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      01-30-2013, 11:25 AM   #42
tony20009
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Drives: BMW 335i - Coupe
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Washington, DC

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I think a lot of the negative statements here sound Chicken Little-ish to me. It's clearly in most folks' view not the most gorgeous thing going, but it's hardly as bad as "barf" and "classless." In all fairness, I feel it's a bit cheap to just poo-poo the thing and not offer something constructive along with the nay saying. So here's my constructive critique.

I think the vendor had a concept with potential, but it wasn't especially well executed, which is not to say it couldn't be well executed or presented. For example, given that the hood has that carbon fiber thing going on, applying a wrap over the remaining body to mimic the textured look of the carbon fiber would have helped. Also, introducing the idea in a color other than that brown, which isn't most folk's favorite may have helped, say dark grey, dark blue, or perhaps a medium grey. Alternatively, why not just have done the hood in aluminum to match the car's body, or paint the carbon fiber so it matches the rest of the car? Just because something is made of carbon fiber is no reason to retain that look. One uses carbon fiber in such large, external parts to achieve real functional benefits, which is great, but no need to sacrifice the overall aesthetic to show that carbon fiber was used. Regarding the holes in the hood and that central depression, it's unique; one doesn't often see that approach, and I'm neutral on it in an of itself. That said, it screams "look at me" more so than does the overall car, and that is a big no-no. Here again, presenting the thing in a dark grey or black would have mitigated that shortcoming by minimizing the prominence of the holes. As go the smaller exterior bits -- the side skirts, the front air dam/splitter (whatever it's called), the tail spoiler, and the other small parts -- are mostly fine, although the look would have been much better had the upper edge of the side skirts been flush with the doors rather than highlighting the specific outline of the doors' bottom. You'll note that the front edge of the skirts is flush with the bottom of the fender. Why that smoothness of flow down the side of the doors wasn't continued is beyond me.

In the interior, on the seats, the stitching is nifty, but the stripe with the dots down the middle is a bit kooky/playful, but again, nifty on its own. Having the two looks together on the seat juxtaposes visually discordant themes: the stitching is quite sophisticated and understated in character, yet the stripe with dots is playful and kooky, and in a good way eve. The combining of them both does justice to neither. One or the other, but not both, on the seats would have been just fine. Lastly, the detail on the headrest seems well suited to compliment the stripe thing; it carries a similar weight and boldness. To compliment the diamond stitching on the seat, however, simply stitching the shield and its internal pattern in black on the cream seat would have been just fine and just enough.

Overall, I think the result pictured represents two primary flaws: (1) too much of a good thing gone awry on the inside, and (2) incompleteness of execution on the outside. These flaws turn a car that from the manufacturer screams visual fluidity into one loaded with ocular breaks. Pretty nearly all the motion embodied in the car's original lines has come to a stop. Lesson learned: if one is going to modify a car, it's imperative to retain the car's key design themes, not fight them.
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Cheers,
Tony

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'07, e92 335i, Sparkling Graphite, Coral Leather, Aluminum, 6-speed
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