To all those complaining that BMWs models look too similar

"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock) 01/05/2018 at 15:17 • Filed to: None

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It used to be worse... Ad taken from a 1981 issue of Motor magazine. Got it as a gift for Christmas because it has a review of the 1st gen Daihatsu Domino.

It’s a very cool little window into where the car industry was in the early 80s.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/05/2018 at 15:26

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Haha, I knew they looked alike, but not that it was that bad.

At least most of the numbers on the back used to mean something back then.

Rico > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/05/2018 at 15:26

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Same with Mercedes. People screaming “All MBs look the same now!” yet...

RallyWrench > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/05/2018 at 15:28

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The problem isn’t that they look similar, it’s that there’s now so damn many of them. The model ranges have bloated beyond any reasonable level.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/05/2018 at 15:28

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Very true, as far as I’m aware they all matched engine capacity back then.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Rico 01/05/2018 at 15:29

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Grass is always greener and what not.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > RallyWrench 01/05/2018 at 15:31

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More choice isn’t a bad thing, as repulsive as I find the X2, X4 and X6, they make money and I can just ignore them. Pays for neat stuff like the M140i

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > RallyWrench 01/05/2018 at 15:33

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You know your model lineup has gotten out of control when you start selling the four door version of the two door version of the four door car.

EL_ULY > RallyWrench 01/05/2018 at 15:39

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3 5 7 Z X

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/05/2018 at 15:39

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Yeah, as far as I know they did too, and they would denote different versions of the same engine capacity with letters, such as the e an i (or no letter at all)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/05/2018 at 15:44

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Simpler times...

diplodicus > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/05/2018 at 15:47

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The car that started on isn’t in that ad, but is the same chassis. The e23 745i had a 3.5l turbo straight six. Basically the m30b35 with a turbo. But they called it the 745i because it was said to have the power of a 4.5l.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > diplodicus 01/05/2018 at 15:50

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Interesting, so it actually started much earlier than I expected.

diplodicus > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/05/2018 at 15:55

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i stood for fuel injection, e was for the eta series,no suffix had carburetors, except in the case of the e30 where 325 meant it was an eta. They only sold etas on the e30 and e28 chassis, both used the same m20b27 which had a longer stroke and different heads than the m20b25. People take m20b25 heads, 885 is the cast marking, and put them on m20b27 blocks to create strokers. In this ad the 3 series are e21, the 5 series look like early e28s but I could be wrong, the 7 series are e23 and the 6 series are e24.

Klaus Schmoll > diplodicus 01/05/2018 at 15:59

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Wasn’t that for South Africa only, or something?

diplodicus > Klaus Schmoll 01/05/2018 at 16:05

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South Africa got a special RHD version that used the M88/3 instead of the M102/106 that Europe got in the LHD version. I think South Africa got a special version of the E30 also.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/05/2018 at 16:16

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What’s the deal with paying the price of a BMW but not owning one?

gmctavish needs more space > diplodicus 01/05/2018 at 16:25

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Yeah they got the 333i

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/333i

gmctavish needs more space > diplodicus 01/05/2018 at 16:28

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I think 81 was the last year for E12

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) 01/05/2018 at 16:29

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Basically some spiel about how a BMW costed the same as your average competitor.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/05/2018 at 16:51

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Ah, interesting. That didn’t last too long.

RT > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/05/2018 at 20:53

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Interestingly, while they’re near identical in the pic, in 3D they are the opposite.

Here’s some press photos from the early 80s to show you what I mean...

For reference: E21 (3-Series), E28 (5-Series), E23 (7-Series) and E24 (6-Series).

The E21 has stubby doors, skinny taillights and a sad puppy snout.

The E28 has much less chrome, more angular lines and aggressive lights.

The E23 has none of the aggression of the E28, it’s just big and curvaceous.

The shark nosed E24 sports huge bumpers, dished rims and a fastback profile.

Goes to show how BMW made similar-looking cars distinctive. Every car had the same ingredients, but the recipe was different. You could tell all these cars were a BMW by a quick glance in your mirror, yet all had unique qualities in the metal.

Nowadays it seems more like the inverse, but you could argue design like this was easier to achieve when they were only selling four BMWs (or Mercedeses).

RT > gmctavish needs more space 01/05/2018 at 20:57

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The car in the ad is an E28 though, on its first year.

Note how it says ‘NEW’ on all of the models pictured. ...If only the new 5-Series looked as good as that.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > RT 01/07/2018 at 13:33

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I would say there’s still a similar amount of differentiation in the modern ones too. Its easy enough to tell an m3 and m5 apart.

RT > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 01/07/2018 at 14:55

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Yeah, I won’t deny there still is differentiation, I just wouldn’t say it’s there in the right places.

Remember when I said every car had the same ingredients, but the recipe was different?

Modern BMW cars alter ‘the ingredients’: blacking out their logo on high-end models, softening the Hofmeister kink and flipping the sodding grilles upside-down (looking at you X2). While this may seem harmless, it changes the foundations of what makes a BMW a BMW. Of course, design features  should be changed over time to breed innovation (or else you get Jaguar in the Ford years), but any new developments are ideally to be done with confidence.

When Chris Bangle introduced his controversial styling, it was still striking and consistent, moving BMW into the 21st century. More half-hearted attempts like the aforementioned grille flip don’t change BMW’s reputation for the better, they just disregard it entirely. As with many things, it’s a balancing act in the end.