[bavarianboar]

Honestly, I think tail light design is one of the major things BMW has not been able to get perfect. Even in the Bangle era they had some controversial looking tail lights on the E90.

Though I personally liked the tail lights on E60 better than most cars in the segment at the time when E60 was a hot buy. It used to stand out from the back. There was a bit of controversy on that as well, from what I can remember.

What are your thoughts on the new tail light design that BMW is kind of bringing into just about every car coming out of their stable. The stark resemblance of the tail lights on the X1 and the 5 Sedan was not the way BMW used to be. F30 might be headed to a very similar design.

F10's tail lights look bland for some reason, more like camry / infiniti sedans' design from the back and like the Chevy Cobalt's tail lights from the side.



Any thoughts?

[pharding]

I test drove a 550 this afternonn and I was impressed by how beautiful the rear of the car is. It is important to look at the whole composition, not just one component. I like the taillights as part of a well designed whole.

[Alchem]

Yes I see the similarities.. both cars have 4 doors, 4 wheels, and two rear view mirrors!

F10 looks nothing like a cobalt. While I do agree that F10 is a bit bland its still pretty nice. I think I prefer the Jaguar XF, it has a more stylish exterior and interior.

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by pharding

I test drove a 550 this afternonn and I was impressed by how beautiful the rear of the car is. It is important to look at the whole composition, not just one component. I like the taillights as part of a well designed whole.

I was talking about tail lights only, F10 is a different animal as a whole.

Not because they are BMW, they are doing everything right and they can care less for some other things when they are constantly competing with the likes of AUDI.

They bring out the best in design, and if this is the best that can be done, it looks like they need some more innovation and design which the Bangle era was audacious enough to try out.

AND I am more on the point of all BMWs looking similar from the back side afa tail lights go.

Originally Posted by Alchem

Yes I see the similarities.. both cars have 4 doors, 4 wheels, and two rear view mirrors!

F10 looks nothing like a cobalt. While I do agree that F10 is a bit bland its still pretty nice. I think I prefer the Jaguar XF, it has a more stylish exterior and interior.

Lol at the similarity, talk about comparing a crappy american car to one of the most refined cars in the world.

Again, did I talk about F10 looking similar to Cobalt as a whole?

ONLY reason I posted those pics was to avoid this -


I really wonder if there are people here on 5post who are not happy with the tail lights design which definitely is one of the most challenging parts of exterior design after the head lights.

[rexus300]

I like the rear and it has no resemblance to the cobalt of course but maybe some infiniti character. Still its very nice.

[rexus300]

The new rear end is classy and much sharper looking than the frumpy E60 rear.

[HaloEye]

i have to admit that i hated the tail lights when i first saw the F10 but it has grown on me a lot since then

[Whteverjklasdf]

they look excellent especially at night.

[Jason]

Love the rear and the rear tail lights on the F10. One of my favorite parts of the new 5-series. And the lighting elements look great in real life.

[delvek]

Dude there is only a few ways to skin a cat, if you look hard enough you can find similarities, especially on body design, with many cars across price ranges and manufacturers.

In the end, the BMW arse end is a beaut ... at least to me!

[Shinobi]

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

They bring out the best in design, and if this is the best that can be done, it looks like they need some more innovation and design which the Bangle era was audacious enough to try out.

The taillights of the e60 5-series, which came out in what -2003(?), looked VERY similar to those of the Subaru Imprezas that were out in 2000-2001. Not very innovative IMO.

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

The stark resemblance of the tail lights on the X1 and the 5 Sedan was not the way BMW used to be.

This is your idea of stark resemblance? Um, OK. I think the pics above show a much stronger resemblance.


OP - I do agree with you that the taillights remind me of an Infiniti rear (1st generation G35 to be precise). Personally, I would like to have seen them go with something more like the Gran Coupe concept or the X6's taillights.


I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a truly unique design that doesn't remotely resemble something that's been done before. It would have to be something totally off the wall like the ones on the Efficient Dynamics concept. With so many BMW models right now, I think they are least doing a good job with the variety of design, but keeping them similar with the incorporation of the LED "light bars" ( which is akin to the angel eyes up front in keeping a Bimmer distinct from other cars out there ).

[delvek]

well said w/ pictorial assistance for the slow, err, me

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by Shinobi

I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a truly unique design that doesn't remotely resemble something that's been done before. It would have to be something totally off the wall like the ones on the Efficient Dynamics concept. With so many BMW models right now, I think they are least doing a good job with the variety of design, but keeping them similar with the incorporation of the LED "light bars" ( which is akin to the angel eyes up front in keeping a Bimmer distinct from other cars out there ).

Does make me think twice about what I was talking about the X1 and F10 similarity.

I wonder what they have in store, with the F30.

IMO X5, X6 and Grand Coupe lights are by far the best one around at the moment. Looks like 5 GT will have an LCI refresh sometime with a new tail light design.

Good comparison by pics.

[atmgr]

Agree with most of the comparison above. But, e60 vs. Imprezas? I think they are too far apart, even just the tail light design.

[hbakor]

I love the tail lights

[Whteverjklasdf]

the new 5er is so good people started to pick on its good looking tail-lights.

sooner than later the color of the differential coating will be criticized.

[Ryan_T]

One of the most gorgeous tail lights I've seen.