Considering the BMW design department's track record lately, we wouldn't be surprised if these independent artists had their "fix" videos lined up even before the Bavarians revealed their cars. You don't know what's going to be wrong with it, but you're sure something will.
Well, with the X3 and X4, we're looking at just a mild facelift (or LCI—Life Cycle Impulse—as BMW puts it, always willing to come up with its own acronym), so there wasn't going to be anything drastic like we've seen with other models. Still, don't underestimate this design department's ability to mess things up.
And, according to Marouane Bembli (a.k.a. The Sketch Monkey), mess things up they did. We're not entirely sure we agree, but then again, we don't have his expertise in the field, so we're just going by our gut feeling. On the other hand, he made an entire video explaining what is wrong with the car and, even more importantly, how it could be fixed.
He has chosen the X3 M Competition as the subject of his critical tirade, and since it's the one with the busiest appearance, it seems to be the right option. He starts off with the front end and notices the discrepancies between the almost organic nature of the headlight shape compared to the bumper's very geometric lines and surfaces.
Indeed, a lot is going on there, enough to keep both the eyes and the brain busy for a while. Somehow, we're OK with the overall aspect. After all, it's a performance SUV so it can get away with it if the numbers are there—and, with 503 hp (510 PS/375 kW) and 479 lb-ft (650 Nm), we'd say they are.
Marouane thinks differently, and he has a plan to make the X3 M Competition's nose look... well, if not pretty, then at least decent. In his opinion, that is. As far as we're concerned, this is one of the rare occasions when we don't exactly agree with his views. We feel the larger air intakes on the original suit the performance nature of the vehicle, and the slanted lines give it a more dynamic aspect that makes it look fast even while standing still.
The rear of the SUV is an entirely different story. There, it's almost impossible not to agree with Marouane's assertions. The taillights look like they're going out of their way not to fit, doing a great job at it. Other than that, though, there's not much else to rectify, so it's still the front where the bulk of the work lies. Watch the entire process as well as The Sketch Monkey's commentary in the clip below.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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