An automaker’s design group desires its merchandise to be identifiable, ideally even earlier than you discover the badge. Apart from the long-lasting roundel, BMWs are chock-full of design parts that set them aside from the competitors.
There’s the unmistakable twin kidney grille and double headlights up entrance, whereas the rear sometimes includes a refined L-shaped motif embedded within the taillights. What in regards to the profile? Enter the Hofmeister kink (knick in German).
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What Is The Hofmeister Kink?
Picture by: BMW
Whereas it traces its roots to design sketches from the Fifties, the Hofmeister Kink didn’t seem on a manufacturing mannequin till the 3200 CS (pictured above) and 1500 launched in 1961. Nonetheless, it’s essential to notice that BMW didn’t invent what later grew to become an instantly recognizable design trait.
Some American vehicles, such because the Kaiser Deluxe, featured the edgy rear-pillar design accent within the late Forties and early Fifties. Italians additionally beat BMW to the punch with the Lancia Flaminia.
That stated, it’s BMW’s consistency that turned it right into a defining design factor after its introduction on Bavarian fashions some 65 years in the past. As you’ll be able to think about, the Hofmeister kink obtained its title from the person who first utilized it to a BMW: Wilhelm Hofmeister. The longtime Director of Physique Engineering and Improvement got here up with the concept of the tight curve within the rearmost aspect window.
The Hofmeister Kink’s Staying Energy
Picture by: BMW
BMW Group Design Id’s David Carp defined in an article for the BMW M magazine that the kink wasn’t born out of necessity, but it surely does ship tangible benefits.
‘One practical profit is that the kink permits for a bigger aspect window space within the door with out having to include a further window earlier than the C-pillar. From a design perspective, the curve creates better pressure within the strains and surfaces, leading to a extra dynamic aspect view. It makes a car’s look extra sturdy with out including bulkiness.’
In an interview with MotorTrend again in 2015, former BMW design chief Chris Bangle detailed the 2 benefits of getting a Hofmeister kink:
‘One, it permits a reasonable-sized fastened glass triangle to provide the rear door window a stabilizing ‘straight’ drop information, allowing it to be way back to attainable and nonetheless get the glass down all the best way.
Secondly, it extends the daylight opening of the higher with its additional piece of glass and pushes the door’s opening line far again over the wheelhouse, permitting a greater entry/exit. Whether it is too ‘pinched’ and prolonged, it truly makes opening the door tougher. However starting the curve of the opening round such a ‘knick’ is an efficient option to get a helpful opening.’
Some say the design factor kinks ahead to evoke the rear-wheel-drive character of all BMWs. Effectively, “all” till front-wheel-drive fashions arrived in 2014 with the two Collection Energetic Tourer minivan. Regardless of the case could also be, BMW admits that, again within the day, legendary Italian designers reminiscent of Giovanni Michelotti and Giorgetto Giugiaro straight influenced the Hofmeister kink.
Hofmeister’s Historical past
(left to proper) Hofmeister, Fiedler, Wolff, von Falkenhausen with a BMW 1500 in 1970.
Picture by: BMW
Initially a mechanical engineer, Hofmeister headed BMW’s design division from 1955 till 1970, when the legendary Paul Bracq changed him. Very similar to the kidney grille, the kink has advanced over the many years and stays a signature design trait right this moment.
Nonetheless, it hasn’t been used universally, as some fashions skipped it altogether, together with the Z3 M Coupe, the quirky i3 hatchback, and wagons reminiscent of the unique 5 Collection Touring.
After all, BMW doesn’t personal a design patent for the kink, since different automakers have used it over time. Nonetheless, there’s a superb probability it’s the primary model that involves thoughts the subsequent time you see it. That sense of familiarity has cast a connection spanning many years, and it is nonetheless going robust right this moment.
