We finally got our first look at the all-new seventh generation BMW 7 series, and unsurprisingly, the response to those split headlights and the huge grille has been explosive. So I figured I’d take a look at the design and come up with some subjective improvements.
The new 7 Series, known by Bimmer trainspotters as the “G70,” has visual bulk problems. In other words, because of its dimensions, it looks fat. But all is not lost.
I recently checked out BMW’s U.K. website to have my first look at the car — specifically in its best-looking mean matte-black guise, M-Sport Pro. This trim brings the largest standard wheel of any 7 Series, and I think this is critical to balance out the car’s thick proportion. The M-Sport Pro also has a matte-black lower rocker, which is an optical trick to reduce some of the meat in the middle — and one most famously applied to the gorgeous Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer.
Let’s get into that a bit more.
That Big Ol’ Body!
The G70 has some beautiful clean areas of form through the bodyside, and I think the car is successful from the base of the A-pillar back. There’s classic Teutonic architecture that invokes some nostalgic thoughts of two of my favorite-ever sedan designs — the unloved and short-lived 2003-2004 Infiniti M45:
And the 1992-1999 Mercedes S-Class:
As with many cars of this size, the BMW’s linework (i.e. the shapes in the body) is staid and nearly level, a gentle bow to the character line above the door handles adds some form, executed much better than the uncomfortable banana-arched seventh generation Mercedes S-Class. There are no wedgy or directional angled lines. The side view is that of a proper flagship; the posture feels upright and generally proud. Wheels suggest sport performance, but the overall image is that of a parade vehicle; I’m searching the BMW site to determine the price for old-school dictator style front-corner flag mounting points.
The thick and heavy packaging motif is de rigueur for late-era gasoline-powered NCAP pedestrian safe cars, which require a certain amount of distance between the engine and the hood to allow for deformation in case of a collision with a person. (I have often wondered if we will get to enjoy a low hood/cowl renaissance soon — I’ve been expecting it for quite a while now with new generation of small displacement turbo fours becoming common. Electric skateboard platforms offer tremendous opportunities to reduce the engine box height even further, but manufacturers are stuck offering up traditional ICE options, so hoods still need to package 4-5 liters of displacement in this vehicle class with all of the stacked height of fuel efficient intake hardware and pedestrian-safe crushable hood zones above the engine).
You’ll notice that in addition to outfitting the largest diameter wheels that the budget and chassis engineering team allow, the stylists also wrestled with reducing the bulk above the wheel openings with thick flat arch sections (which has become quite common) and with matte black added to the lower areas (see below). While BMW managed to cram the five liter M70 V-12 into the E37 7-Series in the late 1980s, today the 7-Series is four inches taller but with four fewer pistons and less engine displacement. Physical bloat has come a lot from increases in safety, but the height of the engine is a big part of the high-cowl equation, and the design teams need to challenge the engine architecture teams to get low.
Mercedes chief designer Bruno Sacco expressed disappointment that one of his last designs, the beautifully slabby W140 S-Class (the still-beautiful one I showed above) was about 4 inches too tall, so designers are well aware of how important a low profile is. But the G70 BMW probably only needs a one inch section job to slim-down into an attractively sleek proportion. It’s an easy modification in Photoshop of course, but in the thick of engineering the entire car, a nearly impossible hurdle once the engine and packaging architecture are set.
There was an era where, for decades, manufacturers were able to reduce the height of each new generation to improve styling. I’m surprised that all that hard work is being lost (added back!) one inch at a time, year by year by many many manufacturers.
So we went the other way and just an inch removed here…do you see it?:
But What About The Front End?
Yes, of course! Getting to that! All eyes of course will immediately go to the front end of the G70, and with my first look, I did note that my eye was immediately drawn to that area. Good design is a balance of areas of detail and areas of rest (i.e. broad areas of surface that are not broken up by lines, shapes, decoration). There is great contrast looking from the bodyside to the busy front end. It’s playful, but with an angular digital line language. They are having fun with the flag-ship budget tech. At flag-ship price point, I would expect a more conservative approach, more maturity, and that would be accomplished with less movement of the lines and more horizontal emphasis to solidify the elements.
