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BMW i3 Debuts with Neue Klass Design Language


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Man that is a mismash of different design concepts/Languages

 

The greenhouse looks like same greenhouse that BMW has been using since 1990

 

Front/back ends are ok-the details for the grill/headlights is a bit "busy" to my eye

 

The angled infotainment screen is just freaking annoying to look at with those angles on it.  

 

Overall its not bad, but the some of the details just rub me the wrong way. 

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30 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

Man that is a mismash of different design concepts/Languages

 

The greenhouse looks like same greenhouse that BMW has been using since 1990

 

Front/back ends are ok-the details for the grill/headlights is a bit "busy" to my eye

 

The angled infotainment screen is just freaking annoying to look at with those angles on it.  

 

Overall its not bad, but the some of the details just rub me the wrong way. 

 

That seems to be the general story with BMW as of late.

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34 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

Man that is a mismash of different design concepts/Languages

 

The greenhouse looks like same greenhouse that BMW has been using since 1990

 

Front/back ends are ok-the details for the grill/headlights is a bit "busy" to my eye

 

The angled infotainment screen is just freaking annoying to look at with those angles on it.  

 

Overall its not bad, but the some of the details just rub me the wrong way. 

 

4 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

 

That seems to be the general story with BMW as of late.

Agreed, it feels like bmw designers struggle to know when to put the pen down so to speak. Like case in point, looking at the rear end, there's this nice ducktail above the taillights that would have looked classy. They added those two vertical lines for no reason and it must looks odd. It's stuff like that which makes me scratch me head. 

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Other concerns aside - it overall looks very stylish. The infotainment screen would have me tilting my head to match the oddball angled design though....I am sure the faithful will love it and continue to ignore the turn signal stalk. 

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Sherminator98 said:

Man that is a mismash of different design concepts/Languages

 

The greenhouse looks like same greenhouse that BMW has been using since 1990

 

Front/back ends are ok-the details for the grill/headlights is a bit "busy" to my eye

 

The angled infotainment screen is just freaking annoying to look at with those angles on it.  

 

Overall its not bad, but the some of the details just rub me the wrong way. 

 

 

I'd agree.  It seems like they're trying to jump back in time and sort of imagine where BMW design would've gone without the Bangle era (i.e. pick up where the '97-03 more boxy design left off).

 

The greenhouse seems a bit more upright than the last few models (at least in the latter half of it).

 

I hate this unresolved character line that flows into the middle of the mirror mount/doesn't match up with the belt line:

 

image.thumb.png.d93509b48ccb6bbac7207ba582c7c81e.png

 

The front and rear are ok.

 

I also agree that the center screen inside is odd with the angled shape.

 

I absolutely DESPISE that hideous 4-spoke steering wheel....like WTF?  I get there aren't any gauges to look through, but it's just ugly lol.

 

I also do not like that backlit colored dash panel on the passenger side.  It looks like it's broken with how uneven/streaky it is.  I guess it's supposed to be "design" but it just looks bad, IMO.....it'd have looked better if they were a pattern or something more uniform.

image.png.5c9a4ab296a8d3c49dec12b1c6803d27.pngimage.png.d626c080e805881a71516c19f054e0f5.png

p90632255_highres-1079453.jpg?arena_f_auto

 

 

haha, after thinking about it for a second, it actually made me think of that 90's cup design:

 

Jazz (design) - Wikipedia

 

 

Edited by rmc523
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2 hours ago, T-dubz said:

The body looks like an early 2000’s Lexus or Camry. For all that is going on in the interior, the exterior profile is kinda boring.

 

Yea, the new i3 is yet another anonymous unibody blob of a sedan in terms of exterior profile. The original i3 had more character

 

https://mediapool.bmwgroup.com/cache/P9/201708/P90273522/P90273522-the-new-bmw-i3s-08-2017-2250px.jpg

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10 minutes ago, morgan20 said:

 

Yea, the new i3 is yet another anonymous unibody blob of a sedan in terms of exterior profile. The original i3 had more character

 

https://mediapool.bmwgroup.com/cache/P9/201708/P90273522/P90273522-the-new-bmw-i3s-08-2017-2250px.jpg

 

Character is a nice way to say ugly lol.

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I liked the show car they had last year. I feel they watered it down too much. It reminds me of when Lincoln had a great Zephyr concept, but watered down the final product to a boring car.

 

But the BMW doesn't disappoint as much as the Zephyr, but I am a little disappointed. 

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On 3/18/2026 at 8:48 AM, rmc523 said:

 

 

I'd agree.  It seems like they're trying to jump back in time and sort of imagine where BMW design would've gone without the Bangle era (i.e. pick up where the '97-03 more boxy design left off).

 

The greenhouse seems a bit more upright than the last few models (at least in the latter half of it).

 

I hate this unresolved character line that flows into the middle of the mirror mount/doesn't match up with the belt line:

 

image.thumb.png.d93509b48ccb6bbac7207ba582c7c81e.png

 

The front and rear are ok.

 

I also agree that the center screen inside is odd with the angled shape.

 

I absolutely DESPISE that hideous 4-spoke steering wheel....like WTF?  I get there aren't any gauges to look through, but it's just ugly lol.

 

I also do not like that backlit colored dash panel on the passenger side.  It looks like it's broken with how uneven/streaky it is.  I guess it's supposed to be "design" but it just looks bad, IMO.....it'd have looked better if they were a pattern or something more uniform.

image.png.5c9a4ab296a8d3c49dec12b1c6803d27.pngimage.png.d626c080e805881a71516c19f054e0f5.png

p90632255_highres-1079453.jpg?arena_f_auto

 

 

haha, after thinking about it for a second, it actually made me think of that 90's cup design:

 

Jazz (design) - Wikipedia

 

 

Good eye. As someone who really appreciates good line flow in a design, I agree about the hood like not lining up with the window line being poorly done. I guess the height of it likes up with the decklid at it's highest point, so at least that's something. It's also possible having a higher beltline to line up with the hood line would have looked a little too chunky. 

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40 minutes ago, DeluxeStang said:

Good eye. As someone who really appreciates good line flow in a design, I agree about the hood like not lining up with the window line being poorly done. I guess the height of it likes up with the decklid at it's highest point, so at least that's something. It's also possible having a higher beltline to line up with the hood line would have looked a little too chunky. 

 

Oh I wasn't even talking about the hood line in this cars - I agree I prefer the hood line to line up, but that doesn't happen often.

 

I was referring to the character line that does a sort of "Z" shape (I put a yellow line on it) as it goes into the mirror mount...

 

image.png.efcaec33801233e4d4297132cd286da2.png

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1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

 

Oh I wasn't even talking about the hood line in this cars - I agree I prefer the hood line to line up, but that doesn't happen often.

 

I was referring to the character line that does a sort of "Z" shape (I put a yellow line on it) as it goes into the mirror mount...

 

image.png.efcaec33801233e4d4297132cd286da2.png

Oh now I see it, yeah that's not great. 

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6 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

I had a video pop on social media about this and it looked slightly better from above vs the dynamic/squirrel height taking the photo that is popular in car photos recently. 

 

You mean you don't get down on the ground when looking at a car?

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14 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

I had a video pop on social media about this and it looked slightly better from above vs the dynamic/squirrel height taking the photo that is popular in car photos recently. 

That's actually a valid point. Why are so many cars in their initial release photos shown from the perspective of an ant, and not at a more realistic eye level? Especially when as you pointed out, a lot of designs look worse from that angle. 

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