Is there a genuine reason as to why the change in the design was so drastic?
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
Soldato
I suspect a response to market changes, where aesthetics are becoming an easy way to distinguish themselves from competitors.
Good or bad, it’s easier to spot new BMWs on the market.
That and their growing markets are in Asia. Their new designs may be more popular over there, or perhaps they’re (again) trying to make it easy to spot BMWs.
Hopefully it’s a trend which they will reverse because I refuse to own such a hideous vehicle.
I heard about that theory too, but there seems to be a lot of arguments against this e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/w69s0j/is_the_whole_big_grilles_are_for_the_chinese/
2021 BMW 4 Series doesn't represent the new brand design language - Autoblog
2021 BMW 4 Series sport coupe styling won't be applied to every BMW says Head of Design Domagoj Dukec. Design also not influenced by one particular market.
www.autoblog.com
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Soldato
I heard about that theory too, but there seems to be a lot of arguments against this e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/w69s0j/is_the_whole_big_grilles_are_for_the_chinese/
2021 BMW 4 Series doesn't represent the new brand design language - Autoblog
2021 BMW 4 Series sport coupe styling won't be applied to every BMW says Head of Design Domagoj Dukec. Design also not influenced by one particular market.
Whatever the reason, they need to stop.
The thought of the next 10+ years of affordable BMWs for me being hella ugly is quite sad.
I can’t buy a car I’m ashamed to get out of/get in to.
I can’t see them being the kind of car people still want to buy in many years to come, like the E46 is, for example.
Soldato
That’s the issue there though isn’t it, they have no need to appeal to those who buy used BMWs.
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Soldato
They kinda do. If second hand BMW sales are stagnant, people are going to struggle to shift their existing BMW (if bought outright) or their monthlies are going to be more than competing products (if via finance due to higher guaranteed value)
And the people buying second hand BMWs are likely to aspire to buy new ones. If they’re buying competing products there’s a chance they might not switch back.
Pedestrian safety aspects and crash protection/repair-costs - which impacted whole market, but, with newer plastics use in crash structures, reactive bonnets that may help u-turn design language
The neu-Klasse design seems to be back along classical bmw lines (-saloon- shark face)- maybe having an interim ugly generation means customers will leap with zeal on the new bottom-up bmw ev designs
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Of course they do - with no demand for used cars the residuals collapse making the finance too expensive on the new ones. Plus, who do you think spends the money at the service departments of main dealers? Not the brand new cars on finance with a service pack.
My last couple of cars have been a year or so old, the only reason I didn't order my current one new was because they'd made it look awful at the facelift so I bought the nicest newest car I could find that was built just before that. If they don't want my business any more than that's fine, Audi and Mercedes still seem to be making great looking cars.
I've wanted nothing but BMW for almost two decades but I see nothing in the range I want to own now (With the exception of the few cars left over from before the direction changed like the 8 Series, but these won't be around much longer). It's sad, but there isn't anything we can do about it really other than buy somebody elses products if we feel that strongly. It's particularly sad that this change in direction happened pretty much exactly as I think we got to a point where almost the whole range was great. 2021 3 Series, 5 Series, 8 Series, X5, X3, all really great looking cars.
Now look at them.
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Soldato
They can’t get it as wrong as you are suggesting though, such that volume falls through the floor.. It’s clear the pull for demand is what’s moved BMW away from their traditional European appeal and even then plenty turn up at the dealers after 2 or 3 years and simply want the next version such is brand apathy with some buyers, Fox is a great case in point even though he will argue that’s not the case.
Dealers all have their own pull and demands from markets and national sale centres, reality the numbers of cars they think they can sell, especially with such design changes, is rarely more than a guess.
Sytner etc have very little influence on the product direction. Clinics with recent owners and targeted conquests groups (ie Merc Audi) have a much bigger influence!
Dealers all have their own pull and demands from markets and national sale centres, reality the numbers of cars they think they can sell, especially with such design changes, is rarely more than a guess.
Sytner etc have very little influence on the product direction. Clinics with recent owners and targeted conquests groups (ie Merc Audi) have a much bigger influence!
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Mercedes and Audi clearly don't agree as their new designs are quite different to the newer BMW offerings. They must be expecting to pick up some of the more traditional BMW customers. I've never been particularly interested in Audi but I'd be amazed if I didn't prefer the new S5 over whatever the new 3 Series ends up looking like..
Soldato
the new A6 looks like a Mondeo and the merc EQ range more like soap bars. I have no idea what people are up to 
You’d still buy a BMW though so what’s it matter
I won't buy another one unless the styling direction changes, which was my entire point.
Does the facelift really look that different?
In comparison to the new cars, no, not really - it's just a facelift so its still fundamentally the same car. But most of the changes introduced things I don't like, for example..
All the wheels are now black as is the front grille*
You can't get headlights which don't have shadow inside the lenses
The rear bumpers now have huge rear diffusers built in which extend up half the bumper
It has those black aerodynamic mirrors everyone fits to a 2011 320d as standard now
All the nice grey M Performance detailing has been removed
The well laid out interior has been replaced with a giant widescreen which, whilst functionally quite good, looks like someone threw it at the interior at random years after carefully designing it for something else.
So whilst nice low mileage examples of the original existed, which I felt was absolutely right in most ways, it seemed sensible to just do that instead.
All of this is personal preference, of course. But then what else matters when buying a car for yourself?
*Strangely this has changed again in 2024 and it's now chrome again as standard
But it's quite clear the next 3 Series will look very different - in the same way that the new 5 Series is very different to the previous 5 Series.
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Because it was
Nobody intended that dashboard to have a screen like that when they designed the car. It works much better in the newer cars (though I still prefer a proper integrated instrument panel) where they were clearly intended from day 1 to have it, but I am surprised they put it in the 3 Series. They didn't bother in the X3.
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The difference in prices between garages to do a job is crazy. I've got a Bilstein B12 kit to fix the crappy suspension on my M140i and so have been getting quotes for various local garages to get it fitted. Ranging so far from £450 from a highly rated BMW Specialist to £816 for a local garage. No idea how there can be such a big difference!
2hour job