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BMW's New M3 and M4 are Both Getting That Ridiculously Oversized Grille

Design Chief: "It's not about beauty or ugliness. A successful design is if it's unmistakable"

By Rain Noe - October 1, 2020

in Cars

When BMW unveiled their hideous XL-sized grille for their new 4-series…

…there was one piece of good news associated with it: "It's not changing for all BMWs," BMW Head of Design Domagoj Dukec said, back in June. "We wanted to give [the 4 Series] a very particular kidney."

As CNET reported,

Overall, the goal here was to really set the 4 Series apart from other vehicles, especially the 3 Series sedan on which it's based. Dukec said coupe buyers "look for more show-off" design language, and the company was "looking for a front end which expresses this very unique character."

However, last week BMW revealed the new M3 and M4, and guess what:

Yes, both the -3 and -4 will have the new grille. And I can't tell if the license plate obscuring it is a good or bad thing. Good because it at least visually diminishes the yawning maw, or bad because it seems like the designers failed to consider that this is where license plates go.

"It's not for everybody," Dukec admitted, before adding this bit that we should all debate at a bar sometime: "It's not about beauty or ugliness. ... A successful design is if it's unmistakable."

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Patrick Pearce

4 years ago

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When I worked as a strategist on a car account at a large agency, we assigned prototypical personas to the drivers of each make. BMW's was a very competent driver, someone who, true to the brand's ethos, tends to really enjoy driving. We also described them as a**holes in the sense of road behaviour. The aggressiveness of the new grills reflect the driving style and attitude of their core target. This said, given the functional and aerodynamic imperatives and conformity of D and E-segment car bodies, grills are the best chance an automaker has to create differentiation. In this sense, you have to salute BMW for going balls out.

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Kenneth Chang

4 years ago

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Looks like the car is having difficulty breathing, in fact, people around the world are already having difficult time breathing because of combustion "technology".

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Dave Cannon

4 years ago

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At least it doesn't look like that awful Toyota/Lexus grill.

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Michael DiTullo

4 years ago

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I unmistakably don't want it, but perhaps I'm not the target market or even in the target geography.

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Juan Cano

4 years ago

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I don't even see the grille, all I see is a giant massive license plate framed in a lot of white space. Seems like a huge oversight that they didn't think about how the plate was going to play into the appearance. It's not a good look.

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Francisco Yantorno

4 years ago

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That argument sounds a lot like "there's no such thing as bad advertising"... but it turns out there is. If you pretend to remain in the top sedan choices among the public, ugliness it's a problem. Also the subjacent statement that "beauty" is irrelevant it's quite worrying coming from a chief designer.

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