There’s a New Zealand link to the fourth-generation BMW X5 thanks to the brand’s interior designer for the SUV, Eva-Marie Guenther. 

She helped create the innovative new cabin for the X5, with such plush details as cushioned seats, a crystal gear knob and new layering of materials on the door panels.

As a teenager, Guenther was an exchange student at Rotorua Girls’ High school from Germany and credits her time in New Zealand with inspiring the X5’s interior.

“Whenever I am stressed at work, I beam myself to my mental escape place, the Coromandel,” Guenther told me at the US launch in late 2018.

The X5 is priced from $126,900 to $181,300 and is similar in dimensions to the previous model, with the length increased by 36mm to 4922mm, the width 2004mm (up 66mm) and the height 1745mm (up 19mm). 

But how did BMW come up with the look of the X5? We find the seven steps in creating this premium SUV.

1. Identifying trends

First, it is a matter of understanding the future vehicle and the context in which it will be driven. Designers have to understand far in advance what will be regarded as modern and cutting-edge in tomorrow’s world – and how BMW customers’ needs may have changed by then.

Designers gain their inspiration from a wide variety of sources – ranging from fashion and architecture all over the world to nature. However, they can also get ideas from the BMW advanced team’s top-secret vehicle projects and concept cars.

2. Hand-drawn sketches

It begins with an internal competition by BMW designers with hand-drawn sketches.

“My first point of contact with a new model is a blank sheet of paper and a pencil,” says Anders Thøgersen, exterior designer of the BMW X5.

“In your mind, you have a certain spirit and character that you want to bring to the car. These initial hand-drawn sketches do not answer all the questions, but they serve as an abstract guide to the subsequent design process.”

However, the BMW designers do not have a completely free hand. They must rather comply with requirements for the defined character of the future vehicle as well as technical conditions such as the wheelbase, boot volume or safety requirements.

All the available technological innovations need to be included in such a way that future users perceive them as functional, sensible and visually fascinating at the same time. “A BMW should always tell at first sight what you can experience with it,” says Thøgersen.

 3. Tape drawings

Alongside the sketches the designers draw their plans on a wall on a 1:1 scale in what is known as tape drawings. Here, they stick the proportions of the vehicle onto a base plan using flexible tape. Base plans are a kind of map of the future vehicle with all technical and structural features.

“When you start the tape drawing, you immediately see the car much more clearly in your mind,” says Thøgersen. “What began as an idea and a concept in the sketches, now gets a concrete meaning.”

In tape drawing, not only the character, but above all the real volume can be recognized with a few striking lines. “And once the tape drawing is complete, I can hardly wait to see the car design in a 3D model,” Thøgersen says.

Therefore, the tape drawings provide the template for the next steps.

4.  Digital models

At this stage state-of-the-art digital technologies come to play in the design process. From two-dimensional sketches, CAS (computer-aided styling) designers create a virtual three-dimensional vehicle. Among other things, they use Virtual Reality.

The digital headsets facilitate collaboration between departments. Designers and developers are no longer spatially bound to a model. Instead, they are able to see the model through their VR headsets. Hence, the design process becomes more efficient and also delivers a context – so the new model can be presented in the respective living environment.

 5. Clay models

So far, the car designs have been two-dimensional, but now the form-finding process becomes three-dimensional. The designers, who concluded the selection process successfully, are given the opportunity to work up their designs three-dimensionally on a 1:1 scale. These models are made from clay.

“A clay prototype is essential for working up surfaces, lines and details perfectly,” says Thøgersen. “A BMW design can be brought to life only in three-dimensional form and original size. It is a thrilling moment for me when you actually see the sketches in front of you as a complete entity – a being that you can walk around.”

Once the clay model is ready, the designers wrap it in special sheeting that imitates the effect of car paintwork. This makes it possible to assess the lines, surfaces and proportions of a clay model in different light conditions.

It takes about one month for a model to achieve the desired level of perfection. Then it goes forward to the next round in the decision-making process. About two years before the vehicle goes into production, the BMW Board of Management selects the winner from the two remaining car designs.

6. Drawing the interior car design

Interior designers, such as Guenther sketch and refine their models at the same time as exterior designers. They also work with clay in this process. In so-called seat boxes, they also make the entire interior come alive – from seats and details to surfaces and materials.

Also in this process, VR headsets provide support. Making it possible to look round a virtual car interior as though you were sitting in it.

“We aim to create an ambience for our customers that is modern, inviting and functional at the same time,” explains Guenther.

“It should be an atmosphere, which offers the customer both the joy of driving and a possibility to work or relax.”

7 Fine-tuning

The BMW Design has a dedicated team for the detailed car design as well as for colours and materials. Both on the exterior and in the interior of the vehicle, these fine-tuning experts perfect all the elements down to hundredths of a millimetre. Close coordination among car designers, engineers and production technicians is especially important at this stage.

From this early stage it still takes a few years to pass before the new BMW X5 is introduced to the public.

Story courtesy of BMW Media