Concept Official: BMW Vision ConnectedDrive Concept for Geneva

SKY · Feb 11, 2011

Maybe Just_Me, you need to forget about the design and focus on the tech, which of course is amazing.

The design cues is what worries me. I suppose we will end up seeing those huge L rear lights on the new 7er, or something big. The curvy side crease seem to be for small models, as the X1, X3, 1er and 3er. But the front end, which look terrible in my opinion, is what I don´t want in ANY future BMW.

Who on earth thought it would be nice to have bigger kidneys than frontlights? Who designed that cut for the headlights?.

Beemer B773ER · Feb 11, 2011

Who on earth thought it would be nice to have bigger kidneys than frontlights? Who designed that cut for the headlights?.

Strange that you're finding this such a problem SkySony.. it's nothing new in the world of BMW Concepts.

SKY · Feb 11, 2011

Dammm, I just see the Corvette
I´ll try to fin pics of old concepts to see your point.

Beemer B773ER · Feb 11, 2011

Oh crap... that BS again.. let me find different links and I'll edit my post.

EDIT: Alternate links found.

klier · Feb 11, 2011

Yeah, still that BS I'm afraid

I only see the Corvette too. Better not post pics from that site again...

HighestOfHigh · Feb 11, 2011

^I can actually see them and I see exactly what he is talking about.

klier · Feb 11, 2011

^ I don't have to see them to know what he's talking about

SKY · Feb 11, 2011

Ooook, thanks a lot matte, just what I expected. Well, let´s say I hate the Z9 front end (while love the stance and rear end), but that is because of the entire front. The CS was magnificent, even having the kidneys bigger than the lights, because the difference wasn´t THAT notorious. But this bimmer has so damm huge kidneys and too small headlights. The result is just dissaster IMO.

On the contrary, I really like the VED front end.

klier · Feb 11, 2011

It's time for the CS to get a facelift, LOL

So what is the car with the biggest grille now, the VED, the CS or the Connected Drive?
VED grille still is the prettiest btw, but Connected Drive grille is great too, I like the little cut out on the inside of the grille. Don't think I've ever seen that before on a BMW kidney!

Also, I have to say I am liking this concept more and more. Some fantastic design details on this car!

Osnabrueck · Feb 11, 2011

I think the public at-large has grown completely numb to concepts that present techno doo-dads.

When we - and by we I mean 90% of the enthusiast audience that actually cares about this stuff - are presented with a concept car, our attention focuses on just a few things:

- Is it cool?
- Does the styling point the way to a future styling direction?
1 If so, is the manufacturer tipping its hat to a real production car or cars?
2 Is this the precursor to a prototype, or...
3 Is this a thinly veiled prototype?

If the answer to #1 is "no" then the concept is a 'throw away' and is disregarded by car fans at large as a waste of effort and headlines.

If the answer to 2 or 3 is "yes" then we want to know about specifics... trim levels, powertrains, transmissions, production variants, possible launch dates...

The last thing we care about, is "tech," unless you're going to come out with specific demos that show us a real product that's going to see the light of day. Otherwise, the vaporware dreaming portion of our attention span is largely dominated by Apple and the bulk of the CES world. We're not looking to car OEMs to lead the way in non-automotive-specific technologies although the thinking internally is otherwise.

So... This seems like a partial number one, far as general styling direction goes. But this is mostly a throw-away since the styling here is a direct cousin to the Efficient Dynamics concept, but with a more fantastical execution.

A few things to take home here - BMW has some new ideas about shaping the headlights, kidneys and rocker panels of their upcoming cars, and it looks like an exciting departure from the norm, which is starting to grow a bit stale. I'm looking forward to these more 'sharky' looking models and hope they follow-through on this direction and bring it to market without losing the drama.