Dear BMW: Please Fire Your Designers

[Svend]

@nth256
I believe Mini call them Clubvan.

[nth256]

@Arch-Duke-Maxyenko said in Dear BMW: Please Fire Your Designers:

@HammerheadFistpunch

MINI by Tata

[flatisflat]

@nth256 said in Dear BMW: Please Fire Your Designers:

This looks like the Chery/Geely/Ssangyong/BYD version of a MINI.

The new e-MINI I think is being built in China, so, it tracks.

[nth256]

@flatisflat I wonder if they just handed off the whole project to a Chinese firm then. This might be a China-only model, that being the case.

[drVanTraveler]

@Arch-Duke-Maxyenko I can't say anything nice about that newest Countryman either.
Here was our 16,

Our 23,
Mini is quitting the PHEV after this too.

[ranwhenparked]

@NKato *1994 - BMW bought Mini's then-parent Rover Group from BAE & Honda, then broke it up in 2000, keeping Mini for themselves and selling off the rest (Rover, MG, and Land Rover)

Edit - there was also the Maestro and Montego earlier on, which were never officially given a new brand after the Austin nameplate was discontinued in the late '80s. They were usually referred to as Rovers, but technically weren't, basically stand-alone single model brands in kind of a limbo until being discontinued early in BMW ownership. Apparently BMW didn't even realize they were still in production at the time of the acquisition and were surprised to find that out

[bison78]

@nth256

Would that make it a... MINI-van?

Not unless it looks like this:

[flatisflat]

@nth256 said in Dear BMW: Please Fire Your Designers:

This might be a China-only model, that being the case.

I dunno, pretty sure that ugly is going global.

[Nauraushaun]

@Arch-Duke-Maxyenko i feel like this is a statement that their designers have been getting worse since the early 2000s. which is accurate

[Nauraushaun]

i saw an i7 on the road the other day. it's not a bad looking car....in some ways...but it was night time so it looked like this:

yes it literally has lighting all the way around the grille. it might be the most garish thing on our roads today. looked horrible.

[Throwaway]

@Nauraushaun

[Nauraushaun]

@Throwaway
must be hard to add styling to a pointless slab-sided behemoth. this is one such attempt

[Throwaway]

@Nauraushaun it's so bad. From every angle. Apparently it drives well though.

[WBizarre]

@Arch-Duke-Maxyenko Oof yea, that's rough. Somehow the press photos with the wide angle lens and the gold accents made it look better on initial release.

And yet...
absolutely killing it in the interior department. It's kind of like the iX in that respect.

@NKato I'm pretty sure it's related to the X1. Which works a lot better than the Countryman.

[Shop-Teacher]

@Arch-Duke-Maxyenko Woof!

[MidEngine]

@WBizarre you find THAT interior is killing it? An illuminated frisbee? Bizarre

[MidEngine]

@NKato to be fair, it would fit tho

[Engineer In Motion]

@Arch-Duke-Maxyenko

And to top it off there is nothing mini about mini anymore. I don't know who they are designing for but its clearly not me. With how they are going I'll never own another BMW again.

[drVanTraveler]

@MidEngine said in Dear BMW: Please Fire Your Designers:

@WBizarre you find THAT interior is killing it? An illuminated frisbee? Bizarre

I agree. The center "lit frisbee" is horrible!
The idea of no dash in front of the driver is a bad trend IMHO. At least our 23 still has a dash along with a center screen for nav, radio, etc.

[GrindIntoSecond]

Bullshit Motoren Werke. I hear they have a performance division called T-sport, or Total Bullshit.

[WBizarre]

@MidEngine @drVanTraveler Yes, I find that to be killing it. First off, it does take more effort to make a round screen rather than pulling a rectangle off the parts shelf like everyone else. It's immediately recognizable, looks new and endearing, as screens go, and doesn't dominate the view the way a rectangle of the same size would. Secondly it has a real historical reason to be this way, dating back to the big center speedo on the original Mini. Previous Mini interiors have tried to integrate the round element with a rectangular screen, and it always looked awkward/shoehorned. Not any more - this is what a retro callback looks like, done properly. As for information in front of the driver, it looks like they'll all have the heads-up display... which I guess some people don't like? The rest of the interior is clean and simple with satisfying symmetry. It looks downright minimalist compared to the ridiculous hodge-podge interiors of recent Minis. The use of textiles on the dashboard is refreshing, and brings a splash of color to the cabin - and I'm sure the fabric is recycled or something. Do I wish for physical HVAC controls? Yes, but unfortunately that's par for the course these days.

[MidEngine]

@WBizarre five different colors (and probably more that aren’t captured) it looks like a carnival tent. The door cards fade away to some sort dotted effect like the surround on a windshield periphery. Nursery school. That’s just me I guess

[drVanTraveler]

@WBizarre That's just a bridge too far for us. We much prefer the current look and function,

[RiceRocketeer]

It makes my life much easier when a company puts up an obvious sign saying, "don't bother with our products."

[Taylor Martin]

@Qaaaaa said in Dear BMW: Please Fire Your Designers:

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