Every brand has a design moment that divides the fan base, and at BMW it wasn’t a grille (at least not 25 years ago), a screen or even the original iDrive controller that sparked the loudest arguments. It was a suitcase. More specifically, it was the early 2000s BMW 7 Series E65, whose raised, stepped trunk lid caused a backlash so severe that BMW still has the nickname “Bangle Butt” today.
Two decades later, it’s still one of the quickest ways to light up a comments section, partly because it’s genuinely divisive and partly because it’s become shorthand for an entire era of BMW design. But the part that’s lost in the meme is that the form wasn’t simply an act of provocation or a designer waking up and choosing violence. It was a conscious idea with real logic behind it, and it ended up influencing far more than people would like to admit.
What is the “Bangle Butt”?
“Bangle Butt” is enthusiast slang for a BMW rear end theme that emerged in the early 2000s – most famously on the E65/E66 7 Series – in which the trunk lid sits unusually high, forming a visible “step” at the rear of the car. Instead of flowing smoothly from the rear fenders into the trunk lid, as was the case in older BMWs, the E65’s rear looks layered, almost as if a second surface was stacked on top to form a shelf-like upper deck.
From certain angles, the raised deck makes the car appear heavier and taller at the back, which is exactly why the design attracted so much attention in the first place. As the E65 became the flagship model, the moniker was increasingly applied to other BMWs of the period with similarly pronounced high-deck proportions, as the same theme was repeated throughout the model range.
Why the name?
The “Bangle” part comes from Chris Armreif, the design chief at the time when BMW decided to play it safe. This era wasn’t about gentle evolution or polishing the same silhouette – BMW wanted its cars to feel new in a way that was immediately recognisable, even if that meant alienating loyalists who preferred the familiar 1990s playbook.
The “butt” part is exactly what it sounds like: a blunt enthusiast nickname for a rear end that looked clunky, high, and (to many eyes at the time) awkward. It’s not sophisticated, but it’s memorable – and once a nickname like that sticks, it tends to become the whole story.
Quick reality check: Bangle didn’t “pull the butt”
This is where the internet version of the narrative gets a little too neat. Bangle was the design leader and public face of BMW’s style shift, which is why his name became associated with everything people loved and hated about that era. But the design of the E65 7 Series is closely linked to Adrian van Hooydonk’s team, working under the leadership of Breif, which is important because BMW Design is not a one-person show.
Bangle set the direction, pushed the philosophy, and created an environment in which a car like the E65 could leave the studio. However, the execution came from the team, and that’s an important distinction when you’re trying to tell the story as more than just a cheap punchline.
So what did BMW want to do with this trunk?
The high-deck tail wasn’t a coincidence, and it wasn’t just about being controversial. A common explanation is aerodynamics: a higher rear deck can act like an integrated spoiler and a cleaner airflow break, which can improve high-speed stability, even if the effect isn’t noticeable in everyday driving.
It was also about presence and proportion, because replacing the E38 7 Series – one of BMW’s most globally respected designs – was always going to be risky. The E65 didn’t aim to be a mild update; He wanted to look modern, solid and distinctively new, and a taller, more upright rear end is one of the quickest ways to give a large sedan a more imposing look.
And finally, it fit with the broader design language that BMW was exploring at the time. In the early 2000s, BMW relied on more complex surfaces and stronger cutting lines, so the E65’s rear end was not an isolated decision, but rather a loud expression of a larger change.
Why did people hate it so much?
Because BMW buyers didn’t expect a design revolution in the 7 Series. What they wanted – whether they said it out loud or not – was the best version of an E38, and the E65 wasn’t interested in playing that game. The rear seemed big and heavy, the “step” felt abrupt, and the interaction between the trunk line and the taillights made the whole thing seem stacked rather than formed.
As the nickname caught on, the design was no longer discussed as a topic in its own right. The conversation became less about what BMW was trying to do and more about whether the car was “ruined” by the trunk, and that’s exactly what led to the “Bangle Butt” becoming a cultural reference rather than a design criticism.
Then a funny thing happened: it became relevant
What’s interesting is that the controversy hasn’t simply disappeared over the years; Instead, there was a gradual change in opinion. As the industry moved toward sharper curbs, taller trunk lids and more aggressive pavement, the E65 no longer looked like a foreign object but began to read like an early, unfiltered version of ideas that would later become more mainstream.
At the same time, the E65 gained a real following – not just contrarians who wanted to be different, but also enthusiasts who see it as a turning point when BMW chose impact over consensus and accepted that not everyone had to agree. The E65 didn’t magically become beautiful to people who hated it, but it did acquire historical significance, and that’s why it’s still discussed with a kind of grudging respect.
Did BMW fix the “Bangle Butt”?
BMW did what BMW often does when a design gets too loud: it refined the execution. In the E65 facelift, the rear was smoothed and resolved without abandoning the general idea of the high deck. This is another way of saying that BMW hasn’t completely retreated – it’s just dialed back the harshness so that the overall shape seems more cohesive.
The “Bangle Butt” isn’t just a nickname for a controversial suitcase; It is a common feature of BMW design that aims to continue to set new standards over time. And we’ve seen that quite a bit in recent years.
