Mr Bangle - hero or zero?

[NickXX]

So, Bangle first came to light in 2002 with the somewhat controversial e65 BMW 7-series. Yes, he'd been designing cars long before this but for some reason, this was the car that suddenly made him known - usually for the wrong reasons.

Anyway, I'm quite fond of his work and reckon his designs have definately come of age. The slight mention of his name seems to cause uproar, which seems unfair nowadays. Here are some of his creations:

The BMW Z4M. In my eyes, a beautiful car - agressive looks and a stout nose. A car whose looks are certainly on par with its performance.

The Z4 roadster. Leagues ahead of its Z3 predecessor with its buff looks and performance to match. A roadster with all the right curves despite being so far from the norm.

The new e92 3-series coupe. Moving on from the awkward looking e90 saloon, the new coupe seems to tick all the boxes on the design front. Modern and one of the most elegant designs on the road. It's striking, but lacks the controversy of Bangles usual efforts.

The e60 M5 and e60 Sport. Possibly the most controversial of the lot. It's not pretty, but in my eyes it's close to perfection for a sport saloon. Agressive modern looks. So wrong in SE form with small wheels, but so right with the correct wheels & spec.

 

[NickXX]

The 6-series. A car I still don't know whether to like or loathe. I've been sitting on the fence with this one for a while.

The e65 7-series. Echos my sentiments about the new 3 coupe. Bold and beautiful.

Every litter has its runt.

Oddly the X5 was the only one which got uglier upon facelift :/

 

[NickXX]

Now for the wildcards - how many Bangle designed cars do you see in this picture?

Funnily enough both the e46 3-series and the Fiat Barchetta were both designed by Bangle. The Alfa 145 was also one of his.

This might not come as a surprise, but so was the love-it-or-hate-it Fiat Coupe.

Finally the most controversial opinion on this thread: Bangle's best design
( ):

 

[[TW]Fox]

The nice looking newer BMW's you have posted actually have little to do with Bangle. IIRC he was not the lead designer on the E92, or the X5 facelift, or the E65 facelift...

Bangle is a menace.

 

[PeterNem]

The 6-series. A car I still don't know whether to like or loathe.

Awesome looking car in the flesh - photos really don't do it justice.

 

[Alu_ATC]

Some good some bad. The e60 and z4 have both grown on me, like the design of both quite a lot. The 6-series and 7-series are plain ugly, and I hate the lights sitting so low on these new BMW's, gives the car an elongated look.

The new 3 coupe is a perfect example of this, horrible front end, rather boat looking and nothing exciting about the rear.

 

[penski]

Bangle is to sympathetic car design as Gary Glitter is to the PC World helpdesk.

*n

 

[NickXX]

Bangle is to sympathetic car design as Gary Glitter is to the PC World helpdesk.

*n

A shame, I thought you'd like the Z4 Coupe.

 

[Stellios]

5 series - nice

Z4 - nice

everything else BMW wise - ugly. The new 3 series males me feel sick its that ugly. The M6 is nice, but the rest of the 6 series do nothing for me, and the 7 series isnt over nice either.

 

[silversurfer]

This might not come as a surprise, but so was the love-it-or-hate-it Fiat Coupe.

I was just thinking at the top of the thread how the z4 had that kind of half finished slash effect to it just like the coupe. I like both cars but apart from that, the retro bmw is far better.

He isnt that bad but bmw looks were allready well liked and he changed them a lot..

 

[Akira]

He also had nothing to do with the facelifted E65 7 series. That was an exercise in disaster management by BMW.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Hmm, interesting question (note that my answers are purely about the looks of the cars in question):
- I really like the first of his 7 series (pre-facelift). It's not pretty, but is wonderfully imposing. The facelift tones that down and now looks positively disgusting.
- The Z4 is growing on me, though the sides still look like a lump of lard. Somehow the coupe does a better job of avoiding the lardy look, and is awesome.
- E60 5 series. Nasty nasty nasty to look at.
- E92. What were they thinking. The E46 was about as close to perfect looking as a small to mid sized saloon gets. Big thumbs down
- Fiat Coupe. Cool be being different, just driven by the wrong set of wheels

 

[JTrickle]

I doubt he even has a mm of leway in the dimensions hes given to work with so whilst the X5 and 1 series are undoubtedly ugly I think hes done a fair job.

Had I a 30K budget and wanted a new car the Z4 coupe would be near top of my list. Love the look of them.

 

[penski]

A shame, I thought you'd like the Z4 Coupe.

I do.

I've said so many times previously.

*n

 

[wassap]

Hmm, interesting question (note that my answers are purely about the looks of the cars in question):
- E92. What were they thinking. The E46 was about as close to perfect looking as a small to mid sized saloon gets. Big thumbs down
- Fiat Coupe. Cool be being different, just driven by the wrong set of wheels

Spot on, absolutely adore the E46 in coupe form, perfection personified in my eyes for an ordinary car.

E92 just looks horrid and cheap.I like the 5,7,Z series motors, the 4*4 just look like pimp mobiles imo

 

[Vertigo]

I'm on the "hate his guts" side of the fence I'm afraid.

He's merely doing "out there" styling for the sake of it IMO, and to try and make a reputation for himself.

Yes, cars such as the 5 have grown on me quite a bit but, looked at objectively next to the competition, it's still pretty damn ugly. The 7 still isn't right even after a facelift, the 3 is plain ugly although the coupe is better and even the Z4 has something very wrong with it at the front.

Just don't like them and think the previous generations of the 3, 5 & 7 were streets ahead in design terms. Combine this with the frankly horrible, clinical interiors they're putting in the latest cars and the infernal i-drive system and I'll not be going anywhere near a Beemer for a while.

 

[nutcase]

He likes his random creases mixed in with curves doesn't he?!

If you're going to use creases, do it neatly, and if you want aggressive look, use style, not jelly.

 

[bam0]

The E92 coupe is a most revolting car, there is far too much body work rear of the door and it makes the design look unbalanced and the front end squashed, compared to the E46 coupe design its an abomination.

 

[F355]

I am with you on this Nick. I love most of Bangles designs because they are normally a breath of fresh air. He allways tries to be different, which is normally controversial but a lot of the time he pulls it off.

I have allways loved the Z4 Roadster since the moment I saw it. The 6 series is beautiful in real life, and the X5 is good looking for a 4x4. I also love the quirkyness of the Barchetta, I own an Alfa 146 (Bangle Design) and love the Fiat Coupe.

 

[andi]

Zero. Some bits of his cars look quite good, and I admit, they do grow on you, but you can't help but feel if they were better designed, they wouldn't need to grow on you. And then occasionally he does some nice designs, and then complete ruins it with a "wtf?" moment. The 7 series, for example, looks quite nice from that side view, and then you hit the boot and think, "WTF was he thinking when he did that?"