Before the Big Grilles, BMW Had the “Bangle Butt” — And It Changed 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 original iDrive controller that set off the loudest arguments. It was a trunk. Extra particularly, it was the early-2000s BMW 7 Collection—E65—whose raised, stepped decklid triggered a backlash so intense that the nickname nonetheless follows BMW round as we speak: the “Bangle Butt.”

Twenty years later, it stays one of many quickest methods to mild up a remark part, partly as a result of it’s genuinely divisive and partly as a result of it turned 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 way over folks wish 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 Series—the place the trunk lid sits unusually excessive and creates a visual “step” in the back of 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 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 strictly why the design drew a lot consideration within the first place. As soon as the E65 turned 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 title?

The “Bangle” half comes from Chris Bangle, the design chief throughout the interval when BMW determined it was finished taking part in it protected. That period wasn’t about mild evolution or sharpening the identical silhouette—BMW needed its vehicles to really feel new in a manner you may spot immediately, even when that meant irritating loyalists who most popular the acquainted Nineteen Nineties playbook.

The “butt” half is strictly what it feels like: a blunt fanatic nickname for a rear finish that regarded cumbersome, excessive, and (to many eyes on the time) awkwardly proportioned. It’s not refined, however it’s memorable—and as soon as a nickname like that sticks, it tends to turn out to be your entire story.

Fast actuality test: 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 title turned connected to every little thing folks liked and hated about that interval. However the E65 7 Collection design is intently related to Adrian van Hooydonk’s staff working beneath 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 setting the place a automobile just like the E65 might make it out of the studio. The execution, nevertheless, got here from the staff, and that’s an essential distinction in the event you’re making an attempt to inform the story as greater than an inexpensive 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 clarification is aerodynamic: a better rear deck can behave like an built-in spoiler and a cleaner airflow cutoff, which might help stability at velocity even when the impact isn’t one thing you’d discover in day by day driving.

It was additionally about presence and proportion, as a result of changing the E38 7 Collection—considered one of BMW’s most universally revered designs—was at all times going to be dangerous. The E65 didn’t goal to be a delicate replace; it needed to look trendy, substantial, and unmistakably new, and a taller, extra upright rear is among the quickest methods to make an enormous sedan really feel extra imposing.

And, lastly, it match the broader design language BMW was exploring on the time. The early 2000s have been when BMW leaned into extra advanced surfacing and stronger minimize strains, so the E65’s tail wasn’t an remoted resolution 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 Collection. What they needed—whether or not they stated it out loud or not—was the most effective model of an E38, and the E65 wasn’t curious about taking part in that sport. The rear regarded 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 turned much less about what BMW was making an attempt and extra about whether or not the automobile was “ruined” by the trunk, which is strictly how the “Bangle Butt” was 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 regularly shifted opinions. Because the trade 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 turn out to be extra mainstream.

On the similar time, the E65 gained a real following—not simply contrarians seeking to be totally different, however lovers who see it as a turning level when BMW selected affect over consensus and accepted that not everybody wanted to approve. The E65 didn’t magically turn out to be stunning to individuals who hated it, however it did turn out to be traditionally essential, and that’s why it nonetheless will get mentioned with a type of grudging respect.

Did BMW repair the “Bangle Butt”?

BMW did what BMW usually does when a design will get too loud: it refined the execution. The E65 facelift smoothed and resolved the rear with out abandoning the overall high-deck thought, which is one other manner 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 standard trait of BMW design which goals to push the envelope as time passes. And we’ve seen that quite a lot in the recent years.