^ BMW definately has been a style leader ....but styling is not the same as design.



BIONIC DESIGN

Mercedes has actually been very in-tune with a very important movement in contemporary design -- bioform design or bionic design.



Bionics encompasses far more than just appearance -- it is about transferring the knowledge learned from nature into engineering. This is not just a fashion trend but a major scientific revolution happening at the highest levels of industrial design.

Bone chair by Joris Laarman, 2008


Staircase by Ross Lovegrove


Peter Pfeiffer, Mercedez Benz Design, Bionic Car




Mazda Taiki Concept, 2007

^Yeah, MB has all this interesting stuff going on in their design studio ....some really clever people doing some very interesting stuff ...but the production models are not as progressive.

BMW have Advanced Design Studio as well, and some very important & interesting stuff are going there as well. Yet BMW do not present any concepts. In that respect MB are few steps ahead.

no i 'm a MB fan.

I don't see much zen quality in Audi or BMW design. Audi is increasingly adopting bolder creases, cut lines and countours on their vehicle and have somewhat of a fetish for glitzy lighting details front and back. The purity is being diluted for the sake of global market appeal.

I suppose if wind the clock back slightly conservatism is being sold of as Zen (marketing BS if you ask me) then BMW is the most convincing case.

This "Zen" design BMW talks about is difficult to define. I guess it is about harmony and balance.

I think Mercedes did a great job with the interior of the F 700. I possibly would describe this as a "High-tech Zen interior" ......it is very definitive of contemporary luxury I think.







some parallels (off the top of my head)

Lol is that sushi in the rear seat divider??

Guys - chill. Each to their own opinion on this. No one's right and no one's wrong. We just have differing point of views. The purpose of this is to recognise the debate and take into account other's perspectives.

Let's not get into mud-slinging.

Marcus, I respect your insight and views on this particular topic - and I've certainly learnt from this discussion. I furthermore, have always recognised MB's pioneering efforts and achievements - they truly do bring great technology to the market constantly. Nevertheless, I remain of the opinion that it was BMW who pioneered the single-controller multi-media function interface - probably inspired by an idea that MB presented.

What must be remembered is that Mercedes' idea was presented in 1995. Back then computing technology wasn't at the requisite level of sophistication (in such compact hardware) to perform the functionality required. The technology simply wasn't there...

Anyone could've presented a PC that would run a windows graphic user environment back in 1980. The successful execution, however, of the operating systems, hardware and application software is wherein the actual idea is brought to reality.

I believe that BMW must get credit where credit is due; they were the first to successfully develop, test and implement the I-Drive controller interface in a usable, consumer ready product. Sure the software got "cleaned up" a little and improved - the same can be said of automatic gearbox software - software gets improved all the time.

Mercedes Benz presented an ergonomic concept - nothing more. Back in 1995 (remember the Nokia 2110 cell phone - considered so sophisticated at the time yet today is archaic) they simply did not have the technological wherewithal to present any solution beyond the most basic of functional concepts.

BMW has to be recognised for integrating the 3: software (most importantly), hardware (the controller and screen) and automobile environment into a single, cohesive product.

Martin I think we should agree to disagree.

You're still dismissing the fact that Mercedes-Benz had the initial idea all the while giving BMW the credit for developing it. My whole point here was the Mercedes-Benz came up with the idea, not BMW and that Mercedes didn't copy BMW at anything.

Now which is more significant, who debuted the idea or who put it into production? I really don't care honestly, I'm not arguing or disputing anything that BMW did with the concept. I was here to see that Mercedes gets the credit for coming up with the idea in the first place.

If the tech wasn't there then that explains why Mercedes took so long to debut it. Obviously it wouldn't have been ready in 1998 when the W220 debuted and thus the S-Class being the technical lead car for MB it had to wait until the W221.

I at no time didn't give BMW credit, only that MB deserves credit too for (by your own words) probably inspiring BMW to develop the idea further.

If BMW "has to be recognized" for intergration then Mercedes-Benz has to recognized for brainstorming the initial concept in the first place.

BMW put it into consumers hands, after Mercedes-Benz laid down the blueprint for the concept in the first place IMO.


M

No problem Marcus - we've been going down this road already in any event.

I'm not dismissing the fact that Mercedes Benz had "an" idea. What I am saying is this:

1. Too much value is being placed on the 1995 idea itself.
2. Technology at the time was not capable of enabling the execution of such an idea in an automobile environment.
3. The holistic concept (vs. the idea) is as much software-centric as it is hardware-centric.
3. It's not like Mercedes Benz did the world a favour and gave BMW a leg up.

This is merely my analysis and point-of-view.