[ORIGIN M.]

Bangle is the fricking man. The things people hated about him were design cues from much earlier BMW designs, and people were clueless assuming it was his pen that created every detail, and it was not that way at all. He respected past designs, and that is something that is hard to consider.

BMW is blessed he was a part of their history.

Originally Posted by lawgone

I loved Bangle. He brought BMW into modern and innovative design. My Bangle era BMW was sexy. My F30 is just OK. I'll never understand those that are so against him.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by polly

I get the feeling that there is a lot of racism in between the words on this thread.
I bet that if the designers last name was smith this thread would have took a different direction. imagine saying bangle was a better designer, what a joke.
it's such a shame to have so much racist coming from a country they think is first world, now that's a shame.

I'm from around the same part of the world as Mr. Habib and I think you're being a race-baiting clown. Just because some people disagree with you on the styling of recent BMWs does not make them racist. Just asinine.

[ORIGIN M.]

...QFT !

Originally Posted by lawgone

That's your opinion, but many - myself included - love Bangle's designs. Prior to Bangle I would hear people talk about how BMW's drove and that's it. When Bangle's designs came out I heard people talking about how cool the cars looked. That's when I knew I wanted one. Now we have hood lines, boomerangs, wheels with no depth and low rent interiors with lots of hard plastic and equally hard leather (unless you get individual) that are nothing special.

[lawgone]

Originally Posted by red-sauerkraut

Bangle is the fricking man. The things people hated about him were design cues from much earlier BMW designs, and people were clueless assuming it was his pen that created every detail, and it was not that way at all. He respected past designs, and that is something that is hard to consider.

BMW is blessed he was a part of their history.

Well said and I love your avatar lol.

[jpnh]

Originally Posted by lawgone

I want a performance automobile AND a farking luxurious high-tech interior. That's what a BMW is supposed to be.

LOL

Its the ultimate driving machine

Not the ultimate rolling living room

To each their own.....I want the driving machine.....if you want to option out your car to be a rolling entertainment center thats cool......I just want to drive

[StealYourFace]

It's been same sausage different length since the 80's which is the era that most of us fell in love with the brand.

BMW protects their image fiercely and isn't going to take drastic chance but they have put their dick in the wind (and maybe stepped on it once or three times) with cars like the 3 and 5 GT, the x4 and x6. I'm in the camp that would rather have a her wagon in the us than a 5GT, but you can't say that they haven't successfully expanded their sales and range with these unique niche cars.

[conradb]

All the talent has been jumping ship for over a year now. That's gotta be good news for BMW! Heh... he he... :/

[B///MWGuy]

I wish Mr. Bangle comes back. I loved his designs.. Exx series designs were very elegant yet simple... Current vehicles are very "layer" on top of "layer" design... If you know what I mean. They're also very "edgy" while Bangle designs were "fluid".

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by lawgone

I loved Bangle. He brought BMW into modern and innovative design. My Bangle era BMW was sexy. My F30 is just OK. I'll never understand those that are so against him.

Agree, Chris Bangle was waaaaaaay ahead of his time. There isn't a single Bangle car I dislike, even the pre-LCI E65. Conversely, I can't think of a single FXX car that is compelling to me other than the F12.

I agree with many others as well, BMW needs to put some emphasis back into making these cars fun to drive. lately it seems like they're more interested in making the cars a two-ton extension of your iPhone.

[c63er]

Originally Posted by JonnyM3

So because everyone didn't like his designs, while you do, that automatically makes people racists? I haven't seen anyone on here mention his last name, or presumed Muslim background. Just lol at the amount of pathetic you both portrayed in your insinuations when nothing indicates that he was even fired, or left on his own; as he's apparently done before. All I know is BMW hasn't had any revolutionary designs, not to say his were bad, ugly or distasteful they also didn't inspire the way previous generations did (aside from M's). Can't really go backwards, unless the new designer bases all models on a horrible flagship design, which probably wouldn't be created anyways.

You are misreading. Calm down.

I don't think anyone here is saying anything at all racist. This is a us based forum. The number of actual racists on here is probably close to nil.

What you need to do is educate yourself on the opinions our bmw rep clown has been posting in the politics section about ppl like karim Habib living in Germany. You know the stuff that's been in the news incase you are living under a rock.

What's shocking is that a company would actually allow their social media / online rep to make racially based posts on a routine basis. I don't see any professionally run company allowing this via their official channels. Pick any company and see if you can find their reps making posts about people based on race or religion using the same channel they use to talk about products. If a bmw corporate person feels free enough to post stuff like that online then there might be a culture of it there. Where there's smoke there's fire kind of thing. Either that or it's total amateur hour with Scott.

Just a general trend of piss poor decisions from a company that is riding on a history of incredible greatness.

In the end it doesn't matter. He did his job and now he's gone. A lot of people like his designs and a lot of people don't. Par for course for a designer.

What I am concerned with is the trend of decisions bmw has been making so im concerned with what comes next. Deep down I know it's bad based on the last few years of decision making there.

So let's just look to see who gets the nod and go from here

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

Originally Posted by Falafel Combo

f30 3 series
f32 4 series
f80 M3
f82 M4
g30 5 series
f06 6 series Gran Coupe
f87 M2


Are you all freakin' high???? Karim Habib will go down in BMW history as an absolute legendary designer!

