宝马资料整理(有分加的话,还有翻译版)

宝马资料整理（有分加的话，还有翻译版）

The Potential of the New “Business Class” Model

A design with impact With the new 5 Series the emerging BMW design strategy moves ahead and comes of age. So far the new “expressionist design” has been accepted with some understandable –but not justified –resistance for the design of the 7 Series flagship. The design of the Z4 Series displayed a new and pleasant design language and was instantly accepted. Now, with the 5 Series, discussions on BMW design will not stop, but the vast majority of people will be in favor of it once a significant numble of cars is no the road. This “business--class” saloon will soon be regarded as a must for all those who make their own decision about the car they own or drive, both on business or for leisure.

The car’s architecture reflects the DNA of its makeer in its overall proportions and for its desire to look dynamic and sporty. The design is clear cut, crystal clear to read, with crest and tension lines drawn by alternating surfaces, now concave, now convex, creating and playing with new highlighys. The belt line is high and bold but the concave strip marking the side lengthwise brings the eyes’ attention to the lower crest, thus making the side look less tall than it actually is. And lighter too.

There is a lot of design and graphic work front and rear, with some concessions oto decoration, but these are concessions that modern acr design provides for. A lot of design and detailing has gone into it. No matter how different its design and style, this is without a doubt a 5 Series by BMW.

Chris Bangle Talks of the Design of the BMW 5

Are rendering now irrelevant? We first asked BMW design head Chris Bangle if he was propared to tell us (and show us ) the whole story or just that paort of the story that was actually relevant to the project. Very candidly Bangle said he would tell us only what really mattered and said he would not show us more of the renderings and models actually made throuth the design development.

“For different reasons”, explained Bangle. “First because most designers no longer spend much time with renderings, they do just a few early in the process and usually we do not kepp track of them. Only some renderings succeed in [expressing] the idea the designer has in his mind and only a few designers (such as Georgy ?) spend enough time to paint a few renderings that are so accurate that everybody understands his vision. Renderings these days are irrelevant. The real work, and most of the creative work, is actually done in 3D, be it virtual or real. Renderings and sketches represent the media for us within the dedign center to communicate as we seek directions and sort out ideas ofr the project. They are just visual guidelines for the actula design work that takes place in 3D forms. In most cases we must recreat them for the public, but I think this is not fair and would be a waste of time.”

The other main reason for which Chris does not deliver more renderings or pictures of the many scale and full-scale models created in the process is that he does not want to show the alternative proposals to BMW competitiors. One can’t really help but understand his point of view. Bangle prefers to show design enthusiasts the working environment and atmosphere that existed where the job took place.

The “library” As for the new 5 Series, when and within which frame was the new design developed? Which of the new BMWs developed according to the new strategy has already been approved or frozen? How does the new 5 fit in the new range

design-wise? Just a few questions are enough to engage Bangle in a passionate conversation.

“Let me first answer this last question. The new 5 Series fits precisely within our ‘bookends’ philosophy. We see our (expanding) range as a sort of library with different writers working on a common theme with their own style. On one end you have one book with its own style and on the other end you have another, different book, with its own style. In between you have more and different books, for different readers all sharing the same ‘BMW’ theme.

“Now, to answer your question about where we stand with our design strategy, I think that the time to commit to the design of the new 5 came in winter 2001, just after the launch of the new 7 series. The controversy over the design of the 7 was at its peak and the board had to choose between two very different design approaches that had made it to the final stage. It was like deciding in favor of the new strategy or against it, even though nobody mentioned the issue. On one side we had the innovative design concept developed according to the new strategy. On the other side, as a safety valve, we had a car designed according to the company tradition: a shorter 7 series concept, with its own character and style but in essence a small 7.”

“Because of the very efficient decision process in place at BMW, the board was fully informed, perfectly aware of what was going on in the market and in our product planning. Being prepared for its critical job, it decided uncompromisingly to stick to the innovative design strategy and approved the car being launched this July. Indeed the alternative was also a very attractive car that we had kept developing and refining through the entire development so far.”

The design decision process The development of the new 5 Series started early in year 2000 and went along the typical path. At BMW the design process for a new product normally starts 36 to 30 months before its launch. Through the first year the designers work with the engineers to check out the package, its pros and cons, looking at potential design ideas and how they would fit with the package. Everntually this phase any end up—and it did with the 7 series—with key changes to the package if that is justified by the benefits.

“The new 5 series was no wxception at all, and we spent a lot of time investigating the design themes as well as the proportions, considering the original package and some of its variants,” recalls Bangle. It is throughthe second year of development that the new design actually takes its final shape through a series of meetings, discussions and selection within the design center itself and with a presentation to the entire board every three months or so. This is just the time allowed to complete a see—through, full—scale model.

In the case of the new 5 series, six different designs, all from in—house designers, were considered. According to Bangle’s policy to ask the board to make a decision on half of the proposals presented rather than just select one design among many, the board comes to a final choice through the typical four—round itinerary. The first meeting covers the design concepts and sets the orientation focus for the designers. The second meeting reviews six to eight full scale models developed by individual designers and selects three ofr four of them for further development. The next round puts the attention on two proposales and, usually, at the fourth board review the actual design is selected. This gives the board (and the designers) the chance to repeatedly see and compare the designs being proposed over a full year. That is not the end of the process though, just the time when the design is selected for final development and refinement.

The revised Arcangeli proposal At BMW’s design center, the new 5 series developed from the vision of the late Dvide Arcangeli was known as “The Zeppelin” for its original sketch inspired by the famous airship. The young Italian designer prematurely passed away shortly after his work had been approved by the board. However, the project has both a father and a savior: Peter Gabath, who Chris Bangle and Boyke Boyer (head of exterior design) had sent to the model shop to dispose of Arcangeli’s

project. Two days earlir Chris had looked at the model and felt that “davide had sort of created a cage around his idea, taming it long before it could come to life and run free in the wild as an animal. The original has beem tamed too soon and it was going nowhere.” Together with Boyke Boyer, Bangle had decided to stop work on that model. Instead Peter came back to his directors and said “you cannot kill that model, it is just too good”. They all decided to remove “the cage”, and soon the model was enhanced and refined.

Detailing and refinement is all what the third year (or, more broadly, phase) of the design development is about. And a lot of that work has gone into the new 5 series, which achieves a Cx under the 0.27 barrier. “This is probaly the best aerodynamic production car we have ever done.,” stressed Bangle.