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BMW 7 Series review
“The BMW 7 Series is a machine with real character, which is a major achievement. And is this the best car interior in the world?”
Good stuff
Drives superbly, incredible refinement, fabulous interior
Bad stuff
Some of the tech is overwhelming, it’s heavy, the design will provoke debate
What is it?
This is the i7, BMW’s sixth pure electric car although it’s wrapped up in the guise of the all-new 7 Series. That’s right: rather than hive off its electric luxury limo in the manner of the Mercedes EQS or Porsche Taycan, the i7 arrives at the same time as the rest of the regular new 7 Series range. Eventually that’ll encompass an array of powertrains, including petrols and a diesel, all of them with mild-hybrid tech, and a plug-in hybrid. Though not all available in the UK, admittedly. ‘It’s a 7 Series, regardless of drivetrain,’ insists BMW.
This is the seventh generation of the company’s range-topper, a model which debuted in 1977 offering more poise and a greater dynamism than Mercedes’ rather patriarchal and uptight S-Class, and more modernism than Jaguar’s gin and cigars XJ. Close to two million have since been sold, and the innovations have come thick and fast.
Remember, it was 2001’s gen four car that ushered in the Bangle design era and premiered the over-wrought i-Drive. Yet the received wisdom is that the Mercedes S-Class has always had the edge as the putative ‘best car in the world’, which is probably rather annoying. You get the sense that BMW has chucked everything it knows into the new car in an effort to finally, definitively get the upper hand on the old foe.
The rules have changed, though, and the electric i7 moves centre stage as BMW re-frames the luxury car experience around on-board well-being, a class-leading digital experience via its new OS8 software, and standard-setting sustainability. Oh, and a huge 31.3in panoramic television (‘theatre’) screen that folds out of the roof for the rear-seat passengers. Everyone got very juiced up about that. Who knows, it might be good to drive, too.
Please tell us that it looks better in the flesh…
There’s no doubt BMW has committed itself to a challenging new design philosophy. Some critics – i.e. virtually all of the internet – seem to think the new 7 Series is further proof that BMW has taken leave of its senses (or less pleasant words to that effect). On the move, it kinda works. No, really. In white, with all the shiny bits in gloss black, or fully, erm, ‘murdered out’ in matt paint, it’s modern and defiantly, unapologetically different. The M Sport Package Pro helps, and adds 21in alloy wheels and bigger brakes (19in wheels are standard but under-nourished). Think all new cars look the same? Not here, they don’t.
That huge grille illuminates at night and the upper lights are the focal point, with the option of Swarovski ‘iconic glow’ crystal glass. This face sure is in-your-face. The low- and high-beam headlights are recessed into the front apron; adaptive LEDs are standard. The new 7 Series could flood-light a Coldplay concert.
Oddly enough, it’s not the split-level lights and brick out-house front end that bothers us, it’s the rear where the new 7 Series loses the courage of its convictions and becomes oddly generic. Which is ironic given the rumpus 2001’s E65 iteration caused back in the day.
Anyway, we had the chance to ask BMW’s CEO Oliver Zipse – the man who ultimately signs everything off – what gives. “If you want to change design, any step into the future which is perceived to be new will automatically be controversial,” he says. “There is no such thing as a future-oriented design without controversy. We want to spark discussion about what we’re doing. I want controversy. If we don’t have it, then you already know it’s too easy. Of course, you have to channel it into a decision, you can’t just let it fly. Then, out of the controversy you get engagement. Digitalise it, electrify it, make it a bit bigger. That’s the answer.”
Well, that’s his answer.
One last point: although it is bigger in every dimension and blocky looking, the long wheelbase-only new 7 Series is also highly aerodynamically efficient. This is key in the world of EVs, in which slipperiness equates to efficiency, and the i7’s drag coefficient is just 0.24. Back in the early Eighties aero was a big deal in car design. Well, it’s happening again, and it’s doing funny things to the way cars look.
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