BMW is an established premium brand with lots of fans. However, lately it has being received quite a lot of flak due to their new design language. Nevertheless, the German brand has given us some exceptional automobiles – and who is more capable of choosing the top three than automotive designer Frank Stephenson.
Before setting off as a YouTuber, Frank Stephenson enjoyed an illustrious career in Ford, BMW, MINI, Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, and McLaren, playing a very important role in evolving the design language of the majority of those automakers.
While working for BMW, Stephenson was heavily involved with the design of the first-generation X5 (E53), a pivotal model for the Bavarian brand as it was their first-ever SUV. He is a major critic of BMW’s current design language, especially in the 4-Series (G22/G23/G24). In one of his older videos, he has openly criticized the huge grille and the demise of the signature Hofmeister kink.
See Also BMW X5 Designer Reviews The Styling Of The Controversial 4-Series
In that context, he has the right to take us through the core values of BMW design and this is exactly what he does in his latest video while presenting his three most favorite Bimmers of all time. According to Stephenson, BMW is all about athletic elegance, visual lightness, and dynamic proportions.
Choosing the most beautiful BMW designs certainly isn’t easy, but he came up with the following models: the mid-engined BMW M1 (1978-1981) designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the shark-like BMW E9 (1968-1975) by Wilhelm Hofmeister, and the open-top BMW 507 (1956-1960) by Albrecht von Goertz.
See Also: The F430’s Designer Picks His Three Favorite Ferraris Of All Time
We don’t know if you agree with Stephenson’s picks, but he definitely has a point. He also went a step further choosing the 2002 Tii (1972-1974), the 3-Series E46 (1997-2006), and the 5-Series F10 (2009-2017) as honorable mentions.
You can watch him explain the design supremacy of the selected BMW models in the following video. Mind you, Stephenson he has shot similar videos with his top three favorite designs of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo.
Feel free to post your own top three BMW list in the comments section below.