Tag Archives: bmw

The Most Confusing Turn Signals In The Auto Industry Are Probably Here To Stay

When BMW brought Mini back in the early 2000s, the taillights on Frank Stephenson’s original design were triangular. They later filled out and got a bit more squarish, and have remained so for about a decade — but that looks to change starting next year. The upper and lower inner chunks of the clusters have been chipped away, making sideways trapezoids.

The entire unit has been subdivided into what I could only describe as pixels, but like pixels from an old-school LCD display. If I squint, it seems like the bars that would comprise the Union Jack are a bit lighter than the rest, and I bet those light up in similar fashion as the current Mini’s taillights.

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This would be a very smart move for Mini, because it’s getting so much attention over the flag lights from nerds like us. I’m willing to bet every person that directly follows a new Mini has noticed the design, and so long as they’ve ever seen 15 seconds of Austin Powers, they probably get the joke.

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I have less to say about the rest of the upcoming Mini’s look. I mean, I’m still reminded of goatees or that one episode of The Powerpuff Girls when I study the front, and the headlights have these crossbars on their upper and lower portions that almost look like eyelids on a Family Guy character. I’m overflowing with cartoon character references.

There’s more to say about the interior, where Mini designers have seemingly ditched the small pill-shaped digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel in favor of a heads-up display. The dash is entirely clad in what looks to be canvas, with a big old circular panel affixed to the center dash. It’s like the essence of a Mini interior stripped down to its most iconographic parts, and it’s kind of soulless. I don’t love it coming from the current Mini’s fun and lighthearted cabin.

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Supposedly this new Mini Cooper will be available in internal combustion and battery electric forms. If the manufacturer can squeeze roughly 50 more miles out of the SE while keeping the price around where it sits today — and the driving dynamics on point — it’ll be a pretty compelling bargain EV. 

AutoHunter Spotlight: 2004 BMW M3 offered at no reserve

Featured on the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, AutoHunter, and offered at no reserve is a one-owner 2004 BMW M3 sports coupe that riding on custom 19-inch aluminum wheels, a lowered suspension and with an upgraded Eisenmann quad-outlet exhaust system.

“The M3 first debuted in 1986 as a high-performance version of the BMW 3-Series compact car, offering upgraded cosmetic and mechanical content when compared to traditional models,” AutoHunter notes in the car’s listing. “For the model year 2000, the M3 adopted the E46 chassis and became available as a coupe or convertible.”

M3, AutoHunter Spotlight: 2004 BMW M3 offered at no reserve, ClassicCars.com JournalM3, AutoHunter Spotlight: 2004 BMW M3 offered at no reserve, ClassicCars.com Journal

This 2004 M3 coupe is finished in Titan Silver Metallic and features an aerodynamic body treatment that includes widened fenders to accommodate larger tires. It also has a front chin spoiler, side skirts, and a rear diffuser.

The grille, side accents and badging are finished in a matte black, nicely contrasting the silver paint.

Additional exterior features include Xenon headlights with angel-eye daytime running lamps, and a trunk-mounted carbon fiber lip spoiler.

The interior houses black-leather heated and power bucket seats and matching door panels, dash and console. Amenities include automatic climate control, tinted windows, cruise control, power windows and an upgraded Alpine navigation sound system with Bavsound speakers, a subwoofer and Intravee audio interface for iPod connectivity.

Power comes from a 333-horsepower 3.2-liter S54 inline-6 engine paired with a 6-speed sequential manual transmission and a limited-slip differential.

The odometer reads 105,794 miles, which the seller notes are original to the car.

This 2004 M3’s auction ends August 26 at 11:40 a.m. PDT.

Visit this coupe’s AutoHunter listing for more information and gallery of photos.

Another German Carmaker Just Dropped Formula E

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Photo: BMW Group

BMW on Tuesday announced that it is officially bowing out of the ABB Formula E Championship after competing in the series for seven seasons (as a factory team since season five). The automaker’s withdrawal is not effective immediately, but will finalize at the end of the upcoming season, which kicks off next month with a double header in Chile.

