When the LCI of the BMW 7 Series first debuted, it was immediately met with a bit of criticism. I say a bit but it was actually a lot of criticism. Mainly for one thing, though, as the car overall is actually more handsome than before. Now, the 7 Series LCI features Kidney Grilles the size of Rhode Island. Each. And a lot of enthusiasts are a bit upset about it. So a new render has just been released, “fixing” the size of the grilles.
In this new render from Reddit user Agaran24, the artist changes the grille design just a bit. They’re still as wide as the real car’s but they’re not nearly as tall, so they don’t eat into the hood as much or into lower front bumper. To me, the new render looks much better than before, even though I’ve gone on record in saying that the new 7er’s face looks better than the pre-LCI. Still, I’d prefer this render.
Mostly because, to me, it sort of looks like the face of the E38 7 Series, as if it were a natural evolution of that great classic. The E38 had Kidney Grilles that were wide and similar in height to its headlights. So while they weren’t physically connected, they sort of seemed as if they were part of one uniform design cue across the face of the car. While this render isn’t exactly that uniform, it’s obviously far closer to the E38 than the real-life car is. And I think we can all say that the E38 was the best looking 7er.
Again, I actually don’t mind the face of the new 7 Series, as I think it adds some much need visual drama to an otherwise bland looking car. However, if I had the choice, I’d have BMW make it look more like this render than it actually does.
[Source: Reddit]
I agree with you 100%. The LCI is definitely an improvement but the height of the grills is just too much and the render fixes this problem. I also don’t know why they are going with the merged kidney grills…another design flaw in my opinion. They need to lose that design element along with the headlights connecting to the grill. If the design is not broken, why fix it? There is reason why the 911, G-wagon, and some others maintain certain design cues and remain popular.
Agree, and agree 110 percent on the conjoined grille- I hate that design with a passion.
The reason for the joined grill makes perfect sense, if they were separated – it would have resembled a nose, or bunny teeth. There’s a reason for everything…
Those are individual models, BMW have doubled their volume going into new segments while still being recognizably BMW. Since they are still expanding, bigger throws down the gauntlet that they are going for #1. If anything, big kidneys remind me of Rolls’ Parthenon.
https://www.autobild.de/artikel/bmw-740i-mit-m5-motor-14558893.html
So buy 1, live in the past & let BMW continue making progress into the future.
Will you ever stop attackng other people’s point of view? Dailybimmer is perfectly entitled to express his or view without having to “live in the past”.
Since E38 ceased production in 2001, that is the past. BMW create the future. Leadership≥nostalgia.
No
NO
Although I don’t mind the new kidney, I’d say something between the “fix” and the LCI would be right, but definitely I would rather prefer the LCI over this fix. In reality it looks better than on renders.
No!!
The “fix” looks sooooo much better.
It does indeed.
It looks absolutely beautiful! Definitely better than ‘Ole beaver’ that is the LCI. They should consider making the next 7 look the render, Agaran24 absolutely nailed it.
The E38 still remains my all-time favourite 7 series just as the E46 is my all-time favourite 3 series.
No, now it has too much bumper. It might have worked on an M Sport front end.
Lol, that is funny but true. To be honest, I never liked that bumper, always thought it was a bad idea. I much prefer the M sport one.
I still think the render is better even with that bumper.
Maybe we should see render with the M sport bumper.
Why make a 6 figure 7er limo look like a new 330i?! That the source is Reddit says it all.
Yes, the grills on the LCI cover a lot of real estate up front.
But picture the “fix” without the distraction of the front number plate.
We don’t have front plates. My vote is for the LCI.
Barely.
Just about all of the current BMWs have front fascias that are way too busy (slots, grilles, vents, holes) for their own good.
Agree 100%.
And suddenly we’re all expert car designers… So, BMW can not style the car the way they want to. They can not tap into their market research and give their buyers what they want… no, they must do what everybody says or be called out for being amateurs and totally incompetent. What kind of mindset is this? Everybody is entitled to their opinion, sure, there is no right or wrong here – only likes or dislikes. And that’s completely fine.
