- Car design is always subjective.
What one person thinks is a good looking car
might be an eyesore to the next.
And usually when a new car comes out,
the looks are big topic of debate.
We are in a time of some polarizing designs right now,
sports cars like the Toyota Supra and Nissan Z
launched with some, let's say, mixed reception.
But no car has caused more confusion,
more outrage and more retching than the new BMW M3,
that is unless you count the M4.
The M-badged twins were met with vitriol and hate
when they were revealed in 2020,
with a pair of big hood to lip grilles, big old pig nose.
Piggy McPiggersons, I call them.
I've tried to wait as long as possible
to talk about these two cars,
to see if they would grow on me.
But I gotta say,
they still look like the evil pigs from "Angry Birds",
and I'm not the only one who thinks so.
So, why is it that the new M3 and M4 grille design
doesn't work for so many people?
What is it about the simple change of a grille
that causes such a visceral reaction?
Did BMW do this for a legitimate performance reasons,
or is it just style?
Are BMW grilles just going to get bigger and bigger
until the whole front of the car looks like a train?
Well, today we're going to break down the new look
and find out what's cooking on these grilles.
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(Instrumental music)
The first question we've got to ask is,
why did BMW make this new grille in the first place?
The MP3 and M3 are some of the only vehicles
in BMW's new lineup that have this extra long grille.
If they all had the same grille
I'd say the reasoning would be one of style.
BMW wanting to differentiate its current lineup
from previous generations.
But since this grille, in particular,
is only on the performance models,
my guess is that it's got something to do with performance.
And if you look behind the front bumper of the M3 and M4,
that's exactly the case.
In the 8-speed automatic version of these cars,
there are seven radiators upfront.
One for the AC, one for the engine oil,
one for the transmission, and four for the cooling.
That is a lot of cooling.
All that cooling means that you need big wide openings
for the air to flow into,
and the cooling doesn't stop there.
The M3 and M4 also have brake ducts
to cool the front brakes.
These are a way to cool the front brakes using air flow,
but it means you need even more holes in your bumper
for air to come through.
All of this is designed
so the car has all the comforts needed in a luxury road car
while still being able to abuse tires at the track.
And that explains why the car needs
lots events and grilles upfront.
What it doesn't explain
is why they had to shape them so weirdly
and put so much of that grille
in the center of the car.
For that we have to look at aerodynamics.
You wouldn't think it just by looking at them,
but BMWs actually have a decent amount
of aerodynamic forethought in their design.
BMW's often utilize an air curtain
along the edge of the bodywork.
In simple terms,
this is a way to motivate air to stay smooth
as it goes around the body.
One of the least aerodynamic elements on a car (indistinct)
is a radiator.
Radiators are designed to have air pass through them,
but if the air is doing that
it can't pass around the car smoothly.
So, if all the air hitting the edges of your bumper
needs to be directed around the car,
the only logical place to put all your radiators
is right in the center.
This way you can have aerodynamic elements on the edges
and cooling in the center,
that doesn't interfere with each other's airflow needs.
BMW also moved the main radiator core
closer to the front of the car and further from the engine.
This means that there's more space
for the air to evacuate the radiator,
and it can move faster because of that.
But that also means that there's less space
between the grille and the radiator,
so there's less room for the air to change direction
once it gets through the grille.
With the old grille,
the air would have to travel through a small opening
and then fan out to get to the edges of the radiator
for it to perform optimally.
Now, with the grille and the radiator closer together,
the grille needs to be pretty much edge to edge.
So, despite how any of us may feel
about the actual look of this new grille,
it does seem to really be doing its job.
The new M4 competition has 60 more horsepower
and 70 pounds more torque than the outgoing model,
and even though it's heavier
it's still has a faster zero to 60.
So, now we know that the new grille works,
but that somehow doesn't make me feel any better
looking at it.
BMW changed more than just the aerodynamic
and cooling specs of the car,
they changed the look and feel of it.
It doesn't quite feel like a BMW.
And to explain how deeply rooted my feelings
about the BMW looks are,
we need to talk about design language.
Design language is a set of rules and principles
that guide an organization's visual identity.
It ensures that their designs have a sense of continuity.
Every automaker uses some form of design language
in their car,
it's how you can recognize a car
without even having seen it before.
It's a great marketing tool
and different OEMs use it in different ways.
Lexus, for example, for the last decade
has used the same hourglass style grille
on almost their entire lineup from Coupes to SUVs.
Mustangs have had the three bar tail lights
on almost every model for the last 60 years,
and we recently did a whole video
talking about the design language of Aston Martin.
So, if you're looking at a car that didn't have any badges,
a successful design language
would help tell you what kind of car it was,
or at least who made it.
And for BMW, there's one part of their design language
that has always stood out,
and that's the kidney grille.
The kidney grille is a staple of the BMW design language.
