German Car Zone

siko · 01-20-2008, 09:14 AM

X6 Named "Best Production Truck" At Eyes On Design Awards
BMW North America

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - January 16, 2007...Just two days after its worldwide debut, the BMW X6 Sports Activity Coupe was named "Best Production Truck" at the EyesOn Design Awards at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). Held each year, the EyesOn Design Awards recognize major design achievement in the automobile industry, and recipients are selected from among all new concept and production vehicles making their debut at the Detroit show.

"We are excited to receive this prestigious award; to be acknowledged by such an esteemed panel of judges - each design masters in his own right - is an honor. As the world's first Sports Activity Coupe, the X6 is a truly innovative automobile design, as is demonstrated in the powerful presence of the vehicle," said Anders Warming, Head of Exterior Design for BMW, who accepted the award on behalf of the BMW Group. "BMW will continue to seek dynamic design concepts that push the envelope, create new market sectors and bring the automobile industry in directions it's never been before."

The BMW X6's design combines the sporting elegance of a large BMW coupe with the powerful presence of a BMW Sports Activity Vehicle, offering unique features and performance ability in a combination unmatched by any other vehicle. It offers all the DNA of a genuine BMW Sports Activity Vehicle, interpreted however, in a brand-new, extremely sporting style. Indeed, the design language of this new model is the authentic visualization of the outstanding driving characteristics offered by the BMW X6, mainly through intelligent BMW xDrive all-wheel-drive technology and Dynamic Performance Control.

Various design features typical of BMW also stand out in the vehicle's details, ranging from the BMW kidney grille to the dual round headlights optically "cut off" at the top and the powerful contour line along the side, all the way to the horizontal lines at the rear emphasizing the sheer width of the vehicle.

The EyesOn Design Awards support the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology's mission to assist and educate the visually impaired, help preserve vision by public and professional education and support research

[Source: BMW NA via MWerks.com]

Just_me · 01-23-2008, 12:28 PM

First Sports Activity Coupe wins award at its world premiere: jury recognizes BMW Group Design’s unique innovative force.

Munich. It attracts attention – and it has already won its first illustrious award in advance of its official market launch. The BMW X6 won the EyesOn Design Award occasion of its world premiere at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) 2008 in Detroit/USA. Every year, the prestigious award is presented at the NAIAS. The jury is comprised of top designers from major international car manufacturers, among them BMW Group’s Head of Design Chris Bangle. The award recognizes particularly innovative concepts and new developments in different vehicle segments. The BMW X6 stood out from other contenders in the SUV segment. The jury selected the first Sports Activity Coupe because of its pioneering and unique character: “The BMW X6 demonstrates superiority with a truly innovative design, which combines the sporting elegance of a large BMW Coupe with the powerful look of a BMW Sports Activity Vehicle. No other car in the world achieves this unique combination.” Anders Warming, Head of BMW Exterior Design, accepted the EyesOn Design Award in Detroit on behalf of the entire BMW Group Design team.
Creating unusual and seminal design is a fine art and the latest BMW X models are an impressive example of the fact that BMW Group’s team of designers have it down to a T. When BMW launched its Sports Activity Vehicle, the manufacturer established an innovative and pioneering vehicle category. The highly acclaimed exterior set new standards and has been used as a role model for years. Now BMW Group has created a completely new type of car: the Sports Activity Coupe. It unites the elegant, dynamic flow of the roofline with the off-road features of BMW X models– the BMW X6 presents the perfect, innovative and fascinating combination of design components. The appearance of the new BMW X6 is the advancement of the striking form language of the BMW X models with their consistent focus on a sporting and elegant presence.
The unique selling point of the BMW X6 is a completely new combination of a dynamic roofline with a high shoulder line, striking, sculpted wheel houses and a centerpoint that is a visible reference to the car’s four-wheel drive. The unusually creative application of the creators’ design language shows the outstanding innovative force of BMW’s team of designers. At BMW, successful design with a sustained attractiveness is the result of a complex and systematic design process.
The BMW X6 presents an authentic unity of exterior appearance and product substance. The vehicle concept of the first Sports Activity Coupe combines the sporting elegance of large BMW Coupes with the powerful presence of BMW X models. The design symbolizes the car’s character, which thanks to an innovative drive technology featuring Dynamic Performance Control, delivers a unique driving experience. The BMW X6 creates a link between brand-specific on-road dynamism and maximum control in all terrain. The new model’s driving performance meets all expectations that the BMW X6 design evokes.
Premium design derives its value from a clearly defined maturity process.
For BMW Group and its successful brands – BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorcycle– an elaborate and time-consuming development process precedes the sheer driving pleasure. This is true for all technical components as well as for the design: according to BMW Group’s design philosophy, design is supposed to precisely and authentically translate the specific values of the premium substance into a meaningful form language. The design process, which starts with the initial conception, produces different drafts and finally yields the final model ready for series production is a highly complex affair. During a development process that lasts many years, BMW Group’s team of designers cooperates with a number of experts from different departments such as aerodynamics, ergonomics, safety and marketing.
The design process is comprised of three stages that every vehicle will undergo during its development by BMW Group Design. Within the company, these design stages are referred to as Understanding, Believing and Seeing. All three phases are basically dominated by BMW Group Design’s central principle: the individual is at the center of the creative process. This prime principle defines not only the working methods of BMW Group Design, but also characterizes the workflow of the entire project. Successful design derives its value from a prolonged maturity process. “It takes time to match the numerous details of exterior design with those of interior design in order to create a consistent, harmonious product, and also achieve and emotionalize their functional perfection,” says Christopher E. Bangle, Head of BMW Group Design. “A car achieves its premium substance as a result of a consistent overall concept and not because of any individual details.” This is even more important when it comes to creating a completely new vehicle category, as is the case with the new BMW X6.

