Another CSI on BaT. This time a ‘75.

I'm sure BMW could have created a much nicer successor to the coupe, given that they were still designing cars to be repaired by hands-on owners and the accountants had very little sway in their designs. Alas, the oil shock of the 1970s and the effect of government mandated changes to cars began a long, sad decline in automotive design, which begins to show up in the e24 and continues to this day.
 
Ohmess said:
I'm sure BMW could have created a much nicer successor to the coupe, given that they were still designing cars to be repaired by hands-on owners and the accountants had very little sway in their designs. Alas, the oil shock of the 1970s and the effect of government mandated changes to cars began a long, sad decline in automotive design, which begins to show up in the e24 and continues to this day.
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The jump from the e9 to the e24 is pretty staggering from a design standpoint. More
so than the sedan evolutions IMO. The e9 had many 60’s era design queues and bright work. You can see the NK and parts of the 3200CS in an e9, both inside and out.

There is pretty much zero carry over to the e24 on the inside (okay maybe the rear seats, door arm rests, and map pockets). On the outside you have the dual headlights, shark nose, coupe shape, but little else.
 
Markos said:
The jump from the e9 to the e24 is pretty staggering from a design standpoint.
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Coming from a design/manufacturing background I can say that designers can come up with all kinds of new shapes, sizes and ideas, then it goes to the Engineers that have to make it real. Automotive evolution is limited by the capabilities of manufacturing. Like back in the day with all vehicles on the road having one of about three headlight choices, which limited what the vehicles could look like. As soon as they developed the sealed bulb setup, light Engineers went crazy with new designs, which radically changed the shapes of the vehicles in front. Bean counters like to leverage existing parts and their supply channels and cost. Engineers like to push things forward, but it's a constant battle.
 
dang said:
Coming from a design/manufacturing background I can say that designers can come up with all kinds of new shapes, sizes and ideas, then it goes to the Engineers that have to make it real. Automotive evolution is limited by the capabilities of manufacturing. Like back in the day with all vehicles on the road having one of about three headlight choices, which limited what the vehicles could look like. As soon as they developed the sealed bulb setup, light Engineers went crazy with new designs, which radically changed the shapes of the vehicles in front. Bean counters like to leverage existing parts and their supply channels and cost. Engineers like to push things forward, but it's a constant battle.
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Good point. Another example is the high
waistline on cars. I think some designs took advantage of it, such as the Camaro. However, all cars need a high waistline now due to crash standards.
 
Markos said:
Good point. Another example is the high
waistline on cars. I think some designs took advantage of it, such as the Camaro. However, all cars need a high waistline now due to crash standards.
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Yeah, with the Camaro high waistline, if you have a large waistline you probably couldn't climb out the window if you needed to! ;)
 
Rex Kapriellian said:
You guys are rough on these cars :)
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If you compare the number of post fawning over every incorrect or poorly done feature on the car to the post actually pointing out issues or questions, I think we should be tougher.. Especially on cars over 100k....

I can't wait to critique yours when it gets up there! ;)
 
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