BMW 5 Series E60: Ahead of Its Time?

A few years ago, Guilherme Costa wrote a column with an identical title about the Citroën C6. As that title suggested, it examined the C6’s unconventional, divisive styling and how his initial sense of strangeness gradually developed into a far more favourable view. I am returning to that theme to discuss the BMW 5 Series E60 (2003–2010), though not exclusively.

Above all, I want to consider the possible parallels between BMW’s turbulent design period, which attracted fierce criticism at the time - and, to some extent, still does - and today’s equally controversial era, even among the most devoted admirers of the brand with the ever-larger kidney grille.

BMW 5 Series E60 and the Bangle design revolution

When the BMW 5 Series E60 was unveiled in 2003, the Bavarian brand’s styling was already a major talking point, and not always for favourable reasons.

Chris Bangle, then Design Director of the BMW Group, had begun a sweeping transformation of the marque’s models several years earlier. Ironically, it was partly prompted by criticism that every BMW looked alike and was dull to look at, with size being the only real difference between them - apparently, we are never happy with anything…

The real shock came in 2001 with the launch of the E65 7 Series and its infamous Bangle butt. In reality, the E65’s rear end was designed by Adrian van Hooydonk, now Design Director of the BMW Group. It represented a radical break from the past, replacing its predecessor’s blend of elegance, dynamism and a degree of formal classicism - the E38 - with a more expressive design language that nevertheless lacked grace.

The media soon labelled this highly expressive approach flame surfacing, or fiery surfaces. Its purest interpretation would arrive in the first Z4, launched a year later; these two cars marked the visual extremes of Bangle’s new language.

The automotive world and BMW fans were in uproar… surely this “madness” could not continue, and many voices called for Chris Bangle to resign. The third act, the 5 Series E60, did little to quell the outcry.

The BMW 5 Series E60, fortunately, did without the Bangle butt. It was better proportioned, with tauter surfaces and lines that appeared more dynamic and even more elegant than those of the E65 7 Series. Yet the contrast with the E39 it replaced could scarcely have been greater. It is worth remembering that, when the E39 arrived in 1995, many considered it one of BMW’s most bland designs; today, however, it is widely admired for its restraint and elegance.

Unlike Guilherme’s opinion of the Citroën C6, which changed over time, my view of the 5 Series E60 has never shifted… I still regard it as one of the finest examples of the Bangle era, alongside the Z4. In fact, I believe BMW should have persisted with this design language for a second generation of models, refining it - above all by adding the elegance it so badly lacked - rather than abandoning it. One need only look at the E60 5 Series’ restrained and “harmless” successor, the F10.

The 5 Series E60 has aged well, like a fine wine. Like the C6, a contemporary of the E60, it feels as if it was launched ahead of its time, with much of the world needing almost 15 years of exposure to the model before it could be properly appreciated. These days, favourable and appreciative opinions of the E60 seem to outnumber the opposing ones.

BMW design remains a contentious subject today

From the F40 1 Series and the facelifted G11/G12 7 Series, through the X7 (G05), to the more recent new 4 Series models (G22, G23, G26) and the iX (I20), reactions have tended to be more heated than not. The main culprit behind this “popular uproar”? The kidney grille, BMW’s defining identity feature, seemingly grows with every new model and dominates their front ends with increasing force.

Moreover, certain visual details traditionally associated with the brand’s identity have become diluted. The most notable is the Hoffmeister kink - using its original German name - the cut-off or truncated corner of the glazed area at the C- or D-pillar, of which only traces appear to remain on the latest models.

As was the case two decades ago, BMW’s design department, now headed by Adrian van Hooydonk for the BMW Group and Domagoj Dukec for the BMW brand, is seeking to propel the marque’s styling towards the future. And, just as it did two decades ago, that change has met huge resistance and controversy, with negative views outweighing positive ones by a considerable margin.

Will today’s BMW styling be reassessed?

In another two decades, will we be able to look back and view the design of a 4 Series Coupé or an iX as positively as the 5 Series E60? Or are there fundamental conceptual differences between what Chris Bangle did two decades ago and what Adrian van Hooydonk is doing now?