Mind that final design is decided sometimes in the middle of development period - which usually takes 5 - 6 years. So, that's about 2.5 - 3 years before car hits the markets.

So E65 7er final design was decided sometimes in late 1998 / early 1999.
E85 Z4 in late 1999 / early 2000.
E60 5er in mid 2000 / late 2000.
E83 X3 early 2001 / mid 2001.
E63 6er early 2001 / mid 2001.
E87 1er late 2001 / early 2002.
E90 3er Summer 2002.
E92 3er September 2003.
E70 X5 late 2003 / early 2004.

E65 was shown at IAA 2001, and went on sale in November 2001. So E85, E60, E83, E63/4 & possibly E87 designs were picked before BMW's management saw general public's reaction to E65. Nobody at BMW did not expect such harsh reactions - especially the world went much more conservative after 9/11.

So BoD definitelly became much more careful by picking the final designs. Risking for the sake of it would be just stupid - and BMW AG owners would not be happy with such irrational decisions. So BMW AG had to adapt / react to the new times & harsh criticism.

So all designs picked after E65's launch (E90, E92, E70) perhaps came out much more refined (but mind that they were not planned to be radical anyway) than initially planned. We will never know how the initial proposals looked like. We can just speculate how much they were toned down.

The refinement of design perhaps started a bit earlier than planned. But mind that evolution after revolution was planned from the begining (Bangle had talked about it already at E65's launch).

So - yes - I told you many times: from now on we will see much more eye-pleasing & refined designs from BMW - yet the modern & dynamic styling is staying.