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      10-02-2010, 10:33 AM   #62
EnI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by uhn2000 View Post
The Bangle 6er was ahead of its time, this one is just with the times. And that is the real difference between the BMW of yesterday and today.

Bangle's 6er?

Are you aware the E63/E64 6er was actually penned by Adrian van Hooydonk himself, when he was still "just" a designer @ BMW, and not being yet a design boss there?

While F12/F13 6er is penned by Nader Faghizadeh, the guy who also designed
F01/02 7er interior!

And that all the new BMW cars we see today (X1, 5er, 5er GT, 7er, X3, 6er, upcoming 1er, VED Concept) were still designed under Bangle as BMW Group design director (and van Hooydonk as BMW Automobile design director).

So, the design language / strategy is not set by the design boss himself, but is decided by Board of Directors, and suggested by a team responsible for design strategy - a team where designers are only on part of equation. Team which also includes marketing experts, finance experts, engineers, design engineers, tooling & material experts, advanced design experts etc. It's a team decision. Design director is only there to execute the decided direction, and to organize & lead design processes, and be the link between the design teams, and the Board of Directors, and other departments within BMW Group. They are not "art directors" in any way!

But they sure do influence the designs with suggestions & advices during the process. But in the end of the day it's still the Board of Directors who decides on final design, and on design strategy as well.

And after E65 7er and E85 Z4 were introduced, both Bangle & van Hooydonk said the next generation of BMW designs would be more about evolution & refinement, with more coherence, precision and fluency. And that was already considered as an indication more "toned-down" were on the way.

Btw, to get a bit of insight into design process just check this "Making of 5er GT" video:
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