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Home> Design Reviews> BMW i3 & i8

Design Review: BMW i3 & i8 concepts

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This then is the point that car design steps in to play its strategic role. It connects the new i brand to the BMW mother brand and it also signals how i-cars will be very different types of BMWs by emphasizing their unique technical attributes and thus focus on efficiency. The nostril-like grille aperture of the i3 and i8 is graphically much as other BMWs, except for its use of piped blue light to demark its twin kidney' apertures, which on these show cars are deep in section and push under the hood. The lights differ a little more from existing BMW designs: they extend the hooded-eye' of many BMW faces to form a U' shape instead of the O' shape of regular BMW designs. And the i3 has only a single light element at each side, the first BMW to do so since the E21 3 series of 1975. But beyond these core BMW brand design signifiers, the proportions, form language, graphics and details then connect to the technologies under the skin and tell us that these i-cars are different to normal BMWs. That message is that they're more efficient, yet still dynamic. Relative to the strong hood emphasis of all BMWs before, the distinctive short and low nose proportion of both the i3 and i8 is made possible because neither car has to package a combustion engine at the front - it fundamentally signifies the i brand's shift away from the internal combustion engine. Fluidic, layered surfaces successfully convey lightness and a sense of air-flow management - although interestingly BMW has made no mention of either cars' drag coefficient. This surface treatment also creates a new i-car signature of converging horizontal lines from the upper and lower body surfaces into the C-pillar to stand in place of the classic Hofmeister kink'.
2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept the thematic template for the i8; note the more extreme concept car detailing and relative lack of refinement

The i8 features laser lighting not LEDs which gives a remarkably crisp edge to the light beam, uses less energy than LEDs and BMW claim are a hundred times smaller than the already small LED. Click for larger images

The original BMW four seat coupe that the i8 can trace its lineage back to

The translucent side panels of the i3 and i8 run below the belt-line, reminiscent in some ways of the Bertone Marzel concept

The i8 is nearer in length to a 3 series than the 6 series at 4650mm, but much lower at 1280mm

Fluidic, layered surfaces successfully convey lightness

Distinctive graphical break-ups from all views of the car deconstruct the monolithic form of a conventional car 2011 BMW 6 series the current BMW that and underscore further the not-a-steelshows how different the approach of the i8 is to a high performance four seat BMW GT monocoque' message - witness the way outer body surface, translucent recessed surface and then CFRP structural element behind can be seen from so many angles. Both cars also extend their day-light-opening below the belt-line, a feature that in the i8 in particular is reminiscent of the 1967 Bertone Marzal concept. And then the minimalist detailing of lights, grille and blue slashes read as slender blades of light projecting out from the main car volume, as classic harbingers of the future borrowed from science fiction. So, the i3 and i8 designs convincingly establish a new design direction that is both part of BMW today and part of i-car tomorrow. The meaning of the ultimate driving

http://www.cardesignnews.com/site/home/design_reviews/display/store4/item242909/[18-07-2012 12:42:19]

BMW i-Series - Car Design News

machine is literally changing in front of our eyes. Related Articles: Design Review: BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept Design Review: BMW Vision ConnectedDrive Concept Design Review: BMW M1 Hommage
The i8 is a plug-in petrol-electric hybrid GT

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http://www.cardesignnews.com/site/home/design_reviews/display/store4/item242909/[18-07-2012 12:42:19]