The new BMW 4-series knows how to keep things busy because of its striking grille. Chief designer Domagoj Dukec explains the choice for the striking design.
With the unveiling of the BMW Concept 4 in September last year, it started to mess with our readers: ‘does the new 4-series really come up with such a thing?’. The final answer came this week, when BMW pulled the curtain on the 4 Series. It is certainly striking, although not everyone will necessarily get excited about it. “You can not listen to comments on social media in the design world, that will not help you,” said Dukec in conversation with the British Autocar. “Tastes differ. 50 percent love it, 50 percent hate it.”
Dukec does not seem to be really concerned about the ‘polarizing’ effect of the design and indicates that for the same reason, a different grille than the 3-series was consciously chosen. “The 3-series has a fairly horizontal grille, because that is a more rational car. The 4-series should radiate more the exotic side of BMW. We want to make a statement.” In doing so, he emphasizes that, as some have already pointed out, it also fits in well with BMW’s heritage. After all, the 328 from the 1930s (photo 2) already had very long ‘kidneys’ as a grille.
In fact, Dukec sees the striking series 4 grille as a ‘brand shaper’ for BMW. According to him, we are going to see such design splurges more often, although according to him it is not the intention that every BMW divides people as much as is currently possible with the 4-series. He points out that future BMWs, which should emphasize a more special side of the brand, will be given priority in such striking cases. The chance therefore seems small that, for example, the next 3-series will get a similar grille.