swajames

I'm always amazed that they get quotes from J Mays when analyzing Chris Bangle's work and in a number of publications I see the same thing - that J Mays, while "not a fan", at least acknowledges that Bangle's work has had a major impact on the industry. IMHO, based on the designs he has supervised and authorized, J Mays isn't fit to lace Chris' shoes let alone be in a position to critique his work. Aston (in particular) and Jaguar apart (both of which I think do have excellent design) - there's not a lot in the Ford portfolio that would lead Chris to be a "fan" of J Mays work either.....

jet190rs

Maybe they're rivals? Were roommates in college?? Brothers from a different father???

Or maybe the journalists just want to highlight their polar design languages - one looks foward, one looks backward.

Ricracing

Good thinking

stream

I'll admit I was not a fan of the Bangle designs when they first appeared. I thought the 7er was downright ugly (I was less offended by the butt than most--I thought the front was horrible). Even today, despite the recent facelift, I still don't like the 7er styling. When it was time to replace my 740i, I wouldn't even consider buying the new 7er due to its styling (so I got an E55, but that's another story... ). The Z4, with its extreme "flame surfacing" was also a bit much for me at first (I thought the Z3 was beautiful).

I do agree that BMW needed to do something to move away from the "one sausage, three lengths" design paradigm (they're not the only company guilty of that--ever try to distinguish one Mercedes from another?).

I had a '96 525i and a '00 740i, and while I considered them classic designs for their time, when you compare the E60 to E39, for example, the E39 looks somewhat boring & conservative by comparison.

pharding

Personally I believe that Chris Bangle that has accomplished great things for BMW. The new design language works exceedingly well and leads the industry. MB is now following BMW's lead. Just look at the new S-Class. Is everything perfect? Maybe not, but that is the price for pushing the envelope. I admire his design work immensely and I will continue to buy BMW's.

needforspeed

I read an interview with Bangle once, which convinced me he was onto something.

His argument was that, pretty much every BMW design for the last 20 years has been based on a pair of concentric tubes.



Essentially the top tube is the glazed bit of the car and the bottom bit is the doors etc...

His view was that car design had evolved with different fashions, always using this principle and that there were now not that many new places to go.

His options were either to look back and go retro (like jaguar with the s-class) or try a different approach which would be a starting point for a further 20 years of evolution. He chose the latter route with the 7 series and considers that the latest designs are a stepping stone away from the concentric cylinder approach to something new.

For me this makes sense of the 'bangle butt' and the fact that, at least at first, the front of most new BMW's seems to belong to a different car to the rear. The vertical sides and flame surfacing are also (apparently) a resistance to the 'cylinder' effect.

Don't know if this is artistic b*ll*cks or absolute genius - but it did help me understand what the hell BMW are up to.

tab545

I think the high, upright grill on the new 7 Series is done to meet pedestrian safety guidelines that request a higher front surface. I think Europe is introducing actual requirements in this regard before the U.S. Can anybody confirm just what those guidelines require? I think it looks bad.

And I just can't believe there are that many car-to-pedestrian impacts at speeds where these little changes will make any difference. I don't know the numbers, but I just can't imagine they are very high.

CVTBenhogan

I could not agree more with the above statement.

Love Bangle designs. 745 looks much better than the refreshed 750. Future 7 looks like crap IMHO.

Long live Bangle

swajames

Always loved his work. Got to respect the chances they took with the new design. Bangle's got bigger balls than the rest of the industry's design heads put together. Just took everyone else a couple of extra years to realize he and his team were on to something.