[JTO24]

Originally Posted by solstice

The F8X went from a screamer of a NA V8 building power all the way to the 8500 redline giving it one of the highest piston speeds ever in a production car and a resulting heavenly sound track to a turbo charged farting harsh sounding 3l I6. It went from BMW signature HPS that communicated every change in grip levels to a near numb EPS.

None of those things reduced the number of buyers. I can only interpret that as M3 buyers are highly adaptable and accepting as long as the new car bring performance improvements and remain a top achiever in the segment so I strongly doubt it will play out any different this time.

Exactly! This car will not be a flop like some are claiming/hoping it will be. Bit even if it isn't selling well that's fine with me b/c I'll just be able to get a bigger discount

[JTO24]

Originally Posted by R N M

The criticism was never about styling/ design.
Everyone loved the F8X styling especially sedan F80 over E90.

While not as polarizing as this concept, when the f30 first came out people were not happy with the hood cut line or the headlights connecting to the grill. It was not universally praised right away.

[R N M]

Originally Posted by solstice

Styling outweighs all? Man I really hope you aren’t right about that...
Between sedan and coupe naturally it matters, it’s just an option of the same car and BMW don’t care about which you buy.

To them overall numbers matters M3+M4 and I strongly doubt the G8X will sell less than the F8X if the car continues to be the performance leader with usual great ergonomics and win comparison test after test. With AWD and 510hp it will not be slow, the numbers and driving dynamics will bring buyers large grill or not. How many? We’ll see but I don’t think BMW need to be concerned.

I skipped E60 5series bec it was just hideous design in every way. I still want to puke evertime i see it. F10 brought back the classic BMW look and I bought 2 of them.

These days there are plenty of options that provide comparable performance, features, driving dynamics etc....so styling a lot of times is a big factor.

Obviously other factors such as performance, price etc are important but styling is a Huge factor. I don’t want to have the design “grow” on me. You should know right away if its great!

[R N M]

Originally Posted by JTO24

While not as polarizing as this concept, when the f30 first came out people were not happy with the hood cut line or the headlights connecting to the grill. It was not universally praised right away.

Go look at pics of a 2006 E90 sedan with hideous lights - the F30 was a HUGE improvement especially that it came with Msport and Estoril Blue paint. 99% of members were happy. Obviously no design is perfect.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by R N M

I skipped E60 5series bec it was just hideous design in every way. I still want to puke evertime i see it. F10 brought back the classic BMW look and I bought 2 of them.

Bummer for you, I loved my E60. That car drove like a higher quality more planted 3 series. It is still my wife’s favorite car of every car we have owned that must be close to 20 by now. I hated my F10 it was an abomination of driving dynamics. One of the most beautiful no doubt but I dumped it after six months and never wanted to drive one again.

I guess this explains our different views on the importance of styling vs. driving experience in terms of attraction to own

[solstice]

Originally Posted by JTO24

Exactly! This car will not be a flop like some are claiming/hoping it will be. Bit even if it isn't selling well that's fine with me b/c I'll just be able to get a bigger discount

Yes! I’m hoping the ordering opens up before people have the time to catch up to it’s looks and reviews of it’s likely smashing performance start coming in

[Bimmer North]

24 hrs later I have come back to have another look at this grill. Nope. Just does not work and totally out of proportion to the flow of the vehicle.
My 2018 4 series front end with Msport looks miles better today and 5 years from now will still look better . This grill is goofy.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by JTO24

While not as polarizing as this concept, when the f30 first came out people were not happy with the hood cut line or the headlights connecting to the grill. It was not universally praised right away.

....Yep!! Some people also didn't like the hood lines that run along both sides of the hood, the kink, etc. Most claimed that the E9X or other iteration was going to skyrocket in value. Nearly the same types of comments are stated every time a new model emerges. You can almost predict what the reactions will be verbatim. I do agree that the previous cars weren't as polarizing, but designing a polarizing car was the exact intent. It wasn't accidental.

[Foodle]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

exactly - This isn't a big grille problem, it's a bad design problem

100% this.

There are plenty of examples of cars that have big grilles, but still look good. If the marketing department wanted a bold design (i.e., easy to identify the new model over the old) and a big grille, the design department could have delivered that without making it fugly.

