The all-new BMW i3 electric sedan is arguably the most important car launch of the year so far. Whether you like the design or not, the fact that BMW will now sell you an all-electric sports sedan that it deems worthy of the 3 Series nameplate is a pivotal moment for the automaker in particular and for luxury car brands in general.
The 3 Series is BMW’s core model that best embodies the brand’s ‘Joy of Driving’ philosophy, and if the new i3 manages to convince die-hard fans that it’s a true 3 Series, BMW will have a big winner on its hands.
We’ll just have to wait for the first reviews to come out to see if that’s the case, but until then, here’s an interesting tidbit of information regarding the i3’s design, which could have ended up quite different up front and arguably more controversial.
BMW i3 “Looked Too Retro” with Vertical Kidneys
BMW
Motor1 has learned that the BMW design team explored the possibility of giving the i3 vertical kidney grilles similar to the iX3 electric SUV, the other member of BMW’s Neue Klasse (New Class) of all-electric vehicles. During a recent roundtable interview, BMW Group’s design director, Adrian van Hooydonk, said the experiment did not have the desired result.
“We tried [the iX3’s grille] on the 3 Series as well. But we felt that for the 3 Series… if we had put the vertical grille on there, it would have maybe looked too retro, and it wouldn’t have been as sporty as it looks today. So we felt that for a sporty [sedan], the horizontal grill fit the character of a 3 Series better,” van Hooydonk said.
BMW
This will probably come as a relief for many BMW fans, as the Bavarian brand has made some controversial moves in recent years as far as the design of its cars is concerned, particularly when it comes to the shape and size of its kidney grilles.
BMW enthusiasts can’t possibly forget the “beaver tooth” kidney grilles fitted to the G80 M3, G82 M4 and the 4 Series, as they were polarizing when they debuted, to put it mildly. Still, while BMW’s design department caught a lot of flak because of that decision, the automaker said the controversy actually was part of the plan and sales remained strong.
The BMW iX3 Has Been Criticized Far More Than the i3 for Its Looks
BMW
Now, when it comes to the BMW iX3 SUV, the vertical kidney grilles are far smaller than on the M3/M4 and 4 Series, so they’re easier to “digest,” although the iX3 has generated its fair share of criticism.
Former BMW designer Frank Stephenson, for example, described the grille as “too pinched” and “almost puckered up,” according to BMW Blog. The skinny kidney grilles were also criticized by Car Magazine, which likened them to “Bugs Bunny teeth.” Finally, the rear end of the new BMW iX3 is considered by many as too generic and lacking in BMW character.
BMW
Of course, all of these comments are subjective, and what matters more is how the market will receive the iX3; so far, things are looking great as BMW recently announced receiving over 50,000 orders in the first 6 months, which is why the Debrecen plant in Hungary is adding a second shift to ramp up production.
As for the new BMW i3, it has received far less criticism than the iX3 for its looks, and no one seems to have a problem with the horizontal kidney grilles. The general consensus seems to be that it looks like a BMW should and it’s an attractive-looking sedan. Whether that will be enough to convince traditional 3 Series buyers to go all-electric is a discussion for another time.
BMW
