Without immediately on the horizon (you may save an EV model), BMW has already tacitly recognized that the Sport Activity Coupé (SAC) segment is shrinking. But as early as 2004, the idea of a shoppy, winding SUV, was still a bit pretty novel. And before the X6’s debut in 2007, BMW had a concept vehicle built to demonstrate the idea: the BMW ice cream.
The BMW ICE concept provided the stage for X4, X6 and later X2,
The “multi-purpose vehicle”, as BMW sees it, is a prototype built by Munich with only two doors and is based on the all-wheel drive center of the BMW X5, which was published at the time. However, it is important that the design was actually treated by BMW Designworks in California. It mixed the above -mentioned formation of the BMW SUV series with the interior withdrawn from a BMW Z4 Roadster. The result was, as BMW put it, “perfect for dealing with the into and from the airy lifestyle of the California lifestyle of the early 2000s”. Despite the concept apparently very much Laissez-Faire Attitude, the name of the Eiss itself stood for integrated concept technology. This is shortly before summoning pictures of California beaches and simple life.
Another area in which the integrated concept technology can be considered “short” is the interior. As already mentioned, the ice has advertised the interior of a Z4. The Z4 is not exactly the most spacious interior, and the ice therefore throws into a tiny rear seat for a real 2+2 configuration. This is much smaller than the X4, X6 or even the BMW X2 we know today. All of these are true four doors. The proportions of the ice were also not the only thing that had shrunk relative to the X6. The ice has less ground release than an X3 and is also shorter. In many ways, the ice was a real pre -production X4.
The BMW ice cream mixed old and new ones
While the integrated concept technique has a clearly unique silhouette, they do not have to look too hard to recognize bits that were either borrowed from other contemporary vehicles or were later presented in production models. The headlights are very LCI E60 5 series with an “eyebrow” strip, and the taillights are similar to what has landed on the BMW X6 of the first generation. That means: A lot of uniqueness happens here. For example, the side mirrors have installed headlights in the housing, and the tailgate is a divided design that works more like a slanted rear. If necessary, you can collect the glass regardless of the fold -out tailgate. In any case, BMW missed X6 on production.
[Photo Credit: Gudrun Muschalla for BMW AG]
