How the mighty have fallen

To my eye the interior of both those have become "style free, techy wank fest with zero class or luxury" (lovely phrase).

I know my car is 6 years old, but to my eyes it's a much more attractive car inside and out!

To my eyes as well!

The video itself explains all that is wrong. The most important things are how the indicators look and its all about technology. The interior of the Merc looks nice but is way too much and the bits you touch are probably made of the same material as a Primark clothes hanger. The BMW just looks like its made by Fisher Price. At least they have the diesel engines available with a 700mile range.

As I pointed out in another thread, the proliferation of flat screens in cars has led to a cheapening of the experience. There’s also the fact we’re all old.

Modern interiors are, one assumes, designed and developed by young designers with their finger up their arse on the pulse of society so as far as they are concerned everyone now and in the future wants everything they interface with to look and feel like an iPad / Chromebook / cheap-Chinese-shite. They also assume most customers will want to talk to their cars to make them do things, so saying “hey BMW, massage my lower back” as opposed to pressing the massage icon on the touchscreen, or (heaven forfend) pressing the seat massage function button is preferred.

Car architecture is like real architecture - we travel the world to see buildings built by skilled craftsmen using natural materials designed by artists with design features that make us want to visit them and photograph them. Then a new building is placed in a prominent position and it’s a bit of engineered steel clad in glass. To sit next to the other buildings in engineered steel covered in glass. Because the new client thinks that’s great. His accountant thinks he can afford it. His Architect thinks it looks fabulously modern and expresses the capabilities of the modern world. The services engineer thinks it’s really efficient and the planner says it’s fits in with the dullness of everything else.

We walk past the ground floors of such buildings without looking up on our way to visit a dilapidated stone ruin to take photographs to print and show on our walls.

The grilles make a statement….unfortunately it’s one most of us dislike and don’t want to be associated with.

Having a grille as a prominent styling feature is something Alfa have been doing for ages, although it’s pretty small compared to the latest monstrosities.

Both out cars have very discreet grilles. I don’t even think you could say mine has one, just some under bumper cooling. Unfortunately the analogue central rev counter will be going digital on the next Panamera as it just has on the Cayenne facelift, that’s a real backwards step as it really ups the special feel and there’s plenty of screen configuration either side.

Tastes differ. I wouldn’t consider a Mercedes with that awful hood ornament. It’s a relic of a by gone age, like spats on your shoes.

That's a really good analogy. Also like the modern v classic art debate and the tonal v atonal music arguments. 

The people designing and being talked about are those producing shyte that "normal" people simply don't want or like. But they know best of course. 

The ergonomics of minor controls seems to have been thrown in the bin in favour of “all in one place”. Perhaps this is what the younger generations want, in which case I fear for their sex lives because the orifices available are hopefully never in the same place!

I'm quite partial to relics. It's not the external look I like - it's the look down the bonnet. I've only ever owned one Merc - the 500E - but the sight-line down several acres of bonnet to the gun-sight star was childishly appealing.

The powertrain choice in the UK is also crap. The only ICE one is the 520i. The US, Asia and other markets get other pure ICE's, the 530i and 540i - the latter an inline six. A shame. The government's supposed lifeline for combustion cars was for headlines-only, as the silly mandatory EV-takeup comes into force from next year. In one sense I don't blame BMW UK, they have to do this to avoid getting fined. 

The black plastic bits look awful on current BMW's, especially the side skirts. The interior has all sorts of werido vegan things going on. It feels nasty.

I don't get why the new M2 for example, gets side skirts in body colour - but most others don't. The M240i can be had with body-coloured sideskirts...but only in black! So the difference visually would be minimal. 

The new E looks a lot better to my eyes.

Are cars entering a period similar to architecture in the 1960's and 70's. There appear to be few redeeming features on anything new! I would say that in 20 years time we will look back and think WTF but there appear to be rather a lot of people saying that today.

Most of the reviews have seen have been pretty positive. I still think it's pretty awful looking and way too much for a 5 series when specced how I'd want, but they've ruined the 7 even more than the 5 imho

Edit:  £115k for an i5 M60 with the options I'd want.   

Martin, for the money I think you have a car that will feel a good bit more special inside and out, than any of the new BMWs ever will.