To call BMW’s design language over the past 10 years or so controversial would be an understatement. The BMW X7 kicked off the massive grill trend, but it was exacerbated by cars like the M4, which looks like a beaver after an unhealthy dose of gamma radiation. With the addition of the BMW XM, many of its designs have drawn the ire of journalists and fanboys alike. The latest to add onto the dogpile of criticism is former BMW designer Frank Stephenson, who recently took a shot at his old brand’s latest car—the BMW iX3.
Stephenson recently wrote about the iX3’s design for Top Gear, and while his thoughts aren’t scathing, they aren’t great, either.
“Following its much maligned design direction of recent times, BMW has decided to tone things down a bit,” Stephenson said. “Save for the new/old beaver toothed grille graphic, it’s a welcome departure from what’s gone before. From the front, a conventional ICE-looking lower bumper air intake area appears overly busy for an EV vehicle’s reduced cooling needs.”
OK, not so bad. But it doesn’t get better from there. He mostly finds that the iX3 is boring and lacking in any sort of visual character. “Beyond that, smoothly surfaced body sides and an absence of protruding door handles contribute to a very low and respectable 0.24 drag coefficient—great for performance, not so good for visual fanfare.”
Photo: BMW
However, his biggest issue with the iX3 seems to come at the rear, where it looks like a generic electric SUV.
“At the rear, the iX3 has a well planted stance, albeit a bit generic. Long gone are the memorable days of BMW’s signature L-shaped taillights, replaced here with two horizontally positioned units, proudly providing a recessed area for the badge – a similar solution to the bonnet,” he said. “The registration plate floats below the tailgate within a larger depressed area than needed. This solution stops the flow of the neighbouring surfaces, creating a harshly chiselled zone instead of a smoothly blended in form language.”
How does he sum it all up? “Nice try, but better luck next time.”
That isn’t a great start for the iX3, as it’s supposed to be the car that kicks off BMW’s Neue Klasse, the new era of electrified Bimmers. And Stephenson knows a thing or two about kicking off new eras for BMW. He’s the man who penned the first ever BMW-owned Mini Cooper, a car that was a smash hit for the Germans. He’s also the one who penned the first-generation X5, a car that was so successful it completely changed the future of BMW. So to hear disappointment from a designer who helped BMW through big transitions might sting.
Photo: BMW
However, I’m not so sure a bad review from Stephenson will matter much. That isn’t a dig at him, he’s a brilliant designer. But BMW’s controversial designs in recent years have proven to work on sales sheets, and it seems customers like their Bavarian cars a bit on the generic side. Plus, the iX3 is the midsize crossover, it’s the one bought to satisfy the one of the largest car-buying demographics in the world, so a little generic is probably wise.
And if you’re looking for something more radical, the Neue Klasse 3 Series is right around the corner and it’s shaping up to be quite the looker and wildly different from any 3 Series in recent memory.
