Has everyone seen BMW experimenting with their current design? It's like separate teams were locked away in vaults and instructed to come up with anything they wanted – then the head honchos just put their ideas directly into production.
At least that's my opinion about what is happening at the Bavarian carmaker. Look at the M2 – it looks like something taken from a Minecraft-style day of gaming. Check out the iX – even influencers like Christoph Waltz had trouble promoting it, and they were paid to do it! See the M3 and M4 high-performance compact executive cars; they're like Mini Dracula's place of rest because the vertical grille resembles a double-sided coffin!
And don't even get me started on the 5 Series, the 7 Series, or the X7 LCI because I saved the 'best' for last. That would be the bonkers XM, which is a tremendous 738-hp plug-in hybrid crossover that feels like Porky Pig's ultimate ride in Label Red form. Want some more? I also have thoughts about the new X2 that doesn't even dare fight the Tesla Model Y at home in America in iX2 format. Or I could rant a bit about the Vision Neue Klasse models that dilute the BMW branding just as much as the others exaggerate it!
Sometimes, it feels like BMW's stylists should just go for the middle ground between their crazy ideas, and everything would be fine. Here, let us give you an example of how to achieve that, all courtesy of the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. Meet Murad Baste, a Barcelona, Spain-based Exterior Transportation Designer known as bast_m on social media, who has recently CGI-imagined the Neue Klasse M3 and M4 models. Or so he says – they could work just as pleasing on the regular 3 Series and 4 Series.
Anyway, long story short, he started drawing some BMW designs that would accommodate both current styles – the exaggerated one seen on production models and the minimalist ideas promoted by the Vision Neue Klasse models for the future. Oddly enough, it didn't take long before he struck a balance, and a two-door coupe plus a four-door limousine came to life. Heck, the pixel master even had space to introduce new ideas – like the new kidney grille housing not just the headlights but an entire LED panel that could showcase different colors and patterns.
At the rear, he also gave us a nice 'floral autumn' vision of a high-performance German machine with a ducktail-type rear end fashioned around tiny LED taillights. As for powertrains, there's no specific mention of what comes next, but the explicit lack of front vents and rear exhaust outlets suggests the CGI expert heard about the rumor mill's whispers of a one-megawatt M3 and M4 series!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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