Fake shadows and fake light is not good craftsmanship. It makes sense for a logo on a flat piece of paper to look flat and look beveled and shadowed on a badge.
This evolution of the logo is bad, but not because it's flat.
This evolution of the logo is bad, but not because it's flat.
Like you're saying, the client very well might be requesting and choose a design that looks like it was made by an amateur.
Envision a black ring instead of black, no white border, and the letters B M W in a tighter, more modern sans serif. That could have been slick.