[Brookside]

BMW Concept CS - Good Genes or Bad DNA?




in it’s best light- the debut of the Concept CS at Shanghai in April, 2007


The CS Concept premiered at Shanghai’s Auto Show back in April. At first it was said to be simply a design study that perhaps would go into production as BMW’s answer to Mercedes’ uber-luxury Gran-Turismo, the CSL.

Soon afterwards journalists were getting hints from BMW sources that the
CS was more than a concept- it was really a forum for the designs of all future BMW’s.


(Clearly, therefore,the BMW Concept CS is the pacemaker leading into a new category of values typical and characteristic of the BMW brand.)
from BMW’s Official Press release.

Personally, I think it’s monumentally ugly- overdone, grotesque in the same way the signifiers of wealth and exclusivity in clothing from Versace and glasses from Chrome Hearts simply over-emphasize the visual traits that characterize their design.

And, most damning of all for House of Bangle, the Concept CS doesn’t break new ground - it looks as if someone merely digitally lengthened and lowered a 7-er and slapped a massive brutal face on it. Inspired? I don’t think so.
Even its designation reeks of pretentiousness.

What we may be seeing is a conservative retrenchment of BMW design embodied in the CS. Chance taking....is gone. No doubt there are dozens of incredibly talented designers at BMW...but it looks like they got the memo from the boss to tone it down, make it big and shiny.

So what does it mean...?
Likely that BMW has taken a safe, albeit butt-ugly step towards emphasizing it’s inherent design features (the kidney grille, the Hoffmeister kink), muffled the Bangle aesthetic of torqued surfaces and left the way open for others to take the lead.

What I wish would happen is that BMW invent a bold new design: one that is applicable for it’s small cars to run parallel but not share the hi-roller pimp look of the CS.

What do you guys think?

[EniLab]

Few comments:

1.
To fully appreciate the CS design the car has to be seen in person ... the pics do not do the car any justice at all ... not making that up ... When I saw the first pics of the car I was shocked - in a negative sense: the car was too conservative for my case, and some details were very overdone. ut when seen it live, I changed my mind for 180 degrees ... IRL the car looks superb. Classy, majestic, sophisticated, glorious ... having enormous presence. All the details makes sense, and the overall design works perfectly. The car is VERY low & wide. And long. Sleek & powerful at the same time. It suits BMW brand extremely well. No current BMW design has such luxury feel as CS has.

2.
CS design showcase the more restrained design of the high-end luxury future BMW models, while the low-end models & the sporty ones will again come with more playful design (mind that Z2 is coming! Making Z4 design more mature).
Yet some design details will spread across the line in the future: eg. huge twin kidney grille, LED rear lights with significant BMW LED strips Ver 2.0 etc, very sharp character lines etc.

3.
Mind that BMW design decisions are also based on aesthetic trends. BMW found out that the era of so called "zen aesthetic" or "reduced design" is coming - exterior & interior. Very simple yet powerful design: simple yet sharp lines, simple yet bold details, cool & calm yet strong appearence, simple yet intriguing shapes. Meaning: less design experiments, much more attention to details. Yet BMW will stick with ultra-modern dynamic design: featuring Ver 2.0 flame surfacing. Debuting new paints to reinforce the dynamic appearence.

4.
Do not expect copy/paste moves in design. So, no copy/pasting CS design elements to the other models. Influence: yes. Copying: no. Like I said: expect huge kidneys, new LED rear lights, sharp yet simple lines, strong details. And much more classy & refined (but not conventional & boring!!!) designs.

5.
F01 7er will be the first model featuring the new design. The upcoming models (Z4, F5, X1, Z2, new X3 & 1er, new 6er & 5er etc) even more. The "new 8er" - production version of CS Concept will be very influenced by the Concept yet some details will be heavily modified. But you can see the general shape & design idea.

6.
The new design will definitely be less experimental (except the experiments with new shapes: eg. F5 PAS, X6 SAC, X1 SAV etc), much more sophisticated, refined & classy / luxurious (= better design execution in production process), yet even more dynamic & aggressive at the same time.

