Hate BMW's Massive Kidney Grilles? Blame This Concept Car

It was also a way for the brand to further differentiate the 3 and 4 Series lineups.

Photo by: BMW

By: Anthony Alaniz

Aug 22, 2025 at 1:00pm ET

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The big kidney grille that BMW introduced on the second-generation 4 Series was controversial from the start. It was a departure from the expected and turned off enthusiasts. BMW claimed it'd received positive feedback about the design, defending the styling choice. But if you were one of those people who mashed their keyboards in disgust at the sight of the thing, you can now direct your complaints to the culprit—the 3.0 CSL Hommage R.

The car debuted a decade ago, a wild, wide-bodied coupe that caught the eye of Ian Robertson, a BMW Sales and Marketing board member. According to BMW Blog, sourcing quotes and other information from Steven Saxty's book, BMW By Design, Robertson liked the grille so much that he wanted BMW to use it on a production vehicle.

So, he started to advocate for it.

At the time, grilles were already getting larger, Robertson said, and he thought the Hommage's grille served a better design direction. It also allowed the automaker to "make a greater statement of differentiation between the 3 Series sedan and 4 Series and our other coupes." And the 4 Series, including the M4, "made perfect sense" for it.

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Was it the right move? Robertson said all you have to do is look at the car's "strong sales."

"I'd say it was the right thing to do," he said.