Integrative Project Management.
The way to a harmonious overall concept leads past numerous stages, which must be monitored and controlled by way of a mature process management to actually remove some of the workload and allow designers to explore their creativity to the full. Due to the high number of individual work sequences, the control of complexity within the network of car development and production is at the top of the design process management agenda. Transparent and logical structures are prerequisite. BMW Group Design operates departments for process control, methodology development and data transfer. All of these are indispensable, as they ensure that BMW Group Design becomes an equal cooperation partner for the various development departments and vehicle development project managers. Integration is the only way to ensure that a successful prototype can actually become a successful production model.
Advanced Design Studio.
The BMW Advanced Design Studio, an independent design department with an exclusive focus on developing innovative and advanced design concepts irrespective of the actual design specifications, prepares the ground for the three development stages. With a free and independent approach to future challenges within the mobility context, the BMW Advanced Design Studio generates ideas and drafts without the obligations of requirements and specifications. During this process, the team uses a wide variety of inspirational sources. These range from areas such as the study of societies and cultures, material and technical innovations through to the observation of internal and external production processes. Customer specifications and the requirements of a global market are included in these research studies and considerations.
Project Phase No. 1 - Understanding
At the beginning of every new development, the design teams invest a lot of time into gaining a thorough insight into the details and design specifications of the new project. In cooperation with experts from different specialist areas, the teams embark on a quest for new solutions, innovative materials and efficiency improvement tools. As part of the design department, design engineering is the connecting link between designers and engineers. Different skills and experiences from the advanced design stage are reflected in corresponding vehicle concepts. The Understanding stage focuses on finding the right proportions. Finding a common understanding of all influencing factors and their effect on the chosen approach is the main objective of the first stage.

This stage can take more than one year. During this process, car designers are working hard to achieve process integration, which frequently turns out to be an trying tightrope walk with conflicting demands. This requires a highly skilled approach as all available technical innovations are to be implemented in such a way that they are perceived as perfect in their functionality, reasonable and, at the same time, optically fascinating by the future customer. It also requires consolidating and aligning additional requirements of marketing, design and engineering. As the project progresses, all team members involved come to agree on a mutual perspective on the specifications of the new car. During the ongoing quest for a solution, these specifications are frequently contrasted with the devised concepts.

The internal competition that characterizes exterior and interior design projects is a characteristic feature of this approach. The designers submit their models to a highly creative contest.

Believing
Based on the specified proportions, the characteristic design language of the vehicle concept is now developed. The focus is on the target of creating innovative design models with outstandingly aesthetic proportions and surfaces. In close cooperation and in several development loops, designers and clay modelers are honing their 1:1 models to create the design effect of a “real” BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce or BMW motorcycle.
During the „Believing“ stage of the process, design is a tug-of-war between a deeply intuitive and a highly methodological approach. During this stage, the principle of perfection that is so typical of BMW also finds an authentic expression. Only very few car designers attach such great importance to 1:1 models made from clay, a special material for modelers, and focus on details when honing them. When the models are covered with a special film that strikingly resembles the coating applied to real cars, the lines, surfaces and proportions of every clay model can be assessed during different conditions of illumination.

Similar to the previous development loop, the Understanding stage, the competitive atmosphere among designers and the integration of development partners and key executives helps establish a consolidated base for the board of directors to reach their final decision. Even if all models are excellent, there is only one model that meets all specifications and the requirements of the target vision.
Seeing
The next stage focuses on the implementation of the selected clay model, i.e. turning the sculpture that was refined by human hands into a product that can be reproduced by machines. The clay model is subjected to a non-contact laser scanning CAD process to create a three-dimensional feasibility model, which is used as a reference for all developments that follow.

The final design stage is dominated by product optimization at an advanced level. In a process of ongoing interaction between designers, engineers, production engineers and clay modelers, the product is further aligned down to millimeter level in order to guarantee that the product’s premium claim is turned into premium substance – from surface quality through to detailed functions.

From its conception through to its final stage, the design development process for all vehicles designed by BMW Group Design is supported by an internal communication department. All important project stages are documented and photographically recorded. This information is made available to process partners in different departments. The network of BMW Group Design extends far beyond internal departments to ensure that the fascinating appeal of BMW Group Design comes alive for the customer - from conception through to the finalized product experience.

BMW Design is an Expression of Personality.
Design has a key function within the entire product development process. It has the objective of giving a face to the visions of all development partners, that is unmistakable and modern, yet unaffected by trends and timeless with a sustained attraction. For BMW designers, cars are more than a vehicle of transport. To them, cars provide a medium for expressing the personality of their drivers .
As a unique, innovative creation bearing the typical hallmarks of BMW design as an optical representation of premium substance in every square inch of its exterior and interior, the BMW X6 fully meets this specification.

castagna · 01-23-2008, 05:43 PM

One of the most beautiful coupés ever