So what’s up with the new BMW 7 Series grill? Why is it so huge?
The G11 (short wheelbase) and G12 (long wheelbase) 7 Series has a simply massive grill, and BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk explained why.
He received a lot of criticism for the grill when the car was launched.
Hooydonk claims that the new grill fixes a major customer complaint from the pre-facelift 7, that the grill looked too similar to the F01-F04. He also explains that it's hard to please multiple markets like the ones the 7 is sold in, China, North America, and Europe. The former two markets are the most important to BMW and both enjoy larger grills than the Europeans.
The customers are very different depending on the region. Europeans don’t like to be noticed, they prefer a more subtle and blacked out look, while other markets like China, the US, and the Middle East love the large, noticeable 7 Series pop of the large grill. So don’t hate on Beemer for their styling, just remember it's hard to please everyone.
I have to agree, the thing is enormous, it reminds me of a Ford SuperDuty (I still hate the grills, and I like Fords). While I typically detest new designs and almost every prototype, the actual release of the car eventually grows on me. I'm not sure this will (see SuperDuty). It reminds me of the giant Audi trapezoid grill too, although I've grown used to that. BMW has far too many models, and most are ugly or uninspired. I'm sure they still drive great, which is important, but yikes, other companies are doing better. I just read that BMW is scaling back on the number of models...music to my ears!