BMW 3-Series (G20) / M3 (G80) / 4-Series / M4

M4 has the more cohesive design. That blue one actually looks kind of alright. Wonder if it's better or worse in person.
 
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The sketch actually looks cool imo. I don't know what happened when they translate it real life model.
 
GTboyz
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The sketch actually looks cool imo. I don't know what happened when they translate it real life model.
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The practicalities of not using 26" wheels with 20 profile tyres, 4 six-inch diameter tail pipes and an 9 inch roofline that wouldn't allow a human adult to sit in it all got in the way of a straight translation. As it does with 99% of all early design sketches.
 
Speaking of G80, let's talk about how BMW stuck with E-numbers for decades, maybe 30 years, and then suddenly blazed through the next couple letters without reason. Perhaps they had to skip all the Fs due to the US Air Force's use of the monikers? I'm not sure those are trademarked.
 
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Random question from you guys: With the styling choices designers made for the new M3 and M4, would you say they're worse looking than the bangle designed BMWs?
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EDIT: I actually like the bangle designs at some angles. :lol:
 
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Most of current day BMW design makes the Bangle era cars look like art pieces, bar the prefacelift 7 series which is always gonna be ugly as hell to me no matter what.

I don’t even understand the hate for some of the Bangle era cars, I think the 5 series and 6 series from him are downright gorgeous cars, especially the M versions.
 
I prefer the new ones. I've grown to like the squared look of these new generation of cars. The Bangle era cars look very porpoise-ey.
 
RandomCarGuy17
Random question from you guys: With the styling choices designers made for the new M3 and M4, would you say they're worse looking than the bangle designed BMWs?

EDIT: I actually like the bangle designs at some angles. :lol:
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Depends on the car. I think the modern BMW SUVs look better than Bangle-era ones (excpet the X6 and iX), while with regular cars Bangle seemed to be much more in his element. Only the pre-facelift 7 is an ugly car, while the rest all still look great IMO. Out of modern non-SUV BMWs I only like the 2, 3, 5 and 8, but I’d probably still take their Bangle-era equivalents over the modern ones.
 
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JC_Dude
Depends on the car. I think the modern BMW SUVs look better than Bangle-era ones (excpet the X6 and iX), while with regular cars Bangle seemed to be much more in his element. Only the pre-facelift 7 is an ugly car, while the rest all still look great IMO. Out of modern non-SUV BMWs I only like the 2, 3, 5 and 8, but I’d probably still take their Bangle-era equivalents over the modern ones.
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Okay, but why did you mention every modern BMW? I only asked for the M3 and M4 to be compared.
 
RandomCarGuy17
Random question from you guys: With the styling choices designers made for the new M3 and M4, would you say they're worse looking than the bangle designed BMWs?
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The early Bangle-era stuff was jarring at the time, but as that leaded BMWs design direction for the future, they now look 'normal' BMW. I have a feeling the styling of the M3/M4, and lets face it, it's really just that grill we're talking about, will just become the future normal and in 20 years we won't see it as quite so jarring.
 
I never really minded the bangle stuff. I actually don't mind the front of the new 4 series as much as I mind the side of it...which looks like a flabby Mustang. Look at that lump of metal behind the door, it just looks pathetic. The 4 series is like an old Olympiad aging ungracefully, trying to still look hot with obvious plastic surgery.

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I actually think the base 3 series is the best looking 3 series since the E46 - they even managed to get the hoot shut line to look...like...intentional!
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It's not even that busy. Every time I see one, I think...that's actually kind of good looking. It looks more like a 5 series to me though.

The non-M 4 series is easily, IMO the ugliest BMW of all time. It just looks so stupid in a way that at least the M cars somehow manage to avoid with the bigger wheels and generally puffed up body.

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I mean that just looks ****ing dumb, BMW. It's like a bad photoshop of an already ugly car.
 
I still can't get over the rake of that read window. Well, there's always the 2-series for that E30 upright look.
 
The designers of the 3 and 4-series will come to see their mistake and make the front grille smaller again on future models.
 
I just don't know why you'd have overall soft forms such as the headlights and the flabby rear arches and then put a grille with straight line, defined edges on it, which doesn't sit with any natural line on the car.
 
05XR8
So, the M3 and M4 are the new GT-R and Q60. Or RS5s.
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Even more so with the annoucement of the xDrive Variants:
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While these have a claimed 0-60 time of 3.5s, BMW is known for underrating performance figures. I wouldn't be surprised to see real-world times be closer to 3 seconds dead! :eek:
 
I still can't believe they didn't give the M3 a unique rear door skin to actually work with the wider bodywork. :scared:

It seems like the E36, E90, and F80 also had standard rear doors, but the rear wheels were a bit further away from the arch so it wasn't as noticeable.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
I still can't believe they didn't give the M3 a unique rear door skin to actually work with the wider bodywork. :scared:

It seems like the E36, E90, and F80 also had standard rear doors, but the rear wheels were a bit further away from the arch so it wasn't as noticeable.
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It comes pre-crashed!

They took the time and cost to redesign the fender panel (a part of the unibody) to make it fit with the door, but didn't bother to do it the other way around. Apparently BMW can only afford to redesign one body panel at a time?
 
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How strange it may sound but I prefer the pre-crashed looks of the M3 over the non pre-crashed look of the M4. Mmm, I don't like the M4 at all.
 
I'm sorry, but the M cars really lose their lustre when they all have almost the same 0-60 times. M2, M3, M4, M5, M8, X3/X4 M, X5/X6 M can all do 0-60 under four seconds, most of which have times between 3.2-3.8 seconds.
 
That's why I'd go for an E30 M3. Can use pretty much all its power everywhere and costs about the same as these new cars anyway. :sly:
 

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