Chief designer took a lot of heat for Bangle Butt

New Z4 coupe at Geneva show closes circle

Feb. 25, 2006. 01:00 AM
PHIL PATTON
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE


A circle will be closed next week at the Geneva Motor Show when BMW introduces its new Z4 coupe, a production model based on the X coupe design study unveiled in 2001.

The X coupe was the first full statement of a new design language for BMW from Christopher Bangle, the company's chief of design. He has completed the restatement of BMW's main model lines — an array he described as "one sausage, three lengths" when he took over in 1992 — in that language.

Besides the redesigns of the 7, 5, and 3 Series cars, Bangle presided over an expansion that included the introduction of the Z8 sports car; a Z4 roadster; the X3 and X5 sport wagons; the sporty 6 Series; and the subcompact 1 Series (which is not sold in North America). He also supervised the styling of the Mini Cooper and the Rolls-Royce Phantom at BMW's subsidiaries.

Bangle is perhaps the most influential auto designer of his generation — and he is not yet 50. He has certainly been the most vilified, inspiring letters of outrage to editors and indignant postings on websites.

Much of the controversy springs from a design feature that appeared first on the BMW 7 Series of 2002: a trunk lid that rose above the rear fenders, departing from the familiar single flush surface.

In his work, the American-born Bangle has tried to convey that a car's shape can be expressive as well as functional. To relieve the bulk and express the dynamism of the previously stolid 7 Series, he sculptured the sides, creased the hood and separated the rear deck from the fenders, producing a look widely mocked as the "Bangle Butt.''

Critics focused on what seemed an ungainly afterthought, a committee-ordered addition. But — wonder of wonders — customers were less offended than the media. That most-derided feature is today one of the most imitated. Many Korean and Japanese models now feature similar rear ends. The 2007 Toyota Camry is one; even Mercedes-Benz, BMW's archrival, seems to have taken a page from Bangle's sketchpad for its new S-Class flagship.

That rear end will forever serve as shorthand for Bangle's career. He will not easily escape association with it, in the same way that no matter how trim she might become, Kirstie Alley will always be remembered for her stint in Fat Actress.

Implicitly acknowledging the criticism, BMW changed the rear end of the 2006 7 Series slightly, adding a cosmetic chrome strip that made the trunk lid seem lower.

The real signature of the cars was not their end but their edge. Bangle brought a visible tension to the shapes of the cars. Phrases like "flame surfacing" and "sexy math" were floated to describe the designs, but never quite stuck as names for the Bangle look.

In the pre-Bangle era, the bodies not only of BMW's but of most German cars visibly asserted their solidity. They were shaped to suggest solid blocks milled to form, symbols of quality and durability.

This, Bangle contends, was the legacy of the Bauhaus movement and its embrace of unornamented geometry. "With the X coupe," Bangle said, "we moved beyond that.''

Its sharp-edged lines, dips and swoops radiated agility instead of solidity. Increasing and folding the metal, Bangle acknowledges that the car is after all sheet metal, not a solid block. He restored the edge to bodies — and the edginess to design.

The change, Bangle says, comes from exploiting the capabilities of new kinds of tools. His innovations derive from computer-controlled machinery whose arrival signals a shift as fundamental as the one from wooden coaches to stamped steel bodies. In contrast with traditional methods, the new tools make possible more complex shapes — and allow the expression of more complex emotions.

In his frequent speeches at auto shows and design conferences, Bangle shows images of Frank Gehry buildings and Nokia cellphones alongside those of BMW cars.

In these presentations, his frame of reference ranges from the sculpture of Umberto Boccioni to the nose of Audrey Hepburn. He compares the pace of changes — the intermittent revolutions in auto design — to the "punctuated equilibrium" concept of evolution popularized by Stephen Jay Gould, the late Harvard paleontologist.

"We have been one of the few trying to move this industry out of the doldrums of simple branding and engineering," Bangle said. BMW is leading, he boasts; competitors focus so much on the rear because they are looking at it from behind.

Bangle has been critical of retro styles. This has set him in opposition to designers like J Mays, vice-president of design at Ford, who has been circumspect in speaking to American journalists about Bangle but was more forthright in a recent interview with a German magazine, Auto Motor und Sport.

"There's no doubt Chris Bangle has had an influence," Mays said.

