Again, for the record, TTAC has never accused Chris Bangle of being a racist. We accused the BMW designer of racial insensitivity. He singularly failed to realize the potential impact of his "axis of white power" remark on a minority audience. Invidious distinction? Well, the fact that Bangle's apology-free reply dealt entirely with the inadvertent origins of his faux pas— rather than its possible effects on sensitive listeners– does nothing to allay our misgivings. The subtext of his defense: it's all about me. Of course, it isn't about Bangle. It's about his desire (or lack thereof) to respect the dignity of those people who may be offended by an unfortunate turn of phrase. And BMW's responsibility to this same audience. TTAC is no stranger to these issues; we've stepped over these same boundaries. When commentators have pointed out our racial, sexual or political insensitivity, we have immediately withdrawn the offensive text and apologized– despite the fact that we meant no offense. That's the right thing to do. It also seems strange that Bangle felt obliged to deal with criticism of his work BEFORE dealing with the "axis of white power" remark. Clearly, that was really got his goat. Which is just as well. There are those of us who believe the aesthetic indignities that Bangle inflicted on otherwise superb automobiles is a longer-lasting and more egregious error. Your thoughts below.
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While I wish I could blame Bangle for the current bloat of BMWs and their relentless suburbanization, I really can’t.
I can blame him for his ridiculously ego-centric designs that are self-referential, not aesthetically driven, and frankly not very interesting. The Z4 pictured in the article is the perfect example of pointless lines and details, with the droopy eyes of the headlights only serving to emphasize the lack of evaluating the gestalt effect.
Ultimate Driving Machine is definitely dead at BMW, one can only hope someone else picks up the slack (maybe Porsche if they can stop wasting time with the Cayenne.)
The number of BMWs I encounter being driven badly, being driven without due care and attention, being driven very slowly, shows that the concept of “a chicken in every pot, or a BMW in every driveway” is slowly coming to fruition.
I would think that at least half of all BMW owners today have no idea what the ultimate driving machine can actually achieve when challenged.
Which only goes to show that this site is populated by a comparatively small number of enthusiasts and thus it will remain.
If you took a lot of these BMW drivers out on a closed course and showed them what the car will actually do, they would be alarmed and intrigued all at the same time – just before they threw up in their helmet.
akatuski: Or maybe people simply have different ideas of what is driven by aesthetics. I see Bangle’s designs as driven by aesthetics. Are they “self-referential”? Maybe, but so what?
philbailey: is it really a problem if the masses buy BMWs? Isn’t it possible that there’s a huge middle group of buyers who while not technically “enthusiasts” do appreciate a car that’s solid and wonderfully smooth-driving and handles superbly even in normal driving conditions? I would be in that group. I drive an ’02 325i.
BMW is one of my pet peeves. I really enjoy driving them (most of them). And it wouldn’t be beyond me to pen a piece in defense of Chris Bangle (his work, not his words).
But I am 100% in accord with what philbaily just posted. I don’t know how it is in other countries but over here in Germany, it is astounding how many people in BMWs have an atrocious driving style. Too fast for the road conditions, or oddly unattentive and insecure. It may be anecdotal but day after day, when there is a pushy alpha male or a cellphone-yakking lady (or vice-versa) behind the wheel, it will more often than not be a Bimmer they are driving. (Not to mention the undesirables in the beat-up 3-series, but let’s not get into that).
Why is this? Why do as**oles feel attracted to Bavarian cars? Are they good at increasing penile length, or effective in reducing cellulite? Or is a BMW just the most popular yuppie perk?
The Z4 you have pictured is a beautiful design. Even better in its Coupe form where you can really see the arcing curve lines running from the coupe top along the sides.
Why this type of styling wasn’t carried to the others, who knows.
BMW drivers take evasive action at the drop of a hat, emulating the drivers in the BMW advertisements – this is how they convince themselves they didn’t get ripped off.
-Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, 1992
BlueBrat – If you were to do silhouette profiles on Balgle-designed BMW’s, you would find them very interesting — the Z4’s haunches are nicely rendered and proportioned. The E60, seen in a silhouette profile, has real presence in its shape, and the 7-series looks substantial. Where Bangle BMW’s fail miserably is in the details. Bizare headlight treatments on the 5 and 7. The bustle-butt design. The slash-wounds on the Z4. The odd rear end of the Z4. The weird sagging lower door creases on the Z4 and the 3-series coupe. Weird splahses of crome. Misshappen kidney grille. All render quite laughable what shoudl be very serious drivers cars. To this day I chuckle when I see the E60 5-series from a front quarter angle — those headlights are completely ridiculous.