Audi has been growing their grille size, but still manages to make good looking cars. The new RS7 and RS6 Avant have pretty big grilles, but they still hold to good visual design principles.

[Fuller]

Originally Posted by R N M

E90 M3 sold in small #s.
The E92 coupe was the more popular choice partially bec E90 sedan was very ugly design and even M version was only marginally better.

F80 on the other hand sold like hotcakes because EVERYONE LOVED it!
It sold on par with M4 if not better.

Therefore styling outweighs pretty much all and this new hideous grill will definitely have negative effect.

Just look at Acura and Lexus.

Of course styling plays a role in desirability, but in an m3, I have to imagine that a driving enthusiast will prioritize performance over styling. That's not to say that styling isn't important, but if enough buyers value styling over performance, don't be shocked when manufacturers then prioritize styling over, or even at the expense of, performance.

[Foodle]

Just for grins, I dug out this old thread on the E90/92 M3 board from when the F30 was introduced. People (myself included) weren't crazy about the hoodline and shape of the nose. And people complained about the design being too incremental, but it was a far cry from the very negative response to the 4 Concept which probably went too far in the other direction.

Old thread here:
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...&highlight=f30

[Fuller]

I'll admit it, each day this 4 series concept grows on me a little bit more, ass cheek grills and all. No, I don't exactly love it at this point, but everyday it appears less shocking.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Foodle

Just for grins, I dug out this old thread on the E90/92 M3 board from when the F30 was introduced. People (myself included) weren't crazy about the hoodline and shape of the nose. And people complained about the design being too incremental, but it was a far cry from the very negative response to the 4 Concept which probably went too far in the other direction.

Old thread here:
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...;highlight=f30

Great find. There are many more like it too. People have really short memories when they start speaking about universal praise for any new model. I still remember the E46 being called a pig, bloated, ugly, etc. First the E30 was the last real ///M car....then the E36....then the E46......then the E9X.....then the F8X is now regaled as the last of a great line of cars.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by Foodle

Old thread here:
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...;highlight=f30

That throwback thread is funny; people do find any reason to nitpick and bitch about nothing..

However, this time it's actually warranted; this is the first BMW design where if the emblems wasn't on, I would mistake for another brand.

Very un-BMW to go against the grain with this flamboyant style, which doesn't even look like a cohesive combination of parts.

I just hope they do right by the next gen G series M2, as this might be my last opportunity to get one in a stick, before it's extinct

[eyim1988]

I like it lol.

[J-RO]

Inspiration for The new design of the 4 series.

[Ghostriderf80]

Originally Posted by DreaminBMW

Maybe they were trying to show up the Americans?... Italians...? trying to make sense of this...

You gonna compare a cobra to a BMW. My old Audi 1.8T was taking a cobra off the line w no issues. Its not performance its just some looks and noise. It becomes a sports car once you spend another 70K fixing it.

Alfa - have you seen one up close? Not many in Canada and unless you were at Geneva you would not have seen their Quattrofolgia which did not have much going for it as far as quality. Its a nice look and concept but BMW, Mercedes and Audi blow it out of the water.

New 4 Series Rocks, its what we always wanted BMW to be and look like. Look down the history line and you will realize its true.

My only sadness is that once I have the new M4 it will be unfortunately in Canada. Where I can enjoy endless traffic jams and straight and 90 degree curves. Unless something good has happened in the last few years.

The car is amazing.

[nublu2u]

Future 4 series sales will be very interesting. BMW has always been creative, already they are saying the will sell more ///M cars in 2019 - very true, but they also have a lot more ///M models.

For the 4 series they already have the coupe, 'vert and GC, so they can't add to the line-up easily, so will be a good litmus test of public opinion.

[J-RO]

I found a picture of the person who designed this car.

[Ducfan]

I like it, this could get me back in an M3/M4. Three M cars ending with F80 which I didn’t particularly like.

[Imola3]

Anyone have a rendering on the grille with black trim instead of the silver?

I think it will look better that way, because it will be less obvious.

[BimmerQuest]

Originally Posted by Imola3

Anyone have a rendering on the grille with black trim instead of the silver?

I think it will look better that way, because it will be less obvious.

This...can someone Photoshop shadow line trim on a couple of these photos and black out the grill?