As for the graphic break-up, that’s a LOT of black area. Does black evoke a feeling of quality? “Piano-black” is used commonly to denote tech and to break up traditional graphics, but the application here is too indiscriminate and floundering for a car of this distinction.
Kidney Punch!
Are we getting used to the giant kidneys yet? Ugh, no. Again, they have mass problems in front. There’s too much height and they’re stacking up lines and shapes to fill it up. On an SUV, the kidneys have some logic in trucklike proportion, but on a sedan, they’re crude, and the coarsely spaced ribs have no elegance or grace. The thickness of the vertical bars is better suited to imply off-road brute durability, not urban high-end class. Unfortunately, this motif is one that the brand is stuck with for a generation. I expect the styling keyword will again be “gaaaaahhh!!!” for the fascias of the upcoming 3 and 5 series as well — gird yourself. In the sketch-over below, I restrained myself and simply reduced the height to a more sedan-like proportion, and made the fins denser.
“What Have You Done To Its Eyes!?”
I won’t be able to illuminate the subject of lighting as well as Jason, but you are always playing with fire when you deal fast and loose with headlight spacing, size, and location. Swarovski crystals (yes, they did) in the headlights is a cross-branding gimmick more than anything essentially functional, but I’m sure it is something the owner can brag about. “My G70 has Swarovski headlights!” “Oh, you have the new Hyundai G70?” “No, that’s a Genesis, and no, I have a BMW! I thought they said it wouldn’t be confusing!”
Human vanity dictates rules of normalcy for automotive fascia, and when we don’t see the “eyes” in their proper place, we start to sweat a bit and shift in our chair with discomfort. The upper row houses daytime running lights and turn signals. In most press photos, the actual functional headlights down at mid-kidney level are mercifully dark, as that odd location throws the balance off completely. Fresh but polarizing styling ideas like this often disappear during the mid-cycle refresh a couple years after launch, much to the chagrin of any designer trying to change the world. Depending on the response, it would not surprise me to see a more traditional singular headlight form replace the stacked units in the next iteration of the 7-Series. Make your Vegas bets now on it.
In defense of the concept though, we can take that sectioning job around to the front of the car and reduce the strip of body between the upper and lower light units. This deduces the vertical heft of the fascia and creates more visually “comfortable” appearance. In the front angle view sketch-over below, to complete the front lighting presentation, I felt a spot of color was needed, so an amber corner marker pennant shape added a spot of interest.
You Look Best When You’re Leaving
Around back, the 7-Series is surprisingly straightforward and attractive. Slightly compressed, but still conservative enough taillights, no odd angles or lines. What’s missing are some aggressive exhaust finishers. On the M-Sport Pro, the lower bumper gloss black swaths are similar in shape to those on the back of the Honda Civic, but here they only break up the color and don’t pretend to be inauthentic cooling vents. I’d leave it alone. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Post-Script: Configuration Madness
Really? Oh these are bad! It’s really fantastic that BMW’s online configurator allows the customer to make such poor decisions! It’s not cheap to manufacture cool paint options like this. I can’t find a two-toned paint job that I like, though the black and white one would be fun to make into an upside-down version of a Tokyo police car (I added the text, obviously). It will be interesting to see if these configurations will be available in the United States. In the introduction of this article I mentioned how the blackened lower section leans out the body, but a horizontal color separation near the beltline does not improve things as well.
As always, design is subjective, and improving a design that’s been worked over in a development studio over a long period of time isn’t going to happen in a day. What do you think? Where is BMW headed with this for the 3 and 5 series?
I think the headlights are OK, but the front bumper area is terrible, especially for a flagship.
