BMW Vision Neue Klasse Concept Car: To Kidney or Not To Kidney

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– Posted on September 12, 2025

Let me take you through a potted part-history of the BMW frontal treatment and via an appreciation of the very handsome Vision Neue Klasse sedan shape before answering this existential question.

BMW’s entry for the 1940 Mille Miglia comprised an impressive array. The roadster styled by Peter Symanowski was the earliest of the three and set the streamlining tone. At the right is Carrozzeria Touring’s coupe body commissioned by BMW which actually won the race, and at left is the Kamm coupe styled by Wilhelm Meyerhuber which was in fact the most aerodynamic of the three but failed to finish.

Each bore a similar frontal treatment; the twin grille devised in 1933 by stylist Friz Fiedler for the 303 model, at some point nicknamed ‘kidneys’ and by this time synonymous with the marque.

Which is not to say the kidneys were a lock. The scale model of the 337 up top is from the same year as the Mille Miglia victory, and shows BMW considering an arrangement more akin the groundbreaking 1938 Lincoln Zephyr with a broad and shallow one-piece grille rather than the tall and narrow two-piece.

For 1951 Symanowski styled BMW’s first post-war effort, the 501 saloon that became known as the Baroque Angel. Bottom left is the initial body mockup built by Reutter, and to its right an early production prototype. After toying with some frontal complexification, it was decided the kidneys on their own was the way to move forward.

For their next model BMW commissioned Count Albrecht von Goertz, resulting in the 1956 503 coupe – a much under-rated effort. Bottom left is the Michelotti-penned revision for a private client of coachbuilder Ghia-Aigle. It is essentially the same body with Italianate face. Such is the accomplishment of von Goertz’ shape, the Michelotti variation comes across more like a very handsome Lancia or Maserati.

But the unique nose of the factory 503 added an extra touch of exoticism; exquisitely rounded voluming fronted by the tall and narrow kidney grilles. This nose’s utter aptness is demonstrated by another vehicle, the 1957 Frazer Nash Continental Fixed Head Coupe bottom right. Built by BMW’s UK distributors, it featured the BMW V8 ahead of a Porsche 356 cabin. Frazer Nash asked Friz Fiedler to fill in the rest of the body which he did exceedingly well. The longer front starts at a superb nose modelled directly from the von Goertz progenitor albeit with combined grille.

When Max Hoffman came looking for a sporting roadster to sell in the US, he did not appear enamoured of the 503. That was not enough to dissuade him of von Goertz’ talent, and the Count was tasked with this brief as well.

He may have envisioned the lower, more sporting body with the 503 nose as well, and top left shows an interpretation with narrow kidneys though not as rounded. Other alternatives included the example with broader kidneys drawn directly from the Fiat 1100 TV roadster, top right.

The rendering at bottom is close to production; a full-width and shallow twinset. It disavowed the marque identity – next to non-existent in the US – in favour of something that perfectly complemented this perfect body.

Giovanni Michelotti, too, had aspirations of a broad and shallow twinset for BMW. Top left is a BMW proposal, likely proactive, he penned for Bertone in the early 1950s. To its right is a sketch done directly for BMW later that decade, a re-bodying of the large 501 saloon with a very American flavour.

The middle image shows one of his many variations for the smaller Neue Klasse saloon of the early 1960s, and at bottom a 1967 updating of the 02 coupe with grille treatment that ended up on a Triumph instead.

Such was the 507 roadster’s beauty, there was for a moment serious consideration given to the broad and shallow. Bottom right is one of privateer Willi Martini’s mid-engined BMW-powered racers with 507 frontal treatment which he hoped might enter factory production.

Up top, and despite its number plate, is a styling proposal for the Neue Klasse of the same grille school. With these three we are transported to an alternative universe where this becomes the marque face across all models.

But no.

Until a few years ago, that is. Where the 2023 Vision Neue Klasse varied from previous broad and shallow grille efforts was in the more sculptural approach to the nose and its cavities.

There will, of course, be those CC readers whose minds turn immediately to the 1961 Pontiac and 1966 Mustangs designed at Barris Kustom for Sonny and Cher as the inspiration for this nose. But no.