It's got its name from looking like kidney beans.
Speaking of beans, we got some new merch coming soon,
give her the beans.
In 1933, the BMW 303 had a grille
made of two long vertical ovals,
designed to optimize cooling and aerodynamics.
Sound familiar?
It's almost exactly what the new grille is doing,
and for the same reasons.
But while we may be able to draw parallels
to these two designs nearly a century apart,
the kidney grille look that we all know today
is very different.
But throughout each era,
even though the kidney grille has changed in size and shape,
the BMW essence has always been there.
Even with the swoopy coup lines of the 1950s,
a car like the BMW 507 still feels like a BMW.
The split kidney grille is not the same as you'd expect,
but it still tells you where the car came from
and what it's all about.
In fact, while we're talking about design language,
if you look at the fender vents of the 507,
you can see how BMW kept them
as a part of their design language decades later
in the BMW Z3.
But apart from a small things like grilles
and fender garnish,
BMW doesn't have many tools in its design language toolbox.
For more boutique manufacturers,
design language can be a broader thing
that encompasses the whole shape of the car itself.
Think about how all Lamborghini's
have really similar proportion in the front
and nearly identical silhouettes.
Think about Porsche
and the fact that so many of their cars
have the same headlights, and same rear end,
and same vendors, and same--
(beep)
But for BMW, they make a little bit of everything.
SUVs, sedans, coupes, roadsters, even EVs.
So, their design language
can't be something as broad as a roofline or proportions.
Sure, they have those things
that are occasionally consistent,
but one thing that ties the whole line together
across multiple decades is the kidney grille.
BMWs like the 2002 and E30 M3 had similar taler kidneys,
while their super car, the M1, had a really tiny version
of what became the BMW standard for the next 20 years.
It seems like there's almost no wrong way
to design the kidney grille,
as long as you got two holes and a BMW badge.
The grilles can be big, small, wide, narrow,
anything you want.
So, why does a new M3 and M4 grille not feel the same?
I've been staring at this grille for a while now,
and I think there's one thing
that really makes me feel weird.
One Cardinal rule about the kidney grille
that BMW forgot about,
one line they never should have crossed,
and I mean that literally.
If you look at BMWs from the '90s, '80s and '70s,
even back to the '30s,
there've been many different versions of the kidney grille.
But they all have one thing in common,
they never cross below the crash structure.
The kidney grille always ends above the point
where the bumper actually sits.
Even with the classics that it's super long
and skinny grilles, the bumper was always lower.
In regards to design,
this is a line that divides two planes of the car shape.
The top half that curves or rakes back towards the hood,
and the bottom, that either rakes back towards the ground,
or in the case of some of the older cars,
doesn't exist at all.
Regardless of how high or low this line is,
it's the part of the car that is the furthest forward.
That is by design.
The crash structure is there to catch any collision first
and help protect the important parts of your engine bay.
So no matter what the front of the car looks like,
that bumper line is often the furthest thing forward.
Now, with that in mind, take a look at the M3 and M4, again.
(ticking sound)
The grille extends past this line
and continues onto the bottom half the bumper cover.
Now, kidney exists on two planes of the car instead of one,
and I think it's this one detail
that throws everyone for a loop with these grilles.
As far as I can tell,
no other BMW that supports the kidney grille
has ever had the kidney on two planes like this,
and it definitely hasn't happened on the car
as high profile as the M3.
BMW broke a rule of their own design language
that they didn't even know existed.
There've been plenty of people
with much, much more design experience than me,
that have tried to fix the design of this grille
and I really recommend that you go check them out.
But I don't think that anyone has been able
to put into words what is actually incorrect
about the new grille design.
So, with any luck,
I'll be teaching automotive design
at my local community college coming this winter semester,
you can call him Mr. Sykes.
Actually, just call me Nolan, we're all adults
and can dispense with the formalities.
At the end of the day, it's just styling.
And what really matters about a car
is how it feels to drive,
and BMW's feel pretty damn good.
I thought the M235i Gran Coupé was kind of ugly,
kind of fat and funky, but then I drove one
and it was awesome.
I drove a 428i the other day and it was also awesome.
I think BMW is probably going to refresh
the three and four series face, hopefully quickly.
And the pig nose will soon be a distant memory
or it'll take over the entire line,
there's really only two routes they can go with this.
But that's just my theory, what do you think?
Is my hypothesis on the new grille correct
or do you think there's something else wrong with it?
Does the car need to look better
or as a fast car enough for you?
Let me know down in the comments.
I am actually really curious to know
what your thoughts on this is.
I thought seeing it in person would make me like it more,
but that was not the case.
I want to know what you think.
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Follow "Donut Media" on all social media @donutmedia
and follow me @nolanjsykes, if you'd like.
Be kind, have fun with your car, I'll see you next time.