I really don’t want to admit it, but I really like this… ok maybe just like it. Its different, its bold and it makes a statement. Unless you look at an S class or A8 from the back eg at its badge, you really struggle to tell the difference between it and its E-Class or A6 little brother. You will never mistake this for a 5 series. Are the lights a bit polarising? Sure, is the grill slightly obnoxious, yes, but thats ok, its a really really expensive car, that I will not be buying new, nor will most people. Unless your business card reads Prime Minister or Ambassador, you won’t be buying this. You’ll buy a Range Rover instead.
I’m all in with this kind of articles! Keep it up.
As for the 7, I find the sides good looking, imposing and monolithic. However, the front, I don’t necessarily find the main headlights bad, is the second upper pair that has nothing to do there, they are sharp and reminds us nothing about the brands identity. I would take those away, and the grill just cut it in the upper section to match a little bit above from the lower headlights and get an imposing blocky look, without doing anything else.
On the back I think there is just one line extra that isn’t cohesive, and gives a cheaper look, get rid of that and I like how it continues the blocky concept from the sides.
It looks like the E65 era had a one night stand with the original Optimus Prime and this is their love child. Some softening is needed and some chrome, after all it’s a 7 series. My biggest annoyance however is the name, ‘M-Sport Pro’? Pro? Really? Is everything below this trim level just amateur, junior league, cub scouts? Toyota and Milwaukee want their Pro back. 7 Series owners deserve Executive, Black, and Dictator trim levels.
While I think you redesign is a good improvement, I feel the front end design is still too busy and lacks a certain grace I feel a big luxury car should have. There’s a certain cheapness to it somehow?
The black and white two tone hides a lot
Great series, thanks! My disappointment with the front end is that for all its garishness, it’s a “follower” design, not a “leader” design. Split headlights have been around for years on Hyundais, Nissans, Chevys… even Mitsubishis! A ton of cars have them now, and not even “premium” brands. If you’re going to go out on an aesthetic limb, at least do something innovative. Dukec is no Bangle.
I also think the split headlight look is here to stay for a while. Just a few days before the G70 reveal, they showed a facelifted X7 with the same face. The XM concept also had split lights, and the production version is pretty much guaranteed to get them. With the rest of the lineup, most new BMW’s have these unnaturally high “cheekbones” that look like they could easily be modified to hold a set of lights.
This really just made me remember how much I miss my own 2003 Infiniti M45
While I like your version better I personally think it needs to lose the black piece that joins the grille to the lights and markers. Having a body-colored separation between those parts would make the design of all those parts all less muddled. But what do I know, I fix printing equipment, not car design.
It could be massive alchohol consumption but while I see a big grill I don’t see the kidney beans of yore.
Most of us thought the grilles were supposed to be “kidneys” not “lungs.”
Shouldn’t they raise the hood quite a bit more so the driver can’t see any pesky pedestrians?
Please. That cowcatcher locomotive front grille is plenty tall enough, thank you.
Looking at the front, it strikes you just how close they were to a good design and how badly they botched it when you realize that it’s basically just a 328 Hommage with another layer on top that it really didn’t ask for.
There seems to be a binary in auto design. Either plain and boring or aggressive and ugly. Nobody is trying to make pretty cars or cheerful looking cars. I don’t want a mean looking car. One of the things I like about my Jeep is that the round lights look cheerful. When I put on offroad lights, I got KC Daylighters because I like the smiley face covers.
Less ugly, but BMW won’t care. This thing was designed for the wealthy PRC buyers that are by far the largest market for flagship sedans.
FWIW, BMW sales in 2021, with percentage of total cars sold: China 33.6%; USA 14.6%; Germany 10.6%; UK 6.5%.
The only BMWs that are still designed specifically for the tastes of the US market are the larger X-types, the most important of which is the X5.
Your changes make it more visually palatable, yes. But it’s still a ‘Why do I want this again?’ situation. It’s too big, artistically too busy, and just leaves me with a barge load of ‘meh’.
Huell, you happy?
