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The design of Vision Future Luxury Concept appears to be an evolution of the Gran Lusso Coupé Concept developed in partnership with Pininfarina and unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2013: while the new show car has different lines and details, the overall exterior approach and surface treatment shows many common elements.
Among these are some of the character-defining lines – like the sharp shoulder line; the 3D front grille; the thin-shaped headlights and tail lights which respectively adopt Laserlight and OLED technology; the 5-spoke wheels with their intricate shapes; the overall stance.
The silhouette features a coupé-style roofline and sloping trunk lid, a long wheelbase, short overhangs and low, and set-back greenhouse.
Particular attention was paid to the aerodynamic efficiency: among the specific solutions are the Air Breather system at the rear of the front wheel arch, a C-pillar with internal air channelling, and openings in the rear apron which vent air from the wheel arches.
Among the distinctive details are the side mirrors, which appear to grow organically out of the chrome window trim. Designed as a visual continuation of the chrome trim, their slender stalk is attached to the mirror from below, giving it a graceful and effortless appearance, almost as if it were hovering in mid-air.
The concept is painted in Liquid Platinum Bronze paintwork, which generates a warm, shimmering effect.
Interior Design
The interior has a distinctive design, derived from the principle of subtractive modelling: the general structure is integrated with the exterior through a common underlying layer in carbon fiber,
An initial base layer of fine carbon fabric is followed by a functional level featuring user interface components, control and display interfaces and lighting functions, which in turn is followed by a further structural, load-bearing layer of aluminium for additional strength.
Finally, the top layers comprise wood, then leather, to create a warm and comfortable ambience. In a given area of the interior, the multi-layer structure is “milled down” to the appropriate depth depending on what surface material and what function is required.
This solution helps reducing the overall weight and allows virtually seamless transitions and very elegant, fluid surfaces.
The carbon construction integrates the seat frames into the load-bearing structure, while the connections to the door sills and center console allow to have a small and unobtrusive B-pillar.
The cabin is also enhanced by a number of jewel-shaped details and by the thin LED strips that echo the exterior light graphic theme.
The driver is surrounded by a wrap-around cluster of three intermeshing displays featuring three-dimensional display technology means that at the visual level the instrument panel styling appears to carry over into the displays themselves so that the interior space seems to continue into the solid structures of the instrument panel, generating an impression of unprecedented depth and spaciousness.
The rear passengers seat in two large, deeply contoured single seats. A retractable table, the angled Rear Seat Displays and the rigid backs of the front seats create a very private ambience, sectioning this area off from the rest of the interior.
The sense of privacy is accentuated by modern, flowing geometry and the use of select materials, with lavish wood surfaces extending from the rear parcel shelf to enfold the rear seat occupants in a cosseting three- dimensional space.
Below we report some additional details selected from the official press release.
Designers’ statements
“Innovative technology and modern luxury have always been an important part of BMW’s brand DNA,” says Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design.
“We use visionary concept vehicles like the BMW Vision Future Luxury to show where we may be going with these themes in the future, and to give us new inspiration and motivation. The BMW Vision Future Luxury – with its innovative technologies and with meticulous precision and quality in every detail – takes our thinking on modern luxury a logical stage further.”
Karim Habib, Head of BMW Design, commented: “The design of the BMW Vision Future Luxury is the messenger of our philosophy of modern luxury, one in which innovative technologies play a key and vital role. These innovations deliver a new, multifaceted luxury experience that spans intelligent lightweight engineering, innovative interior design and a radically new user interface design,”
Lighting technology
BMW Laserlight
This new technology not only paves the way for a very flat and dynamic interpretation of the typical BMW twin round headlamps, it also sets completely new standards in terms of brightness, range and intensity. The concentrated, parallel light beam is up to ten times more intense than that of an LED system. The reduced energy consumption and packaging requirements of laser lights make this technology a prime candidate for use in future vehicles.
Underneath the headlights, the assertive multi-material front apron accentuates the elegant front-end styling. At the outboard ends of the apron, graceful carbon air deflectors conceal a range of BMW EfficientDynamics aerodynamics features. The thin-walled air deflectors are made of carbon, a further reminder of the intelligent lightweight engineering concept of the BMW Vision Future Luxury. A slender chrome strip on the air deflectors highlights the airflow system.
OLED lighting at the rear
The horizontal lines of the side profile glide gently away at the rear in a final expansive flourish. As at the front, the body styling in this area is deliberately understated, allowing the innovative, narrow and slender lights to make a powerful statement. For the first time on a BMW the rear lighting is provided by organic LEDs, paving the way for a completely new treatment of the typical BMW L-shaped lights. The BMW Vision Future Luxury’s L-shaped rear lights comprise a large number of small, likewise L-shaped OLEDs.
An organic LED consists of wafer-thin organic semiconductor layers positioned between two electrodes. The light-emitting polymer layer is only approx. 400 nanometres thick, making it roughly 400 times thinner than a human hair. Organic LEDs are not only extremely thin, as well as flexible, they also produce very uniform illumination over their entire surface. Due to their very thin dimensions, and since they do not require reflectors in order to produce the desired broad light dispersion, they open up completely new ways of using light in and around the vehicle.
(Source: BMW)
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