Ashy Larry,
Again, it’s a matter of opinion. You indicate that BMWs should be “very serious drivers cars.” Why very serious?
It’s amazing how many people hate Bangle-anything, but BMW hasn’t seen a sales downturn due to it. I have always thought BMWs were attractive cars, save for some of the more rounded cars like the z3, z4, etc. Then I read a few reviews about them and discovered this undying hatred for Bangle by enthusiasts. It is definitely a polarizing design style, but the fanboys are unusually quiet it seems.
I have a solution.
Fire Bangle and hire me. And I’ll even do it for half the price just so I can fix his screwed up big headed design philosophy. Little does he know the Bangle era will just be an ugly footnote in history, like disco.
Ashy Larry:
Your post reflects exactly what I’ve been saying about Bangle’s designs since I first laid eyes on the 7-Series in 2001. The overall proportions of the cars are not the problem, it’s atrocious details that ruin Bangle’s designs. I agree 100% about the Dame Edna headlights on the 5, the Quasimodo trunk on the 7 and the frivolous and discordant slash on the side of the Z4. BMW used to be noted for its clean (if somewhat understated) design, and Bangle went entirely too far overboard trying to add design elements in places where they did not need to be added.
It’s nice to see that somebody out there agrees with what I’ve been saying for the past 6 years. It seems like everybody else is either in the “I hate Bangle’s designs” or the “I love Bangle’s designs” camp, but I have yet to see somebody besides you share my viewpoint that the overall shapes are nice while the details are horrendous.
I don’t think it’s a problem that BMW drivers, having swallowed the party line, drive the way that they do.
So long as we no longer expect too much from them, when we see them coming.They expect to be able to avoid disaster when it looms because of the car they drive.
Trouble is, that’s not what’s going to happen. In an emergency, they’ll freeze, hopefully taking no one else with them and all the handling, safety equipment and power in the world will not save them.
Only recently, though, have I come up behind a line of slow moving traffic in the left lane, only to find that the bottleneck is a BMW driver. A Buick or a Minivan, expected. But a BMW?
Up until recent times, that never happened. Although I must admit that one sees an occasional Porsche driver behaving the same way.
The Banglisation that we find bizarre does not resonate with this type of owner, which is why BMW goes from strength to strength.
BMWs are expensive to repair and ALMOST as reliable as a Camry, so that their reputation never attracts too much negative attention.
I suppose we all realise that many upscale BMWs are glued together and only a few body shops are trained to repair them and that the cost of a full scale airbag deployment is the reason that many of them are scrapped early in their lives?
Main stream owners don’t know these things and if they’re lucky they never will.
The overall shape is not dictated by Bangle, the underpinnings and drag cf do. He’s in charge of stupid details on top of stupid details. Any designer that doesn’t embrace efficiency over outlandish details has no business designing. At least not designing anything except the next fad. And we all know fads come and go quickly. Why add weight, poorly proportioned details, rediculous textures, they simply make your eyes say WTF every time.
Sorry but I have a vehement hatred of bad designers, especially arrogent ones that should be designing toys, not cars.
BMW is selling so much because Mercedes has gone all wrong. Also, BMW’s are considered “sporty” which is in vogue along with bottled water. Those same bad driving Bimmer owners have top of the line sports equipment and outfits at home that they have no clue about either.
Bangle is just riding along the wave. He will be gone, for good or bad, when things shift the other way.
Trouble is, the way the whole industry is going, things may never shift the other way. Even if the EU decides to restrict engine size to a ridiculous degree, BMW will still be king of the hill.
Like most BMW drivers, I’m typically identified as yuppie scum as I blast by in the left lane in my E39 540. Sure, my penis is small, and my driving skills are questionable, but as a member of Herr Bangle’s “Axis of White Power”, I can’t help but feel a sense of entitlement. If that becomes Chris Bangle’s only contribution to BMW, then mission accomplished.
The rest of us are so glad that you blast along in the left lane, no doubt flashing your headlights and tailgating as you go.
BMW playing deaf/mute on this issue is a little surprising, but I guess success is an aegis of sorts.
Bangle’s designs are ridiculously overdone..it’s like he’s offended by a flat, clean, piece of metal anywhere near a vehicle he’s “designing”. At the end of the day though..you’ll go broke just selling to enthusiasts…the yuppie airheads keep the lights on and if they want Bimmers with sides that are wavier than the last gen Taurus..you don’t say “What?!?!?”…you say “What color?” I guess.