I saw and had a look at my first BMW XM today, my what a truly ugly car, I have to admit in my eyes BMW have lost their way styling wise, especially their electric range, I have had maybe 30 BMW’S and always loved the styling, this looked like BMW by Tonka truck.
It just did nothing for me at all 
BMW IX
BMW’s new “grills” are an issue.
All designs evolve to stay current - BMWs seem to significantly change their signature image about every 10 years or so and every time people seem to really dislike it for a while until they get used to it.
It is an evolution, I am not sure it deserves the level of hate it receives every time.
As I said I have had BMW from the E23 735i, E31 850i, E32 750i, E38 750i, through the Bangle era E60 M5, E66 760Li etc and these new ones are just pig ugly.
They certainly are ugly and seem a massive departure from previous, We’ve an X1 XDrive and its the most discreet liitle car whereas these are just OTT. I’m also puzzled by the emphasis on the grille, because I think we’re at a watershed in car styling where the lights become more important in characterising the marque because the grille is becoming redundant.
At the moment all the traditional manufacturers are still using traditional car bodies for their electric cars and just slapping in a blank panel where the grille should be, which is a crap design solution - sorry, ‘compromise’. Whereas Tesla and all the new Chinese manufacturers of electric cars don’t have this hereditary design legacy problem and their styling is more forward looking and interesting.
Agree though there are worse things in the world about which to get aerated.
It’s not just BMW though - Audi are at it, as are Lexus, Mercedes (though only a few models and concept vehicles) Toyota and of course Bentley and RR have always had signature front ends.
Clever 
Not sure about the new Chinese designs, but the tesla looks like an unfinished toy to me - ugly as it is, I’d chose that BMW over any of the various Tesla models. I’d quite agree that a grille is un-necessary, but it would be nice if a car could be designed without it looking like someone simply forgot to leave a hole for cooling air.
Yes, they were the first I noted taking a leap into silly grillesville and as a result, despite having been a happy Audi owner in the past, I wrote the of them off the prospect list. I think the BMW is slightly less offensive 
of course Bentley and RR have always had signature front ends
True, but there are two points I’d like to make:-
Firstly, most manufacturers have had ‘signature front ends’, but as pointed out in my previous post these are becoming less relevant as the internal combustion is phased out and cars no longer need to have a bulge at the front to accommodate the engine, but of course these manufacturers have spent decades and millions on establishing brand identity through the grille which is now becoming redundant.
Secondly, traditionally (pre-CAD) cars were modelled from clay and the principal styling element was the view sideways on, not just the silhouette, but also the waistline. The front end view, dominated by the grille was less important, not least because the appearance of the grille was one of the last elements to be decided. And of course later on in the production run, changing the shape of the grille, whilst the rest of the car’s appearance remained the same, was a way of refreshing the design
There’s been many successful designs of mid and rear-engined cars that have lacked a frontal grille. More recently Venturi tube inlets (functional on Ferrari, non-functional on many other marques) have become a common visual feature.
A big problem manufacturers have is hard points on the car designs because of crash cell design, also for lights, bumpers etc, regulations dictate a lot hence why cars have got very samey in design, trying to hide all this with ugly grill designs is not a good look.
I know its subjective but I think Audi are doing a better job than some of the abominations that are coming out of BMW at the moment.
Tesla are just bland, especially when you see the Tesla 3, it is just so anonymous when you see it on the road, the likes of Peugeot, Citroen even Kia and Hyundai have more exciting designs come out just now than them.
The Tesla reminds me of a Vauxhall chevette I had in the early 80s. No grill and the front end with paintwork from the windscreen to tge bumper. The front end was a magnet for stone chips. I inagine the front end of most cars tiday are plastic but that doesn’t prevent damage from road debris which shows up much more on a vast expanse of paintwork rather than an area with a grill.
I remember the shove it - IIRC cavaliers also had a grille-free design in some iterations, likewise many Citroen’s. A car with out a grille can be quite stylish.
That was my first car, I bought for 25£ non runner, I put in a new clutch and thrust bearing sold a year later for 125£ to buy a Escort M3.
Now you’ve got me started …
Licence for 59 years. Over 80 cars in that time … kept a list of first 60 or so, but lost track a bit now.
Several ‘unusual, rare-ish’ amongst them. An Isuzu Piazza turbo, a Subaru XT (first one, 2-seater), Saabs (5, incl. a very rare 2 seater sports, a 9000 Carlsson); a few Audis incl 2 quattros. NSU Ro80s (5, incl. one I am restoring here). Rebuilt one of the Ro’s’ engines. Two of the 4 Ro’s I had in the UK in late 80’s early 90’s are still on the road. Standard Flying 9, Triumphs - TR2 long door, 2.5PI’s (3), 2000. Renault 16 (transported complete bathroom suite (front seat out) from Cambridge to Derby). Lots of cars forgotten now …
Of your list, the only one I haven’t had was a TR2, I had a TR3B, I have had 32 Saab’s though never a Sonett, though I had a Saab 95 V4.
Though not very much.