But, he added, "What I see at the moment does not please me. I don't like the 7, and there is not much at BMW that looks German to me. Germans were always famous for the most highly developed cars in the world, but the current design does not communicate that.''

The production coupe to be shown in Geneva is remarkably close to the original X coupe concept, though it does not have the asymmetrical doors that shocked many five years ago.

Some of the most vocal Bangle critics seem to have softened their tone, even the hard-core enthusiasts. Bangle, never overly modest, is now more muted. He is doing all he can not to claim victory too loudly.

source : thestar.com

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I was never that offended by the Bangle butt , but much more by the "flame surfaces "on the Z4 & the 5, still looks horrible, & fortunately not imitated by others . . .

 

While imitation is usually the best form of flattery, there ARE exceptions.

 

i loved the new designs for the most part

 

exactly, while we might have gotten used to some parts of bangle design, it is still ugly IMHO.

And only "immitated" part of Bangle design is that raised butt, which has been featured on other cars before Bangle, although never to that extreme.

 

yeah I always say hate it or love it, the bangle cars really forced alot of other designers to spice up their brands (ie, the new MB fenders, AUDI huge grille, etc etc)

 

This has set him in opposition to designers like J Mays, vice-president of design at Ford, who has been circumspect in speaking to American journalists about Bangle but was more forthright in a recent interview with a German magazine, Auto Motor und Sport.

"There's no doubt Chris Bangle has had an influence," Mays said.

But, he added, "What I see at the moment does not please me. I don't like the 7, and there is not much at BMW that looks German to me. Germans were always famous for the most highly developed cars in the world, but the current design does not communicate that.

They look like Chinese cars, sorry.

 

Mercedes doesn't seem to be in a big rush to adopt Crown Prince Bangle's bungles. But whether through imitation or timing, there have been other cars that have gone down similar routes. I personally think that Acura did what Bangle wanted to do but Acura got it right. I am not talking about anything other than style but the TL seems to be what a good looking car should look like with Bangles influence.

I have seen the new S class up close now and there is not much there that I would say looks Bangle influenced. You might argue the trunk but it is really from the Maybach cues so I would disagree on that one. You can feel for the poor Mercedes designers. If they left the 5F (Ford Focus Fender Flares) off, the sides were going to look plainer and straighter than a NASCAR Fusion. So they needed something, and there I agree. But the 5F isn't the answer to me. At least when you are up next to the thing, they are not as overpowering as they photograph.

 

Have you looked at the dash of the new S class, I would say it's a direct rip-off of the 7 series . . .

 

I would have to go back and look but as I recall when the 7 came out that one of the few things that was done by a team that wasn't under Bangle's control was the dash. You know, I had a 7 for around a week just after Christmas and I sat in the Merc for a while and I just didn't get the sense that merc copied the bimmer. They both sort of have two hoods but merc has that awful stretched thing in theres. I guess you could make an argument that because they both have a pair of vents in the middle they are a copy but without analyzing design, but just being in them, my impression is definitely not that merc copied bimmer. Of course, that is my opinion and may not be worth much. I do remember some magazine writer, who I generally put lower than Raisin Bran on the evolutionary scale, said that merc had copied the 7 but I just didn't feel it inside the car. The bimmer I had had a darker interior while the merc was quite light but I just didn't think they were that similar in overall feel.

 

Love the 7, have grown to like the 5, jury still out on the 3. Long live Bangle

 

i dont understand why they are giving bangle the credit for the butt...it's been around for a long time no? I guess it's just that he's responsible for doing it on a dominate car maker that's why he's given the credit?

 

Over time I've warmed up to the 5, but mostly when they are modded with nice rims and such. Surprisingly the other day I saw a very nice car that really caught my attention at night on the freeway. I was surprised to see it was a 5 series when I got close, but then I noticed the M5 badge Man, the M5 is really a nice car. You can tell it is a 5, but boy is it a totally different presence. I think the new 7 redesign is also nice. That is how Bangle should have introduced his style in the first place. I think it would have been much less controversial.

 

Best mod for a 5 series is to take it to the bodyshop and fix that ugly dent in the
back. Absolutely atrocious...

The 7 and the 3 are not as bad.

 

First they hate... then they imitate!

 

Bangle for President!!