LOL! ‘Bout right! We need gifs in the replies, don’t we?
Absolutely. So much potential.
Seconded.
Did I hear GIFs in the replies?
I think that the hood line / pedestrian protection benefits of a turbo 4 might be overstated. Keep in mind that the length of a straight 4 is roughly the same as a V8 or twice the displacement, while they are typically taller due to vertical orientation compared to 45 degree from vertical slant of cylinders on most V8s
It still looks like shit.
…different smell though!
That’s one of the more diplomatic things one could say about this . . . design.
The Hoffmeister kink shouldn’t be changed in this, it’s one of the few areas of the design that drew my eye as being a really good interpretation of that design feature. Overall if you remove what is ahead of the front wheels and behind the rear wheels, it’s a good design. Even the rear has some potential with some surfacing detail cleanup.
The rear could be good with a slight resurfacing of the rear bumper. Right now there is a line that looks like someone kicked it, however.
The Hoffmeister kink is defining but the Hasselhoff front end needs work.
An artificial morning memo to the BMW design team from the top boss:
“Due to unforeseen blowback of the recently reveled 7 Series, we are (unfortunately) going to have to cut back on funding for late night “soirees” and 72 hour benders that were provided by our 3rd party partiers.” I know this will be difficult, but please, we caught Phil re-enacting a scene from Robocop with two escorts in the executive lounge. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us when reality finally sets in.” Thanks- Management
My hot take is that it doesn’t need fixing. The grille is too big, but aside from that I think it’s dope.
A BMW dealer has been alerted and will be calling you shortly!
In general, I agree with you. I will also add that this is one of the few examples in which a BMW looks better in standard guise than M Sport guise; the M Sport is just ghastly and unsalvageable, IMO.
I also find it strange that they’re offering two-tone paint, because that was always Rolls-Royce’s schtick. What’s more, this has the general upright, rectilinear profile of a Rolls-Royce, diluting the two even further.
I also noticed that BMW has not shown a short-wheelbase version of this car, not even for global markets. They stopped selling the SWB 7 Series in the US and probably China with the outgoing G11/G12 generation (2016-2022) 7 Series, but continued to sell the shorty style overseas, notably in Europe. I even rented a 750d a few years ago that was such an example. So our models after 2015 were badged -i, but corresponded to -Li models in other countries. My question is, did they develop a SWB version of the G70, or is it strictly LWB-only. If so, it’s a first.
**And before anyone asks, the Rolls-Royce Ghost no longer shares its platform with the 7 Series. The prior Ghost (and outgoing Wraith and Dawn) were on the same platform as the F01/F02 7 Series from two generations back (2009-2015), but the new Ghost, which debuted last year, uses the same Rolls-Royce-exclusive Architecture of Luxury platform as the Phantom and Cullinan. Presumably the Wraith and Dawn will join them upon their respective redesigns**
That’s because they started using the SWB chassis of the 7 series for the 5 series starting with the 2018 model.
There really is no salvaging the front end of that car. I mean, you tried.. but woof.
A complete rehaul is the only thing that could save it. However China is the main market for this car, and they’ll buy anything with a big grill because thats “opulent”
Did someone call my name?
RE: “What have you done to its eyes” picture
I love how such simple changes in the design take it from a slab of a car that isn’t much better than a Chrysler 300 back to what it should be, a BMW.
Always interesting seeing your work/commentary
Although these sketches are a vast improvement, I’d take the Chrysler 300 over either of these, any day of the week.
In fact, I’m their target market and I may just do that. I won’t lose much in reliability, and the last 300 I drove felt pretty good.
That the Chrysler still looks good this many years later says a lot about the care they put into creating it. The kind of care that was not included at BMW.
The front of the new 7 series is like BMW hired a bunch of recent design school graduates to make a Cadillac influenced, generic Asian design without telling anyone what company the work was for.
BMW needs to learn from Volvo, and keep body colored bumper covers under the grill.