Photo: Craig Kember via Instagram
Sadly, the talk around BMW's design these days has been reduced to the way the grille looks. It's not our fault, though - that lies with whoever came up with those beaverish teeth the new 4-Series calls a kidney grille.
BMW can't back down now, and perhaps it shouldn't. At least not until some sales figures come in and they show just how bad of a decision that move was. Or maybe the sales will be just fine and it's us, those who criticized the change, who will look like fools. Only time will tell.
Still, if you were in charge at BMW, you too would probably be looking at ways to turn things around in the coming years. You know, just to be ready in case customers do have eyes, and if something were to hit the fan, it would be wise to have a recovery plan in place.
Of course, such undergoing could only start with the source of all this trouble: the grille. Until electric vehicles take over and BMW won't have to bother itself with this surface that lets the air into the engine bay, the iconic kidney grille will have to stay put, one shape or another. Actually, we've seen what the Bavarians are doing with the iNext, so perhaps not even EVs will be able to solve the problem.
And they don't need to, since a good design can take care of it just fine. Is this next-gen Z4 rendering by Craig Kember a good design? Well, it took care of the issue, but kind of created another one. Sure, the grille is smaller and more horizontal than vertical, but now it stretches over the top of the nose into the plane previously reserved for the engine hood.
Why? Why can't we just have a plain old grille that's happy to do its thing without being in the spotlight? Why does everything need to gravitate around it? Why not focus on making other parts of the car stand out? Or maybe just come up with a design that's pleasing and exciting as a whole.
Something like this M2 rendering we've covered earlier. There's nothing wrong with it. No, I mean there's literally nothing wrong with it. Take any part, and you can't fault it. Put it all together and you get something that's both attractive and undeniably BMW in nature. If a random design student can do it, surely the company's designers are well up for it as well. That can only mean one thing: the problem lies further up the ladder.
Still, if you were in charge at BMW, you too would probably be looking at ways to turn things around in the coming years. You know, just to be ready in case customers do have eyes, and if something were to hit the fan, it would be wise to have a recovery plan in place.
Of course, such undergoing could only start with the source of all this trouble: the grille. Until electric vehicles take over and BMW won't have to bother itself with this surface that lets the air into the engine bay, the iconic kidney grille will have to stay put, one shape or another. Actually, we've seen what the Bavarians are doing with the iNext, so perhaps not even EVs will be able to solve the problem.
And they don't need to, since a good design can take care of it just fine. Is this next-gen Z4 rendering by Craig Kember a good design? Well, it took care of the issue, but kind of created another one. Sure, the grille is smaller and more horizontal than vertical, but now it stretches over the top of the nose into the plane previously reserved for the engine hood.
Why? Why can't we just have a plain old grille that's happy to do its thing without being in the spotlight? Why does everything need to gravitate around it? Why not focus on making other parts of the car stand out? Or maybe just come up with a design that's pleasing and exciting as a whole.
Something like this M2 rendering we've covered earlier. There's nothing wrong with it. No, I mean there's literally nothing wrong with it. Take any part, and you can't fault it. Put it all together and you get something that's both attractive and undeniably BMW in nature. If a random design student can do it, surely the company's designers are well up for it as well. That can only mean one thing: the problem lies further up the ladder.
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