Though it doesn’t seem immediately obvious, I contend that the California Residence by Zaha Hadid was the primary influence on the neue Neue Klasse nose. To be clear, I am not talking about copying. These architectural renders are the inspiration, the starting point from which the BMW designers modified and massaged the form to advance the notion very effectively in an automotive context.

Her influence is something I covered ten years ago at CC for a piece on the Vision EfficientDynamics concepts car, and have just expanded upon at Driven To Write.

The primary influence on the rest of the Vision Neue Klasse was the Bertone Garmisch.

Conceived by Marcello Gandini, Garmisch was built amidst the infighting over BMW styling at the turn of the 1970s. It very nearly became the first 3 Series, with the actual prototype being paid for by Bertone in an effort to swing the conflict in their direction. The carrozzeria won the battle but – thanks to Bob Lutz – lost the war, and the prototype subsequently disappeared.

By the time BMW styling head Adrian van Hooydonk (left) discovered the car in archival photos, Bertone had fallen bankrupt. BMW needed to negotiate with the Italian Government, now in possession of the Garmisch drawings and their attendant intellectual property rights. That out of the way, another bodybuilder was found and the re-creation unveiled to the press in 2019 with Gandini (right) as honoured guest.

Garmisch’s most obvious mark on the BMW roadcar was a return to the deep and (relatively) narrow kidney grille seen on the 2021 M3 and M4, albeit not as stridently angular.

These being performance variants, they’ve earned a bespoke grille arrangement. Other models have been denied the depth, but the straightened edges of the Garmisch kidneys are applied across the board and for the most part the kidneys are broadened as per the above XM SUV. With that lumpen body and Label Red trim, this example is redolent of the term lipstick on a pig.

The Vision Neue Klasse, on the other hand, is the best-looking vehicle to emerge from BMW since the 2009 Vision EfficientDynamics. It bears little directly from its namesake, though it does share a lightness of form that made the 1961 model such a break from the larger 501/2 saloons.

As per the Hadid inspiration for the grille, Garmisch has informed its cleaner surfacing, crisp edging and tighter voluming, but the Bertone concept car is a starting point for the body and not the basis for a hommage. Notably, the Garmisch kidneys are absent.

It was launched as part of a family, though the top image appears to be an illustration only. The strippo model has its own charms, but the minivan is sorely lacking.

So is the SUV shown a little later. Those indecisive haunches over the wheels do everything to ruin the mastery of the sedan’s body language.

Every frigging SUV on the road is a clone of the other and here is the ideal opportunity to differentiate. I’d love to see a car-faced approach, rather like the Sbarro Windhound at top rendered with the precision of the Fiat 131 Abarth.

Speaking of wishes, this is a sedan begging for a Sportabout-type wagon treatment – or as the BMWians call it, a Touring.

As with the front and rear, the profile of the Vision Neue Klasse is faultless. But it does beg the question; who is this car for? The sedan is on the verge of extinction, being replaced by mullet four-door fastbacks (business up front, party at the rear) and I would be very disappointed to see that applied here.

Vision Neue Klasse does not map directly onto the current 3-Series, having a more cabin-forward shape. It may be that this language will be applied over the roadcar’s architecture, but that seems generations away and the Vision Neue Klasse could be in-market now. Should be. Just look at Hyundai’s Ioniq.

When Vision Neue Klasse was launched, I was under the impression it was to be a sub-marque – not quite MINI, but something running parallel to the current BMW range. The SUV is about to hit the market as the iX3, so maybe not.

If it does reach production I hope they keep the sedan as pure as the concept, and I pray they don’t add those neon kidneys up front.

 

Further Reading

1964 1800 Neue Klasse – The Car that Saved and Made BMW
by Paul N

Deadly Sins: BMW’s Brush With Death – The V8
by T87

How E12 Spelled the End for Bertone and Michelotti at BMW
by Don A

Concept Classic: 2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics
by Don A

Zaha’s Dynamic Ribbon
at Driven to Write