7.
My opinion: I like the new design very much. They look much more luxurious & classy than the current designs. I call the design "the aggressive luxury". Very modern & fresh as well. More detailed. Definitely looking as a premium luxury brand cars.
But ... Since they use the same design elements as today (flame surfacing, "Bangle-butt" boot lids (yet more refined!), headlight eyebrows, shark fin antenna etc) the new design does not look as much innovative as the current designs. Less revolution, more evolution. I like to call it "evolutionary revolution", or "revolution Ver. 1.1".


The future BMW cars will look great, and will definitely stand out again ... Because all the other new cars in the showrooms will be kind a copies of BMW Ver. 1.0 designs.


:smile:

[BForbes]

I'm personally still on the fence with it. I do like the new tail lights there integrating on the X6 though.

[atr_hugo]

Remember - I found the X6 prototype vehicle:

[Brookside]

Next in line....BMW's 8-Series



Speculation has grown that the Concept CS is a very close approximation of the rumored 8-series...this is a photoshop version of what may be BMW’s answer to the Mercedes CSL.

Taking Eni’s very informative post into account the 8-series will manifest BMW’s next design phase....one that smooths abrupt convex/concave surfaces into more fluid organic folds.

[EniLab]

OMG!!!

This Lehmann guy should definitely stay away from Photoshop! Forever!

What is this? :eyebulge:


The new 8er will be VERY similar to CS Concept (not entirely identical though), with some details quite heavily modified to make the car street ready & functional.


This CGI above is just pure ... c.r.a.p.



*****

And btw, 8er will be positioned above the 7er - while CLS is slotted below S-class. So, the cars won't be in the same segment, and won't be direct rivals.

Regarding flame surfacing: it's staying there. Even more prominent. Even sharper. Yet with less ziggy-zaggy lines as seen on the current cars. The new styling will be more simple, yet sharper - but still full of flame surfacing: convex/concave surfaces separated with sharp creases.

[Brookside]

Originally Posted by EniLab

OMG!!!

This Lehmann guy should definitely stay away from Photoshop! Forever!

What is this? :eyebulge:


The new 8er will be VERY similar to CS Concept (not entirely identical though), with some details quite heavily modified to make the car street ready & functional.


This CGI above is just pure ... c.r.a.p.



*****

And btw, 8er will be positioned above the 7er - while CLS is slotted below S-class. So, the cars won't be in the same segment, and won't be direct rivals.

Regarding flame surfacing: it's staying there. Even more prominent. Even sharper. Yet with less ziggy-zaggy lines as seen on the current cars. The new styling will be more simple, yet sharper - but still full of flame surfacing: convex/concave surfaces separated with sharp creases.

Ok Eni, now tell me what you really think of the photoshop....and don't hold back this time.:biggrin:

Eni has the advantage of having seen the Concept CS in person...and a lot of people who've seen the car after seeing the photos first did a radical 180 degree turn on their opinions....that the CS in person is gorgeous.
One thing I'm really happy to hear from Eni is the continuation of flame surfacing-
I think most car people have made their peace with BMW's path of cutting-edge design that characterizes the personality of BMW's.

[DimaGt]

The only thing this concept is missing to be down right vomit is 24 inch wheels...... WHY and WHO gives permission to make such a mistake (including X3).....??? Where is BMW for the people that actually like BMW cars.....???

[kurichan]

That concept is GORGEOUS. After seeing the 1er I had basically given up on BMW. The concept gives me hope that I might want a BMW again someday.

[imported_sbw]

I love the CS styling. It will surely be toned down by the time it makes it to production, which will make it even nicer.

[Propagator]

I don't "like" the Z4's design, but I have a certain amount of respect for it. The more I look at it, the more interesting it gets.

I don't find that to be the case AT ALL with this hideous thing, at least not from the picture. I see some interesting surface, but they don't look nearly as cohesive as those in the Z4. The head lamp design is just . It's ugly without being interesting. It looks aggressive in a comical way.

Frankly, when I first saw this I didn't take it too seriously. I thought it was just something that they threw at the Chinese market. I'm quite shocked that this will be THE design direction BMW is taking.