come on jdubbs, its in the headline. He is saying the new 7 looks lot a like the E60. I have to admit, I have not seen it.

@pharding, got a scanner and some time?

 

It just seems a little odd to say that the new 7 looks like the 5 when the 7 came first. Unless he's referring to the '06 7, which has been out for, what, 6 mos?

And, be nice, German Dude. Newbie here.

 

??

I am nice, and guess what wer? both newbies

 

Fair enough. I guess I'm just wondering *which* 7 he's referring to... without a copy of Automobile mag, it's hard to guess. Personally I like the refinements made to the 7 last fall, even tho they toned things down a bit, but I suspect he's talking about something in the future. I've yet to see any visuals on a redesigned 7, esp. since the last rev is so new. Everything I've read lately about BMWs getting ripped off seems to be about the MB S-Class (which looks, at least inside, ridiculously like the 7) or the MB E-Class, which I guess you could say is taking cues from the 5 (altho poorly).

 

I apologize for my lack of clarity. I edited the post to be clear that the article is about the 2009 7 er which will come out in late 2008. I will attempt to find a scanner in an hour after once the Illinois Iowa ball game.

 

If you want to see copycat design at its best, check out the next generation (MY2007) Lexus LS (codenamed LF-Sh). That thing looks like the designers at Toyota simply slapped on a Lexus badge to a 7er.

 

I think that the car will probably not look like that when it arrives... The first pics of the e60 looked tike this.

 

There is a lot of similarity -- right down to the shark fin.