The E46 and E39 are one of my favourite cars. Great looks and pure Inline 6 BMW feeling.
Nowadays the design of most of their cars is unfortunately quite ugly, not sure what they are aiming at.
Well, since China is such a huge market for BMW, I think that they want their cars to look like they were designed in China, or at least to blend in with Chinese cars somewhat. I think that's what they are aiming at. It's the only thing that makes sense.
Someone should take the pics of their historical models and add their idea of the modern grille onto each one...
Let their ugliness for ever and eternity be a testament to how whole swaths of western economies for over a decade confused „productivity gains“ with „skimming off China‘s growth“