Frank Stephenson, the guy who penned the first-generation X5 as well as Maseratis and Ferraris, doesn’t like the “G22 snout” of the 4 Series. A tuning company from Germany is currently designing smaller kidney grilles for the all-new M3 and M4, but the criticism doesn’t end here.
You’ve definitely heard his name, and for good reason. Chip Foose won numerous awards for his custom designs, and in 1997, he became the youngest person to be inducted into the Hot Rod Hall of Fame. Make no mistake about it; this automotive designer knows a thing or two about how a car should look on the outside.
Regarding the G22 snout that we all love to hate, Chip agrees that BMW took the kidney grille to new lows. The Bavarian automaker “has always stepped out and done things that were different in design. They did it with the 7 Series years ago. This is not necessarily different because to me they followed a trend by doing a giant grille.”
Foose has also highlighted that the front end of the M3 and M4 “is not sophisticated. It’s ugly, it’s mean. BMW is sophisticated, and I would have stayed sophisticated.” Chip didn’t blast the design without coming up with one of his own, though. The reimagined grille is described as “much more acceptable,” but the higher-ups in Munich aren’t likely to take notice.
The Bavarians are known to ignore customers and enthusiasts despite obvious backlash, and adding insult to injury, BMW is aware of the snouty problem on their hands. Not that long ago, design chief Domagoj Dukec said “you can’t listen to social media reactions. It won’t help you.” In other words, the automaker is pretty confident that sales will be fine regardless of what you and me think about the grille.
“This design, in my mind, abandoned who they were,” concluded Foose.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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