Sorry, He can't hold a candle to Paul Bracq: http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1339590. Legendary means he created a design language. Karim Habib has done no such things. Even his concept cars were not that impressive...

By the way the 2, 3, 4 series was designed by Christopher Weil, 6 Series by Nader Faghihzadeh.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

Resize on the photo-copier is upping their design?

Nope. But they were quite poor before and now they're better. That's all, and nowhere did I say they were great either.

BMW have stagnated design wise in the last 5 years, in comparison to the generations before.

Majority of the good designs in the BMW range were pretty much done before his time. Nothing is bad, all just a bit predictable. All IMHO of course, and absolutely all entirely subjective opinion at that.

Of all the criteria that sells BMW cars- design, brand image, performance, driving dynamics and technology etc. Then design is one of the weakest differentiators at the moment. Not week per se, but not class leading in its respective markets like the others.

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

Bangle 2.0?

See my post on Paul Bracq. He was the one moving BMW to modern times without having to use "gimmics" like Chris Bangle's flame surfacing.

IMO good design starts with great proportions, simple but strong lines and attention to detail (I mean by that NO ugly hood seam like the F30 3 series). Good design stands the test of time and become "classics". The E24 6 series is an example.

You need a man with strong vision, sometimes revolutionary, and a team who follows his lead. Paul Bracq had free reign during his short 4 years at the head of BMW design and look at what he produced in such a short time. Nowadays design departments consist of hundred of people and the result is half baked products because there are too many inputs hence "design by committee".

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

Originally Posted by polly

I get the feeling that there is a lot of racism in between the words on this thread.
I bet that if the designers last name was smith this thread would have took a different direction. imagine saying bangle was a better designer, what a joke.
it's such a shame to have so much racist coming from a country they think is first world, now that's a shame.

Sorry, you can't say that without any substantive evidence... Next time you will be moderated.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by lawgone

I loved Bangle. He brought BMW into modern and innovative design. My Bangle era BMW was sexy. My F30 is just OK. I'll never understand those that are so against him.

Ironically enough I feel the design he was most criticized for, the E65, ended up being one of the most iconic and memorable designs in BMW history. Sure, it was unconventional, but after the LCI the quirks got fixed and the E65 became timeless. Unlike the F01 and G11, when you saw one you knew it was a 7-series. Wide, low-slung, and sleek; not chunky boats like the 7ers since. The interior was also very stylish and unique.

Frankly the only Bangle car I feel still deserves criticism is the E60. It just wasn't a good design IMO. Too bulbous and doesn't look remotely like a BMW. It was passable with the right wheels but 90% of them around look ghastly today.

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

Originally Posted by Kyle B

Agree, Chris Bangle was waaaaaaay ahead of his time. There isn't a single Bangle car I dislike, even the pre-LCI E65. Conversely, I can't think of a single FXX car that is compelling to me other than the F12.

I agree with many others as well, BMW needs to put some emphasis back into making these cars fun to drive. lately it seems like they're more interested in making the cars a two-ton extension of your iPhone.

A lot of current MB designs use Chris Bangle "flame surfacing" elements for better or worse... Worse IMO... In fact a lot of car companies such as Hyundai are using the same elements.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Paul-Bracq-BMW

See my post on Paul Bracq. He was the one moving BMW to modern times without having to use "gimmics" like Chris Bangle's flame surfacing.

IMO good design starts with great proportions, simple but strong lines and attention to detail (I mean by that NO ugly hood seam like the F30 3 series). Good design stands the test of time and become "classics". The E24 6 series is an example.

You need a man with strong vision, sometimes revolutionary, and a team who follows his lead. Paul Bracq had free reign during his short 4 years at the head of BMW design and look at what he produced in such a short time. Nowadays design departments consist of hundred of people and the result is half baked products because there are too many inputs hence "design by committee".

Yes but he also worked in a time with much less regulation to adhere to, which constrains what design is even possible.

He was great undeniably, but it's very difficult to compare across eras.

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

One thing we should never forget is that under Mr Habib, we had monstrosities such as the 3 and 5 series GT and the 2 series Active Tourer and even the 1 series hatch...

[Paul-Bracq-BMW]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Yes but he also worked in a time with much less regulation to adhere to, which constrains what design is even possible.

He was great undeniably, but it's very difficult to compare across eras.

I disagree. Great designers design and engineering find solutions. Not the other way around.

[Stratus650]

Regardless of the positive or negative views on Habib, I believe change is good, actually Very good, and would give other hidden talents a chance to shine.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Paul-Bracq-BMW

One thing we should never forget is that under Mr Habib, we had monstrosities such as the 3 and 5 series GT and the 2 series Active Tourer and even the 1 series hatch...

Most of the work on those would have been signed off before he joined. The design work on these cars is finished some time before launch.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Paul-Bracq-BMW

I disagree. Great designers design and engineering find solutions. Not the other way around.

Sure, if they're not cost constrained by accountants, or realities of cost effective production.

Most of the details we all criticise design wise are compromises to allow for production simplicity and cost effectiveness. No designer wants a clunky bonnet shutline, but it's not always his call.

The head of design though is about a vision and design language, the identity of the cars moving with the times, and in BMWs case leading the way. I don't see that happening and that's my issue.