Name calling, not so much.
Get over it and go to (even bigger grilled) S-class and A8.
I think you miss the point. Many of us are BMW fans telling BMW design what we like (and don’t like). My M6 GC is up in 2 months and rest assured I will never buy a 7 series and I am not sure I’ll buy the M8 GC given some of the spy shots.
That’s good info for future models isn’t it? After all if they can’t sell to the faithfull, it will be even harder to sell to the unfaithfull.
Giom is right, design conservatism is not leadership. Just as BMW took the lead with 745i, their new design language indicates a willingness to do the same now. No one will follow BMW because they won’t be able to.
If BMW had only you as a customer, sure. But now, let’s say BMW have 100 7 series customers, 50% love the 7, 50% doesn’t. Whatever those numbers are, no one manufacturer can keep everyone happy all of the time.
And by prejudging the M8 GC from spy pics… nothing BMW can do for you there. That one is on you. That’s not the way to inform anybody. You see my point?
Btw, there’s plenty positive feedback also, just not as in your face as the negatives, I’m afraid.
I have been with BMW 20+ years so I suppose it is normal we outgrow each other at some point. My need is simple. Sleek and elegant. Then I will buy any BMW.
Every vendor wants to refresh its customer base at some point. I remember Ian Callum saying that Jaguar couldn’t survive on “fat cat cigar smokers”. So they designed Jaguars to look like Audis and went after their customer base. Looking at Jaguars current sales, I am not sure it was the right path. I would love to buy a Jaguar right now (I am British), except they have nothing that I want to buy. I am not fat and I don’t smoke.
And for me at least it is going that way with BMW. I love the Series 4, X2, and the Series 6. Sleek looking cars. I have seen the Series 8 and quite like it. The 8 GC I need to see in the flesh I agree. If the Series 7 were a sleeker design I’d rather buy that – there is more room for my family than my M6 GC. But for me they are trying to squeeze a Rolls Royce in there and well, it just looks odd (to me). I want my car to look dramatic.
I remember when Chris Bangle took over the design helm I hated his cars. That did not stop BMW from flourishing. And I am sure they will continue to flourish, they build great cars.
I am willing to bet one month’s salary that this LCI does not improve Series 7 sales in the long run. There will be a flurry that will quickly die off. The answer is not to make a Series 7 look like a RR. IMHO.
Anyway good luck. I still love my current BMW.
Obviously not aimed at you, per sé. There are some really useless comments in here…
😉
Jaguar haven’t been Jaguar since Sir William Lyons died, they haven’t been British since Ford bought them to sell as Astons & the brand to India, reverse colonialism that Tata own them & Range Rover. If their British manufacture survives Brexit.
And I think you miss the point. When BMW do something new, whether it be X or i3 or original 3/5/6/7, they bring new buyers to the brand. This strategy is why BMW sell 5X now what they did when those last models debuted. This is why BMW are still prosperous, independent & innovative, rather than corporate, Chinese or Indian.
The point is that this LCI, which is at the heart of this thread, will only widen rather than close the gap with its competitors.
Time will tell.
And my final point is that if you sit this beside the Concept CS, I am sure everyone would chose it over this LCI.
That’s it I’ll shut up now.
Only reason 7 exists is as an alternative to a dull status quo.
The qconcept CS was far from dull. Sit that beside this and the choice is easily made.
I don’t think it has anything to do with design, all about timing, marketing & corporate boardroom decisions. CS was 2008 financial crisis, of course they wouldn’t commit to a new luxury model (dealership I worked @ took a 20% hit in sales that fall, BMW were said to be ordering ships carrying new vehicles back to Germany rather than backing up their ports with unsold inventory, Nissan dealer I worked @ in ’09 had NO inventory in their sales compound). Lusso, apart from being outside sourced, could have been competition for neue 6er, plus Wraith was arriving – then, as now, BMW didn’t want to encroach with a 9 Series. Also, as far as Coupe goes, far more GC in my neighborhood, which BMW were already selling @ a premium over 2 dr. BMW have a long history of working with Italian designers, but even if they make it to production they are rarely attributed. New models are transitional on cusp of BEV & fwd., we haven’t seen what 21st century BMW looks like yet.
