What if the cowling came from the sides of the engine pods/tanks out to the edge of the saucer, with the ring being the inside edge? That way there wouldn't be so many overlapping elements to that area.
Edit: I updated the rotate animation with the high-poly version.
It also occurs to me that I kind of like the current back as the front. Especially when it is turned on its side. Would need something added for the thrusters, but that wouldn't be too hard. Could add the fin to the back and mount them there or put them on the 'arms' of the broken ring. Then the engine pods on my variant could be turned into weapons or sensors.