[jyl]

BMW enthusiasts and the motoring press have been up in arms about the Bangle-styled cars.

Most think (I do) that they look terrible. The baboon butt on the 7-series, the Dame Edna eyeglass headlights on the 5-series, the hyena-like weak rear haunches of the Z4, etc.

Yet the cars keep selling, and well.

Either BMW buyers value engineering far more than styling, BMW enthusiasts are a small minority of BMW buyers, or BMW buyers value cachet over styling. If its #2 and #3, as I think, then BMW is pretty safe.

And the Bangle-era cars are gradually getting better looking. The 6-series is okay if you avoid the protruding butt, the prototype 3-series seems okay.

My guess is that eventually Bangle will get tossed out or toned down and BMW will do fine in the meantime.

The puzzling thing is, how in the world could BMW's top management and supervisory board have approved the gross Bangle designs? Sorry, but I think you have to wonder if those senior gentlemen got where they were through real love for cars - as opposed to finance smarts or political skills.

Still, that wouldn't be unusual nowadays. There aren't so many top auto executives who are real car guys. Most of them get chauffered to work, for heaven's sake.

Fortunately for BMW, they've got great engineers and good marketers, and a deep reservoir of reputation to draw from. Kind of like Porsche, come to think of it.