M3/M4 leaked a day prior to official unveiling.

[John V]

The side view reeks of WRX and the rear looks like a Lexus knockoff. and those are the best design elements of the car.

[dan]

Have y'all seen how bad a lot of 2021 models look? I saw some Toyota things and they are laughably bad as well

[wdc330i]

Maybe they know something we don't? I mean, they are designing for a 10-year horizon.

[Nick M3]

The design criteria is that there's nothing modern that's interesting to drive, so make it look different.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

The design criteria is that there's nothing modern that's interesting to drive, so make it look different.

[JST]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

The design criteria is that there's nothing modern that's interesting to drive, so make it look different.

[lip277]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

Maybe they know something we don't? I mean, they are designing for a 10-year horizon.

I stopped by the Seattle BMW dealership a while back to visit a friend of mine who is a salesman there (but he wasn't there - he is on LOA with Parkinson's... )

While I was there though - I did have a good visit with the Manager and one of their other sales guys that I also know (just not as well as the other fella I was there to see). Both the guys worked at the dealership back when they relocated from downtown Seattle to a bit farther south and remembered that my E9 was part of a group of cars that were invited to be present for their opening celebration (along with a few other older and newer 'classic' cars)

I drove my E38 that day. The Manager asked if I still had my E9.
I mentioned that I also have a German market E23.

He looked over at the brand new cars in his showroom and then over to mine sitting outside - with the nose of a brand new 7 series kind of lined up with mine outside.

Lets just say he missed the old cars. LOL

We did talk about the new cars and the styling - both the BMW's as well as other cars...
He made a comment that the trend in big grills is being driven by trying to satisfy the Chinese market. He said that that market favors big grills (bigger the grill, the higher status you have). Looking at other brands' styling features these days - he said it is all driven by trying to succeed in the Chinese market - for companies that want to have a common model lineup world wide.

Really ugly for us though... Oh well... Life goes on. I just know I won't be playing in that sandbox for any of my future car purchases (used or new).

[clyde]

Originally Posted by lip277

He made a comment that the trend in big grills is being driven by trying to satisfy the Chinese market. He said that that market favors big grills (bigger the grill, the higher status you have). Looking at other brands' styling features these days - he said it is all driven by trying to succeed in the Chinese market - for companies that want to have a common model lineup world wide.

Really ugly for us though... Oh well... Life goes on. I just know I won't be playing in that sandbox for any of my future car purchases (used or new).

I wonder how much the Chinese market is driving that grille design trend in relation to other factors that may also be part of it.

Revolting is the word that comes to my mind for it and it seems like most car people are similarly turned off, but the regular people that buy 99.8% of the cars in all markets? I really have no idea.

Part of me thinks that if buyers everywhere else were as turned off as I am, many cars would have Chinese and ROW grilles/bumper covers since they're basically decorative parts and many cars have different ones based on trim level anyway, it shouldn't be a big deal.

Since they don't do it, there must be a reason they don't. So...I wonder.

[FC]

Originally Posted by clyde

Part of me thinks that if buyers everywhere else were as turned off as I am, many cars would have Chinese and ROW grilles/bumper covers since they're basically decorative parts and many cars have different ones based on trim level anyway, it shouldn't be a big deal.

Since they don't do it, there must be a reason they don't. So...I wonder.

I was going to write some thing similar. It's pretty easy to develop a 2nd grill. Marketing and product/brand managers somewhere are throwing up as I write this, but when market tastes are so dissimilar and you risk lower sales over it, it's probably worth considering it.

[Nick M3]

The question is are they actually risking lower sales?

Like, if this is what you want, what's your alternative?