As long as that leadership doesn’t lead them down a rathole as it has with Jaguar. I have been faithfull to BMW for 20+ years and they are losing me.
As long as they find more new customers than they lose they will continue to grow. But they make the task harder than need be. BMW used to be the ‘Italians’ of the German car industry. Sleek and elegant. For my part at least, they are losing their way.
BMW’s automotive history is quadruple your familiarity with the brand, & they have never actually repeated themselves from one decade to the next. Multi-million dollar 507s, fridge door Isettas, rear engined motorcycle-powered 700s, the 4 cyls. that saved the brand & inspired the Munchen corporate HQ, around the same time they did their 1st EV & Turbo Concept that inspired M1. Anyone who expects BMW to be the brand they knew growing up should abandon them, BMW progress. While still offering their largest range of M models in their history. Why do you think Mercedes bought AMG & VAG & Korea headhunt Munich?
And suddenly we can’t be enthusiasts and fans of BMW with an opinion?
We’re not here to tell them what they should have done. We’re here to discuss what we think of the new design.
Not with language like, discusting, hate, beaver teath etc… hardly constructive. Obviously, there are better, kinder crits, that is not where my beef is, though.
Oh, I’m not suggesting it’s meant to be constructive. I’m just saying it’s a discussion. You suggested that everyone is talking like they’re ”
expert car designers.” I’m saying everyone is just through around their opinion.
I get that, but let’s get realistic. How many versions of one car does BMW have to make for everybody to be happy? This is common sense. What gets me is that a lot of people actually takes it personally, like BMW is out to ruin their day. It’s like, people, just think about what you’re saying!
So, it just so happens that BMW Paris is showing the X7, Series 7 and they look much better in the flesh. Photographs do not do justice. I still would not buy a Series 7 though and think the Gran Lusso was a missed opportunity. The X7 actually looks good (€150K configuration).
They also had a Series 8 Cabriolet and Series Z4. Both look great. The Series 8 cabriolet is seriously close in price (€170K) to an Aston Martin Volante though, which holds its price much better.
Hmmm. Food for thought.
Thanks for reporting on this Theo. I’ve said it many times here, wait till you see the car in the flesh. I suspect it is more so true with these cars. But, I’m glad you told us!
It’s not a “beautiful” car anyway. The small grill works better with a number plate, the large LCI grill better without.
Uhm no, the render has too much empty space below the grille. So the grill needs to be bigger in my opinion.
Yeah…this is much better.
Larger grill makes it look luxurious the smaller one sporty
No. Somewhere in between perhaps? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d9a0e45e4f3149ccf8d24212b009e38c5cf7c015a23f72ca4f970f52d74ed7c4.jpg
good one. The narrow one looks sporty. The big one looks grotesque. This one looks appropriate to it’s status as a luxury car for people with taste.
Lovely one! Had same on mind
This is even better!
Not nice, the real one is much nicer. Bmw best of all time. Now it´s even better than Mercedes S.
Much better. Send the big one to China–the bigwigs that buy them in China probably like the “big grin”.
No. The problem of the new grill (and the ‘fix’ render) is the part of the grill that ‘goes above’ headlight level. The part that ‘bends’ onto the hood space.
Just keep the current grill and headlights which are perfectly balanced and if you want, change the lower bumper design to the LCI-Vision Luxury one.
Now I know that everybody wait for my opinion so there it is : The render with the smaller grilles looks more like 5 series F10 evolution rather than 7 series. Small grills are likely for 1, 3,4 series with 3 and 4 cillinders, but when you have a monstrous 6.6 V12? With small grilles it’s like the car has small “balls”. With the Bigger grilles looks more bold and separated than the other cheaper BMWs. To me the bigger are better.
It seems nothing will make the 7 series look better, as it never did and it looks like it never will.
The new grille is fine. It’s not photogenic, but looks damn good in person.