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Originally Posted by KoenG
Now Adrian Van Hooydonck and his team are on drugs. What a monstrosity of a gril they are imposing on us and our children now! This is so NOT BMW at all!!
Why don't they fire the guy here and now!? 
Also, it would have been ok, when they didn't pull the grill above the lights I guess, but apparently, they missed the obvious and they did. Adrian has to be a moron, I knew already back then but they still let him ruin the brand. Ouughhh... |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alx007
I completely agree...
He is already responsible of the ugly E65 7-Series and he managed to do even worse...
This brand (which I was a fan of) has been screwing up for the past 15 years.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by montegoblue_e92
Wait...wasn't that Chris Bangle? Didn't that car help to coin the term Bangle Butt?
On another note, I like the E65 LCI much better than the original. BMW LCIs in general tend to be a win in my book...I feel like they're skimping out on me when they release brand new models, leaving all the good stuff for the refreshed car  |
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Originally Posted by 530iDriver
Most people seem to either forget or not realize this but the vaunted E39 5-Series was developed under Chris Bangle and so a plethora of other BMW models highly revered by purists before the flame surfaced models made their debut in the mid 2000's.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wills2
Some of the flamed surface models worked like the E86 Z4 coupe and 6 series but others like the 7 of that era did not, the 7 was always handsome until the E65 the F01 was a bit plain and the G11 was better if not that great a design, at least it's handsome in a large F30 kinda way, not sure the grilles add anything.
Bangle and van Hooydonk worked together for years on these designs, and to be fair to them they always look better in the flesh than in photos which to the owner is what counts.
As for the e39 it was already designed by the time Bangle was in charge he signed it off rather than overseeing its design as he did with the e60.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IS3andME
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Bangle was Head of BMW Design Development since succeeding Claus Luthe in Oct. 1992.
BMW would rapidly expand, and soon acquire other brands and the Designworks Studio in subsequent years.
Joji Nagashima was just one of many designers who worked under Bangle's corporate tenure.
His designs include the E36/7 Z3 Roadster, the E39 5 Series, and the E90 3 Series.
Of course, final designs are the result of a team effort. The final design is a combination of the designer's original sketch, the direction set forth by the Head of Design, and inputs by other designers and engineering factors.
It's long been rumored that Bangle designed the E46.
This is partially correct. Bangle was the designer for the E46 sedan, Erik Goplen for the coupe and touring, and Ulf Weidhase for the E46 M3.
Of course, the latter two designers would borrow strongly from the E46 sedan in the designs of the coupe, touring, and M3, which is evident by Bangle's fingerprints on the patents.
It gets confusing but the roles of Bangle and Van Hooydonk often were complementary, having both served as the Head of Designworks studio in succession (Bangle 1996-2001, van Hooydonk 2001-2004) and Head of Design (Bangle 1992-2009, van Hooydonk 2009-2012).
Bangle's career at BMW saw him juggle the positions of Head of Design Development for BMW, Head of Designworks, and overall Head of Design until his sudden departure from BMW in Feb. 2009, after which van Hooydonk assumed the role of Head of Design until van Hooydonk himself, became VP of BMW Group/BMW Group Design Chief and the role of Head of Design for BMW would be filled by Karim Habib, and later Jozef Kabaň (current).
The infamous "Bangle Butt" of the E65/E66 was, in fact, designed by Adrian Van Hooydonk when he was still [technically] working under Bangle.
Chris Bangle, was, of course, on board with it, but the hand that sketched the shape was that of van Hooydonk.
After all this time, I never would've thought I'd be saying this, but the E65/E66 LCI front end looks like a breath of fresh air compared to the G11/G12 LCI.