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It’s less of a swift pull of the plug and more of a sunset of its Formula E operations. Still, the news is a setback: BMW is the second team to announce its departure this week, following an earlier announcement from Audi that it’s withdrawing from Formula E at the end of the upcoming season.

BMW Group struck a dramatic tone in its press release, stating that all opportunities to apply knowledge gained on the track to production EVs has been exhausted. In other words, the well has run dry and there is no point in sticking around. Here’s a clip from BMW’s announcement:

The same engineers who develop the drivetrains for electric production vehicles are also responsible for the drivetrains in the race cars. Examples of the successful transfer of technology between the Formula E project and production development include new findings regarding energy management and energy efficiency, the transfer of software for power electronics from racing to production, and an improvement in the power density of the e-motors.

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The statement broadly outlines what it was that BMW transferred from track to showroom as a result of its racing in Formula E, and it briefly mentions the team’s modest record in the series. But the press release mostly seems sponsored by the letter “P” as in “production.”

BMW emphasized that its decision comes on the heels of a realignment and renewed commitment to increase EV production. There just seems to be little return on investment in the series; the company said that investment is better directed elsewhere.

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Cost has been a recent concern for the teams, and that prompted the FIA to draft regulations addressing this. But even with upcoming regulations mandating significantly lower operating costs, it seems BMW would rather its resources go to meeting the EV goals.

That’s not going to be easy. BMW wants one million of its EVs on the road by the end of next year, and seven million by the end of the decade. That’s a lot of blue-and-white roundels, let alone a lot of EVs.

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Now we have two German marques leaving FE, but at least Mercedes is still sticking around. The upcoming season will be the first to have FIA World Championship status, so maybe the BMW i Andretti team will rally near the end.

Watch A Pro Car Designer Attempt To Rationalize The 2020 BMW 4 Series

Illustration for article titled Watch A Pro Car Designer Attempt To Rationalize The 2020 BMW 4 Series

Photo: BMW

Back in its day, the first-generation BMW X5 was a controversial new design direction for the German luxury brand. Today, the gaping maw of the 2020 BMW 4 Series is perhaps the most controversial new BMW design in decades.

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Funnily enough, the guy behind the design team for the BMW X5 is Frank Stephenson, who now makes YouTube videos about car design. He’s taken some time to professionally critique the controversial new 4 Series:

What I like about Stephenson’s take here is that it’s not the typical reaction to the car, which seems to typically be violent, or shocked, or offended, or some combination. It’s the take of someone who knows how BMW operates, who knows the challenges of designing a new car for a storied automaker, and who—hopefully if he’s still any good—has a good grasp on what the future of car design looks like.

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Stephenson finds the 4 Series design interesting because of how, he claims, it remains recognizable as a BMW product while eschewing with many of BMW’s traditional signature styling and design traits.

From the profile view, BMW has removed a strong, creased shoulder line that was a defining feature of the traditional BMW 3 Series and the later 4 Series legacy. He also highlights the disappearance of the signature Hofmeister kink shape of the rear window border.

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There’s also a strange lack of harmony with the cut line behind the front wheels, which doesn’t line up with any other drawn line on the car, making it (literally) stick out from the rest of the design. The back is very busy, especially around the exhausts in the lower corners of the bumper.

What’s fun, though, is the genuine pause and hesitation that fucking kidney grille gives the veteran Stephenson. The guy can barely find words careful enough to explain his issues (I think to make sure he wasn’t oversimplifying as we all are want to do), which is very relatable.

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Regardless of whether you’re open to the idea of the BMW abandoning much of its styling legacy for something, perhaps, softer and more flowing, it’s definitely not immediately as recognizable as the cars that have come before. At least not yet. If anything, it’s just interesting to look at.