Earlier than the Huge Grilles, BMW Had the “Bangle Butt” — And It Modified BMW Design

Each model has a design second that splits the fanbase, and for BMW it wasn’t a grille (at the least not 25 years in the past), a display, and even the authentic iDrive controller that set off the loudest arguments. It was a trunk. Extra particularly, it was the early-2000s BMW 7 Sequence—E65—whose raised, stepped decklid triggered a backlash so intense that the nickname nonetheless follows BMW round right this moment: the “Bangle Butt.”

20 years later, it stays one of many quickest methods to gentle up a remark part, partly as a result of it’s genuinely divisive and partly as a result of it grew to become a shorthand for an entire period of BMW design. However the half that will get misplaced within the meme is that the form wasn’t merely an act of provocation or a designer waking up and selecting violence. It was a deliberate thought with actual logic behind it, and it ended up influencing excess of folks prefer to admit.

What’s the “Bangle Butt”?

“Bangle Butt” is fanatic slang for a BMW rear-end theme that arrived within the early 2000s—most famously on the E65/E66 7 Sequence—the place the trunk lid sits unusually excessive and creates a visual “step” behind the automobile. As an alternative of flowing easily from the rear fenders into the decklid the best way older BMWs tended to, the E65’s tail appears to be like layered, virtually as if a second floor was stacked on high to type a shelf-like higher deck.

From sure angles, that raised deck makes the automobile look heavier and taller on the rear, which is precisely why the design drew a lot consideration within the first place. As soon as the E65 grew to become the poster baby, the nickname began getting utilized extra broadly to different BMWs from that period with equally pronounced high-deck proportions, as a result of folks started to see the identical theme repeating throughout the lineup.

Why the identify?

The “Bangle” half comes from Chris Banglethe design chief through the interval when BMW determined it was finished taking part in it secure. That period wasn’t about light evolution or sharpening the identical silhouette—BMW wished its automobiles to really feel new in a approach you possibly can spot immediately, even when that meant irritating loyalists who most well-liked the acquainted Nineties playbook.

The “butt” half is precisely what it seems like: a blunt fanatic nickname for a rear finish that seemed cumbersome, excessive, and (to many eyes on the time) awkwardly proportioned. It’s not refined, nevertheless it’s memorable—and as soon as a nickname like that sticks, it tends to develop into the whole story.

Fast actuality examine: Bangle didn’t “draw the butt”

That is the place the web model of the narrative will get a bit too neat. Bangle was the design chief and the general public face of BMW’s styling shift, which is why his identify grew to become hooked up to every thing folks cherished and hated about that interval. However the E65 7 Sequence design is intently related to Adrian van Hooydonk’s group working below Bangle’s management, which issues as a result of BMW design isn’t a one-person present.

Bangle set the route, pushed the philosophy, and created an surroundings the place a automobile just like the E65 may make it out of the studio. The execution, nevertheless, got here from the group, and that’s an essential distinction in case you’re making an attempt to inform the story as greater than an affordable punchline.

So what was BMW making an attempt to do with that trunk?

The high-deck rear wasn’t random, and it wasn’t solely about being controversial. One frequent rationalization is aerodynamic: the next rear deck can behave like an built-in spoiler and a cleaner airflow cutoff, which may also help stability at pace even when the impact isn’t one thing you’d discover in every day driving.

It was additionally about presence and proportion, as a result of changing the E38 7 Sequence—certainly one of BMW’s most universally revered designs—was all the time going to be dangerous. The E65 didn’t goal to be a delicate replace; it wished to look fashionable, substantial, and unmistakably new, and a taller, extra upright rear is likely one of the quickest methods to make a giant sedan really feel extra imposing.

And, lastly, it match the broader design language BMW was exploring on the time. The early 2000s had been when BMW leaned into extra complicated surfacing and stronger minimize strains, so the E65’s tail wasn’t an remoted choice a lot as a loud expression of a bigger shift.

Why did folks hate it a lot?

As a result of BMW consumers weren’t asking for a design revolution on the 7 Sequence. What they wished—whether or not they mentioned it out loud or not—was one of the best model of an E38, and the E65 wasn’t all for taking part in that sport. The rear seemed tall and heavy, the “step” felt abrupt, and the interplay between the trunk line and the taillamps made the entire thing really feel stacked relatively than sculpted.

As soon as the nickname took off, the design stopped being mentioned by itself phrases. The dialog grew to become much less about what BMW was trying and extra about whether or not the automobile was “ruined” by the trunk, which is precisely how the “Bangle Butt” become a cultural reference relatively than a design critique.

Then one thing humorous occurred: it aged into relevance

What’s fascinating is that the controversy didn’t merely vanish because the years handed; as a substitute, it step by step shifted opinions. Because the business moved towards sharper cutoffs, increased decklids, and extra aggressive surfacing, the E65 stopped trying like an alien object and began studying like an early, unfiltered model of concepts that might later develop into extra mainstream.

On the identical time, the E65 gained a real following—not simply contrarians trying to be completely different, however lovers who see it as a turning level when BMW selected impression over consensus and accepted that not everybody wanted to approve. The E65 didn’t magically develop into lovely to individuals who hated it, nevertheless it did develop into traditionally essential, and that’s why it nonetheless will get mentioned with a form of grudging respect.

Did BMW repair the “Bangle Butt”?

BMW did what BMW typically does when a design will get too loud: it refined the execution. The E65 facelift smoothed and resolved the rear with out abandoning the final high-deck thought, which is one other approach of claiming BMW didn’t utterly retreat—it merely dialed again the harshness so the general form felt extra cohesive.

The “Bangle Butt” isn’t only a nickname for a controversial trunk; it’s a typical trait of BMW design which goals to push the envelope as time passes. And we’ve seen that rather a lot within the latest years.