7-series early refresh re-confirmed - BMW Forum

AZ325Ci · 10-20-2003, 10:30 PM

Ugly duckling to be nipped and tucked? Is the refresh back on?

Last fall the Spies broke a story saying an early re-fresh was in store for the 7-series.

In mid-march of this year Autoweek ran this story:

BMW working fast to revamp flagship's design

Highlights from the article:

We have this on the highest authority: Your excuses for wanting to dangle BMW design chief Chris Bangle from a tree for what he did to your beloved 7 Series will be all but eliminated by year’s end.

BMW sources in Germany tell us that Bangle and his team have been hard at work restyling the car since moments after the reskinned 7 premiered to “glaringly negative” reaction at the 2001 Frankfurt show.

Look for an all-new tail and face.

The redone 7 Series will appear perhaps “as early as Tokyo [Oct. 25 to Nov. 6] or maybe Detroit, but no later,” our source reports, following the fastest model redo in the history of the proud Munich firm.

Then, the PR folks at BMW said no early refresh was coming...Well, the soap opera continues...now we're hearing from*dealer sources that it is back on! The recent severe dip in sales has made them do a 360...Can you say "Detroit in January"? We're keeping a close eye on these developments and will keep this as an open file...

Source: AutoSpies

FruityOne · 10-21-2003, 04:10 AM

i say someone kill him and get it over with

daniel318is · 10-21-2003, 04:59 AM

:lol:

lwebb12 · 10-21-2003, 05:19 PM

well he designed the E39 series as well.

donutchow · 10-22-2003, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lwebb12@Oct 21 2003, 06:59 PM
well he designed the E39 series as well.

you mean the E60?

lwebb12 · 10-22-2003, 09:03 PM

no the E39

lwebb12 · 10-22-2003, 09:30 PM

It may have been designed in his organization, but E60 was designed by Davide Arcangeli, an Italian designer who actually died of leukemia before being able to see the fruits of his labors. E39 was also designed exclusively under Bangle, by Japanese designer Joji Nagashima. E65 was designed by Adrian van Hooydonk.

Bangle has been the design chief at BMW for over a decade.

got this from roadfly

MrM3 · 10-22-2003, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lwebb12@Oct 22 2003, 10:10 PM
It may have been designed in his organization, but E60 was designed by Davide Arcangeli, an Italian designer who actually died of leukemia before being able to see the fruits of his labors. E39 was also designed exclusively under Bangle, by Japanese designer Joji Nagashima. E65 was designed by Adrian van Hooydonk.

Bangle has been the design chief at BMW for over a decade.

got this from roadfly

also the Z4 was designed by a guy named Anders Warming from denmark

nosuchsol · 10-22-2003, 10:30 PM

I know the 7-series refresh is pretty quick but not that it's out of the ordinary. Look at the refreshes they've done to the 3-series over the last couple years. They changed the headlights and bumpers there so it makes sense they do the same with the 7.

Stacy540i · 10-23-2003, 11:13 AM

BMW rushes facelift for 7-Series flagship
Paul Lienert/ Autos Insider

Stung by sharp media criticism over the exterior styling of its 7-Series flagship, and concerned about falling sales in North America and Europe, German automaker BMW is rushing a face-lifted 7-Series model to market next summer.
The makeover is not a major one, but the company hopes it will be enough to lure potential buyers back into showrooms. The face-lift includes minor tweaks to the front- and rear-ends, with new headlights and tail lamps, plus a revised grille and bumpers.
The company also is expected to bump the displacement of the car's V-8 engine from 4.4 to 4.8 liters, and nudge the output to nearly 400 horsepower.

MrM3 · 10-23-2003, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stacy540i@Oct 23 2003, 11:53 AM
BMW rushes facelift for 7-Series flagship
Paul Lienert/ Autos Insider

Stung by sharp media criticism over the exterior styling of its 7-Series flagship, and concerned about falling sales in North America and Europe, German automaker BMW is rushing a face-lifted 7-Series model to market next summer.
The makeover is not a major one, but the company hopes it will be enough to lure potential buyers back into showrooms. The face-lift includes minor tweaks to the front- and rear-ends, with new headlights and tail lamps, plus a revised grille and bumpers.
The company also is expected to bump the displacement of the car's V-8 engine from 4.4 to 4.8 liters, and nudge the output to nearly 400 horsepower.

i highly doubt bmw will put a 4.8L into the 745. i can see how someone could assume that considering the new X5 4.8 and Alpina Z8 will have, or had, the 4.8L, but that engine is basically still the same engine that the 97 540i's had, while the new 4.4L is state of the art and still fairly new, and needs no improvement considering the US base model 745 does 0-60 in 5.9