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 screen, and even the unique 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 gentle up a remark part, partly as a result of it’s genuinely divisive and partly as a result of it grew to become 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 excess of folks prefer 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 Collection—the place the trunk lid sits unusually excessive and creates a visual “step” behind the automotive. As an alternative of flowing easily from the rear fenders into the decklid the way in which older BMWs tended to, the E65’s tail seems to be layered, nearly as if a second floor was stacked on prime to type a shelf-like higher deck.
From sure angles, that raised deck makes the automotive look heavier and taller on the rear, which is precisely why the design drew a lot consideration within the first place. As soon as the E65 grew to become the poster little one, 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 in the course of the interval when BMW determined it was completed taking part in it secure. That period wasn’t about light evolution or sprucing the identical silhouette—BMW wished its vehicles to really feel new in a method you would spot immediately, even when that meant irritating loyalists who most popular the acquainted Nineties playbook.
The “butt” half is precisely what it appears like: a blunt fanatic nickname for a rear finish that appeared cumbersome, excessive, and (to many eyes on the time) awkwardly proportioned. It’s not refined, but it surely’s memorable—and as soon as a nickname like that sticks, it tends to turn into your complete story.
Fast actuality verify: 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 grew to become hooked up to every thing folks liked and hated about that interval. However the E65 7 Collection design is intently related to Adrian van Hooydonk’s staff working underneath Bangle’s management, which issues as a result of BMW design isn’t a one-person present.
Bangle set the path, pushed the philosophy, and created an setting the place a automotive just like the E65 might make it out of the studio. The execution, nonetheless, got here from the staff, and that’s an vital distinction if you happen to’re making an attempt to inform the story as greater than an affordable 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 rationalization is aerodynamic: the next rear deck can behave like an built-in spoiler and a cleaner airflow cutoff, which will help stability at pace even when the impact isn’t one thing you’d discover in every day driving.
It was additionally about presence and proportion, as a result of changing the E38 7 Collection—one in every of BMW’s most universally revered designs—was at all times going to be dangerous. The E65 didn’t intention to be a mild replace; it wished to look fashionable, 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 choice a lot as a loud expression of a bigger shift.
Why did folks hate it a lot?
As a result of BMW patrons weren’t asking for a design revolution on the 7 Collection. What they wished—whether or not they stated it out loud or not—was one of the best model of an E38, and the E65 wasn’t inquisitive about taking part in that sport. The rear appeared tall and heavy, the “step” felt abrupt, and the interplay between the trunk line and the taillamps made the entire thing really feel stacked moderately than sculpted.
As soon as the nickname took off, the design stopped being mentioned by itself phrases. The dialog grew to become much less about what BMW was trying and extra about whether or not the automotive was “ruined” by the trunk, which is precisely how the “Bangle Butt” became a cultural reference moderately than a design critique.
Then one thing humorous occurred: it aged into relevance
What’s attention-grabbing is that the controversy didn’t merely vanish because the years handed; as a substitute, it steadily shifted opinions. Because the business moved towards sharper cutoffs, greater decklids, and extra aggressive surfacing, the E65 stopped trying like an alien object and began studying like an early, unfiltered model of concepts that will later turn into extra mainstream.
On the identical time, the E65 gained a real following—not simply contrarians seeking to be totally different, however fanatics 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 into lovely to individuals who hated it, but it surely did turn into traditionally vital, and that’s why it nonetheless will get mentioned with a sort of grudging respect.
Did BMW repair the “Bangle Butt”?
BMW did what BMW typically does when a design will get too loud: it refined the execution. The E65 facelift smoothed and resolved the rear with out abandoning the final high-deck thought, which is one other method 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 typical trait of BMW design which goals to push the envelope as time passes. And we’ve seen that rather a lot within the current years.
