--- title: "BMW’s Design Team Gets a Massive Shake-Up. Will This Fix Things?" date: "2024-09-13" modified: "2024-09-13" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/bmws-design-team-gets-a-massive-shake-up-will-this-fix-things" categories: - "BMW News" - "News" - "News by Brand" tags: - "3 Series" - "BMW" - "sedan" --- # BMW’s Design Team Gets a Massive Shake-Up. Will This Fix Things? ![]() *BMW* BMW is making big changes in its design department. Depending on how you feel about the brand's recent design choices, that could be a very good thing—especially since the Bavarians are getting some very talented help from other automakers. However, the biggest change happens near the top. While Adrian van Hooydonk remains the design director for the entire [BMW]() Group—which includes BMW, Rolls-Royce, and Mini—BMW's head of design Domagoj Dukec is moving over to [Rolls-Royce](). Dukec's previous responsibilities will now be shared by two people: Maximilian Missoni and Oliver Heilmer. Missoni comes from Polestar, where he spent the last six years as the brand's head of design. Before that, he was at Volvo for almost nine years, leading the brand's exterior design. He's going to be in charge of BMW's mid-class and luxury cars, as well as Alpinas. Essentially, Missoni will handle everything from the 5 Series and up. Considering that Volvo has made some of the sharpest-looking cars on the market in recent years, this is likely great news for BMW customers. ![]() **BMW** Heilmer will be a familiar name for BMW fans as he's been Mini's design leader since 2017. Now, he'll lead BMW's more entry-level models, such as the 2 Series, 3 Series, X1, and X2. Most of BMW's future interiors will be the work of Claudia Braun, who's been BMW's head of color and material design. Before that, she held the same position at Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, and Mercedes. Another interesting hire, or should I say re-hire, is the return of Anders Warming, who steps aside as Rolls-Royce's design director. Warming was previously part of the BMW design team under Chris Bangle and was responsible for the E85-generation Z4, one of my favorite modern BMW designs. Then he did his own thing with his own firm before going to Rolls-Royce. Now, Warming will be in charge of BMW's Advanced Design and Designworks teams, which are responsible for many of BMW's concept cars and design technologies. ![]() **BMW** Let me put a fine point on all this info: It might mean the end of massive, absurd kidney grilles on BMWs. The controversial details on cars like the BMW X7, M3, 7 Series, and XM all came under Dukec. With BMW's upcoming [Neue Klasse]() designs showing promise, it has a good team of talented people with a recent history of making good-looking cars to lead the way. *Got tips? Send 'em to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()