{"id":84961,"date":"2026-03-03T09:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=84961"},"modified":"2026-03-03T09:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:40:00","slug":"bmw-x5-e53-designer-talks-new-ix3-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=84961","title":{"rendered":"BMW X5 E53 Designer Weighs In On The New iX3&#8217;s Design"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"post-summary-wrap\">\n<h3 class=\"post-summary-title\">Article Summary<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"post-summary-list\">\n<li>The modern MINI designer isn&#8217;t a fan of the 2026 BMW iX3&#8217;s design.<\/li>\n<li>Frank Stephenson finds the retro-modern grille &#8220;too pinched, almost puckered up.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The Maserati MC12 designer thinks the fender creases are &#8220;visually jarring.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p>Frank Stephenson is known for always speaking his mind and not shying away from calling things as he sees them. The man who designed the first modern MINI once said the 507, 3.0 CS, and the M1 were the company\u2019s greatest hits. The new iX3? Well, not so much.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with <em>Top Gear<\/em> magazine, the man who worked on the X5 E53\u2019s exterior was brutally honest in assessing the Neue Klasse design. The kidneys are apparently a \u201cnew\/old beaver-toothed grille graphic\u201d and sit above an \u201coverly busy\u201d air intake area. Although <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2022\/05\/13\/frank-stephenson-7-series\/\">Stephenson<\/a> believes BMW has made the right decision to tone down its exteriors, he argues that some areas could still be improved.<\/p>\n<p>For example, he finds the creases on the fenders \u201ca bit visually jarring,\u201d while the rear is \u201ca bit generic\u201d for his tastes. Up front, the grille is said to be \u201ctoo pinched, almost puckered up.\u201d Head over to <em>Top Gear<\/em> for his full assessment of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2026\/03\/02\/bmw-uk-highlights-right-hand-drive-ix3-fresh-images\/\">new iX3\u2019s design<\/a> and to learn why he isn\u2019t exactly a fan: \u201cNice try, but better luck next time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-BMW-iX3-57.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-511026\" title=\"2026 BMW IX3 57\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-BMW-iX3-57-830x554.jpg\" alt=\"2026 BMW IX3 57\" width=\"830\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-BMW-iX3-57-830x553.jpg 830w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-BMW-iX3-57-1535x1024.jpg 1535w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-BMW-iX3-57-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-BMW-iX3-57-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-BMW-iX3-57-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.bmwblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-BMW-iX3-57-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s far from the first time Stephenson has criticized BMW\u2019s design. In his analysis of the 2 Series Coupe (G42), the man who penned the McLaren P1 rhetorically asked whether BMW is digging itself into a deeper hole. In another video, he famously said \u201crecent designs have lost their way.\u201d The renowned designer also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2022\/01\/07\/bmw-x5-e53-designer-says-xm-looks-terrible\/\">roasted the XM<\/a>, saying the front end \u201cdoesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, it\u2019s important to note that models launching after 2029 won\u2019t come from the same team responsible for the cars mentioned above. BMW revamped its design department when Domagoj Dukec moved to Rolls-Royce in October 2024. In his place, the company appointed two designers: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2025\/10\/05\/alpina-design-boss-exciting-things-show\/\">Maximilian Missoni<\/a> will work on 5 Series\/X5 models and above, while Oliver Heilmer is responsible for the smaller vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Both have dual roles, with Missoni also leading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2026\/02\/15\/bmw-alpina-new-physical-badge\/\">BMW ALPINA<\/a> and Heilmer overseeing M cars. Adrian van Hooydonk remains in charge of the BMW Group\u2019s design team, supervising the new structure, which also includes Holger Hampf as MINI\u2019s chief designer.<\/p>\n<p>Since the first BMWs influenced by the new designers won\u2019t arrive this decade, the Neue Klasse wave of more than 40 cars due by 2028 was styled by the previous teams. The iX3 gets the ball rolling for the company\u2019s new aesthetic, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2026\/02\/27\/2027-bmw-m350-xdrive-inadvertently-listed-company-website\/\">3 Series (G50)<\/a>, i3 (NA0), and X5 (G65) set to follow this year.<\/p>\n<p>The 7 Series (G70) will undergo a facelift, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmwblog.com\/2026\/01\/08\/bmw-7-series-facelift-partially-reveals-new-lights-spy-photos\/\">spy shots<\/a> suggest it won\u2019t receive a full Neue Klasse makeover. Instead, it will retain the large grille and split headlights while gaining the all-new interior, with iDrive X taking center stage.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.topgear.com\/car-news\/opinion\/what-does-mclaren-p1-designer-frank-stephenson-think-bmw-ix3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Top Gear<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article Summary The modern MINI designer isn&#8217;t a fan of the 2026 BMW iX3&#8217;s design. Frank Stephenson finds the retro-modern grille &#8220;too pinched, almost puckered up.&#8221; The Maserati MC12 designer thinks the fender creases are &#8220;visually jarring.&#8221; Frank Stephenson is known for always speaking his mind and not shying away from calling things as he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}