What the heck is going on over at BMW? It looks like each successive new reveal looks worse than the previous one. This spy shot from Autobild of an i7 M60 sedan looks flabby and awkward. Like a modern version of a Checker cab. The front end especially looks busy, cut up, and those oversized BMW grille openings sure don’t help.

Even Volvo has a better handle on design than BMW right now

There are numerous manufacturers doing far more compelling designs than what we’re seeing out of BMW. Hyundai is one of them. Even Volvo has a better handle on design than BMW right now. And this isn’t just about the obnoxious grilles the BMW brain trust has decided is better than anything else they can come up with. 

Even the infamous Hoffmeister kink in the rear windows has lost its mojo. Now it is just a hard break without any soul to it. Clunky is one word that comes to mind. And this flab sedan is coming on the heels of the recently revealed iX all-electric SUV. It is another flabby, flat-sided design with a blunt front end featuring the oversized grilles BMW is so proud of. Hideous comes to mind. 

What are we to make about BMW’s new design direction?

So what are we to make about BMW’s new design direction when even lowly Hyundai is knocking designs out of the park? Without sexy design, it is going to be hard for BMW to charge its high prices for ugly. Ugly doesn’t sell, especially expensive ugly. 

Maybe we should reserve comments until we see this on the highway. That is always the best way to take in a new design. We can’t help but think that the words BMW design head Adrian van Hooydonk use to describe the design don’t translate into something we want to own.

Hooydonk said of the iX that the design is meant to look “clean and robust, monolithic almost, like a well-rounded stone with some facets sheared off.”  Enthusiasts would rather it look compelling and irresistible. Something that stops you in your tracks so you have a better position to take it all in. As it is now we’re underwhelmed at how uninspired it looks. It’s lifeless to our eyes. 

Nothing sticks to our brain cells after taking in the clunky new i7 design

The BMW design aesthetic has been ingrained within the enthusiast world. It is almost begging to be better than the previous design. And we as enthusiasts follow that direction as we have for 40 or more years. Even in the days of the infamous BMW “Banglebutt” 7-series, there were outstanding features about the sedan we loved. We don’t see anything that sticks to our brain cells after taking in the clunky new i7 design. 

We hope that BMW can somehow get its design mojo back before it’s too late. Plastering two dumb grilles on the front of an otherwise handsome design is one thing. But creating an entirely blandtastic design and expecting to sell it for big money is a stretch BMW can’t afford to make.