Is it just me or all the new BMW's butt ugly?

scottmandue · 07-27-2005, 07:00 AM

I commute a good forty miles a day in and out of Smell-hey so I get to see a lot of cars on out slow moving freeways. It seems to me the latest crop of beemers are just hideous, it is almost as if they were trying to look ugly. I have heard they have gone through some changes at BMW but how can they produce such unsightly automobiles?

Ten years ago if you told me I would rather have a new Volvo than a BMW I would have spit my beer on you... now it's true!

legion · 07-27-2005, 07:05 AM

Yes. They are all ugly.

cbeers · 07-27-2005, 07:06 AM

VERY F'ugly!

-Chris

vash · vash's Garage

kaisen · 07-27-2005, 07:10 AM

I'm getting used to them, but they're not growing on me.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

It's a Bangle thing.

RickM · RickM's Garage

The six series, especially in black, is pretty nice looking. With a black convertible top even nicer. It's the one car in their line-up where the back end works. IMO....

lendaddy · 07-27-2005, 07:19 AM

SAME?

legion · 07-27-2005, 07:19 AM

I don't like the shape of the headlights. The overall shape of the car above looks like it's trying to copy an MB CL500.

jyl · jyl's Garage

The new 5, 7, and 3 are all ugly. Weird, non-functional features. Look like a 50 y/o housewife trying to dress edgy.

The new 6 is nice, but no comparison to a 3.0CS.

I don't know why Bangle is still there.

artplumber · 07-27-2005, 07:34 AM

It's mostly because their butts are ugly.

legion · 07-27-2005, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by artplumber
It's mostly because their butts are ugly.

A bit too much junk in the trunk...

Z-man · Z-man's Garage

The 7-series and 5-series rear end looks terrible, IMHO. It seems the designers ran out of time and money, and said, "Hey, here's a trunk lid off a 3-series. Yeah, It'll work."

Fortunately, the new 3-series doesn't follow this 'design' trend. The rear trunklid intergrates very nicely into the whole car, IMHO.

Unfortunately, the new Mercedes S-class has a similar trunk lid design as the 5/7 series. And, it now has it's own version of i-drive. Supposed to be more intuitive though. I dunno...

-Z.

legion · 07-27-2005, 07:43 AM

I never understand it when a manufacturer borrows cues from a less-expensive model and puts them on a more-expensive model.

The new Ford 500 looks like they just overinflated a Focus.

Back in '96 the Pontiac Grand Prix borrowed the rear end from the Grand Am.

CarreraS2 · 07-27-2005, 08:25 AM

History will prove Bangle to be . . . a design genius ahead of his time!

Car styling had definately stagnated and settled into a "comfort zone." Bangle's 7 series, and the BMWs that followed, were at first very surprising and "outside the box." Pushed automotive styling in a direction that almost all resisted. At first. Now many mfrs are following the cue, coming out with more edgy styling, similar to BMW. As mentioned above, the new S class trunk is almost exactly like the current 7 series trunk. Lots of others are following many of the various Bangle design cues.

Hetmann · 07-27-2005, 08:30 AM

yeah, but they're ugly...

wludavid · wludavid's Garage

The new 3er looks nice. "Better in person" is thrown around a lot, but I think it applies in this case. They drive like a dream too - but is the 330i with sport package and leather worth 40K? Not to me... (Not that I can spend that much anyway, so it's a bit of a moot point.)

The Z4 looks okay and the upcoming Z4 coupe is very nice. Personally I love the looks of the X3, but it also costs too much. 35-40k for a mini-SUV? Who in the hell are they competing with?

I'm waiting for the 1er coupe to hit our shores. If they can get 250 hp or so in a 3000 lb package and get it under 30k, they'll have a serious winner. I won't care how it looks

The rest of the bangle mangled line I tolerate, but I certainly don't think they're attractive.

singpilot · 07-27-2005, 09:17 AM

BUTT

UGLY.

scottmandue · 07-27-2005, 09:17 AM

I thought the Z4 looked good in pictures however I don't care much for them now that I see them in person. Probably because I liked the Z3 so much. Almost though of selling my Porsche and getting one until I read a comparison article between a Boxster/Z3... I think we all know how that came out. Guess I will have to stick with the Porsche brand.
Most of what I see on the freeway must be 5's, 6's, and 7's... VP's and bankers on there way to the downtown skyscrapers.
Not sure I have seen the new 3.

Z-man · Z-man's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by wludavid
I'm waiting for the 1er coupe to hit our shores. If they can get 250 hp or so in a 3000 lb package and get it under 30k, they'll have a serious winner. I won't care how it looks

They simply won't do that -- it would dip too much into their 3-series and Z4 coupe sales. Just like Porsche won't make a beefier Boxster/Cayman. It is simply a logistics thing.

-Z.