[Brookside]

2012 BMW 3-Series




Could this be the next design for the best seller in the BMW family, the 3 series? The current E90 BMW 3-series has only been on the market since 2005 but details about the next-gen model are already circulating with most agreeing that the next model will feature styling lifted from the Concept CS.

Due in 2012, the next BMW 3-series will be the first of a family of BMW cars with a more recognizable face derived from the original styling of the Shanghai concept.

2012 BMW 3-series

With the new 3-series, designers will attempt to address criticisms of the current car’s awkward styling and lack of interior space. These renderings, compiled using information from sources close to the project show that the new car will have a pronounced kidney-grille with the air-intakes positioned on either side of the bumper just below the headlights.

New options for the 2012 3-series will include hybrid variants as well as the latest version of BMW’s Efficient Dynamics. The X-Drive AWD system is likely to gain favour thanks to a redesign of the system to reduce weight, which will only increase fuel consumption by 0.5L per 100km over RWD models.

Other features that may make it to production include night-vision devices, a heads-up display and radar safety systems.

source: BMWBLOG/EDBMW




Although it’s waaaaay too early to think that these bad photoshops at the top are an accurate indication of what the next 3-er will look like,
what I think is interesting is how the Concept CS seems to be the new design dna for future BMW’s.
The next-gen of the 1-er will look very interesting if it’s cross-bred with the Concept CS. Sort of like a Dachshund bred with a German Sheperd.:wink:

[BForbes]

I don't know but BMW needs to step it up in the styling department. Only a handful of BMWs have been really called beautiful. In general, the competition is "prettier'' in my opinion. But I guess every German car must have a little bit of ugly in them. That means it works. The reason I'm in love with the 3 and many other BMW products is how they drive and make me feel. I've learn to love the looks. I think the 335i sedan is gorgeous. I can also fully understand why non-enthusiast bystanders/buyers would think the competition is better at first glance. Dont get me wrong here. I dont think they're ugly. I don't care how a car drives, if its ugly I'm not buying it.

[atr_hugo]

Do I smell MB four door coupe - or am I just imagining things? ; -)

[TrojanBMW]

Wow, that's an awful Photoshop job. I've never seen a "rendering" that looks anything close to the final car.

[Oregon]

Just thinking out loud here, does BMW think their market base wants Japanese-looking cars? And folks think the 1-Series is unattractive from some angles...:iono:

[Brookside]

Originally Posted by Surname

Just thinking out loud here, does BMW think their market base wants Japanese-looking cars? And folks think the 1-Series is unattractive from some angles...:iono:

I think you're thoughts are close to why I started the thread...whether the next 3-Series ends up looking something like the photoshop image, what seems to be the inspiration for the next generation of new models is the Concept CS - I've read enough articles where BMW sources talk about "wellspring", about the CS embodying major future styling cues that anyone who wants to do a decent forecast need only slap the front of the CS on the existing models face and you get responses from Eni and Scott at GCZ that seems to endorse the prognostication.

At the heart of it is whether the Concept CS is a good design...and I'd say NO. Perhaps it could serve as a prototype for the next large series...the 7-er or even a larger car- but the thing is completely filled with design cliches that are already played out.
What I think is that BMW is somewhat adrift at the very top. Bangle was basically slapped down (even tho he was promoted) for approving the Z4 and the original 7-er new design...each had people going apeshit over how radical the design was and as proof showed sales figures that looked good at introduction but tailed off rather than skyrocketed. Adrian Van Hooydonk (Bangle's amanuensis) isn't a great designer- he's a great mediator....a designer that knows how to finesse and tone down ideas.

Now, we've come up to a new cycle for the entire range and somehow the CS slips in as the embodiment of all things future BMW.
If you look at the design, it's caricature- more accurately it's grotesquery- really the same meaning...ie, emphasizing and enlarging existing features. Grille gets bigger, Headlights get bigger, and the car gets bigger. This is not super-creative thinking....there's no boundaries really being broken as there was with the initial designs proposed/authored/approved by Bangle.

The oppurtunity is there for BMW to introduce a new aesthetic....one that runs concurrently with the CS influence for larger cars...onto the small models that BMW has in the pipe. Not to kill the Hoffmeister kink or the kidney grille, but to leave behind the hoary caricature of the CS- maybe take some chances- offer up some bolder solutions-
And I'd leave the Z4 as the hothouse of advanced design- it sells in such small numbers- it's design should be exclusive- basically it's already market niched that way.
Sorry to go on...anyway food for thought.

[atr_hugo]

You know - I've been trying to get a good primer on design for some time (even had J Mays tell me he'd ship me a book, he didn't - shows you how much I rate ; -). So what do we need to do to get a periodic, "The ABCs of Good Design", post? Might there be anyone here we know that has the background, talent, and teaching skills to be able to pull that off? ; -)

[bavarianbutcher]

that thing is HIDEOUS!!! I would expect that out of GM (pontiac) but never bmw. They stick with class and structure, never would they go this extreme.

[Brookside]

Originally Posted by atr_hugo

You know - I've been trying to get a good primer on design for some time (even had J Mays tell me he'd ship me a book, he didn't - shows you how much I rate ; -). So what do we need to do to get a periodic, "The ABCs of Good Design", post? Might there be anyone here we know that has the background, talent, and teaching skills to be able to pull that off? ; -)

Me- I teach in the painting dept at a private university and I teach a drawing class for students in the Design dept. If you are looking for a kind of primer about design there are dozens of books....that trace the history of 20th century design.
What you have to remember is that design is fluid- if, for example you ask about...composition....bringing tension to a 2D or 3D composition .... you'll get as many responses and aesthetic justifications as you have students.

Same with almost any artistic endeavor- Anything that smells or feels like a rule (Clement Greenberg's theory of abstract painting is a perfect example) is immediately challenged and eventually overthrown.

Good design isn't necessarily the visualization of equivalency or balance-
rather it's much more about creatively utilizing an aesthetic or philosophy.

[Tijuana]

Looks an awful lot like modern Aston Martins and the new Jags in the profile sketch. Car companies need to quit recycling designs and designers and be more original when trying to stay ahead of the curve.

[BForbes]

Originally Posted by Brookside

Me- I teach in the painting dept at a private university and I teach a drawing class for students in the Design dept. If you are looking for a kind of primer about design there are dozens of books....that trace the history of 20th century design.
What you have to remember is that design is fluid- if, for example you ask about...composition....bringing tension to a 2D or 3D composition .... you'll get as many responses and aesthetic justifications as you have students.

Same with almost any artistic endeavor- Anything that smells or feels like a rule (Clement Greenberg's theory of abstract painting is a perfect example) is immediately challenged and eventually overthrown.

Good design isn't necessarily the visualization of equivalency or balance-
rather it's much more about creatively utilizing an aesthetic or philosophy.

Professor Brookside...I had a feeling you were of such a stature. Nothing like an educator that really knows his craft. You should send a few sketches to BMW about the direction they should take.