I held off reading
the other thread until after attending the event last evening. Miami was chosen as the kick off city for several reasons, none of which had to do with the lease cap rate demographic. Invitations were sent to a vast range of individuals in order to accomplish the events goal. Some were relatively new to the BMW family, others long engrained, while some have never had a BMW in the household. The event will move on from here to 11 additional cities.
I don't post much on the forums due to the nature of my involvement in the auto industry so I will hold back some of what I already knew due to my involvement with product development and what I learned at the event. One of the biggest surprises is how active executives from BMW personally read these forums and do so every day.
Now, onto the car. I must say it came together better than I originally thought based off of technical drawings and the few uncovered spy shots floating around. It's not nearly as bulbous in person as in the images. More 6er Gran Coupe only slightly plumper in profile and rear/rear quarter view. The headlamps are sized in between the current F10 LCI with LED and the F15 X5. The smaller details on the exterior such as the side window moldings are exquisite. Personally though I can't seem to warm up to the straight on front view. There is one design detail that hasnt been seen since the E34 departed and its modern interpretation feels too pushed for my taste. Exterior colors are mostly carried over from current BMW offerings. BMW Individual will be more extensive than before however.
Interior is where this car shows steps ahead of the current 7er. I consider the overall design to be more evolutionary than revolutionary, but the detailing on the interior above the base model is something never seen before in a BMW. Details from the Vision Future Luxury have made it through to production with a bit of Rolls Royce sprinkled on top for good measure. It's stunning but at the same time I can't help but wonder if they've gone a bit too far in the passenger offerings for a brand who's Laurels are focused on the driving experience. None the less it's spectacular and most definitely class leading.
Technology is probably where I'm the least wowed. What's been expected for years is present, and despite understanding the process and implementation, still think it should and could have been done differently while still allowing for future growth and not introducing something overly radical like the introduction of iDrive for the first time...
- I'm dumbfounded by the touchscreen. Every car maker who still utilizes a touchscreen is reminded of this in nearly every consumer review. They're fine when stationary but difficult to use when the vehicle is in motion.
- Gesture Recognition I think is a great idea and where we're headed mainstream in the future. But I can see the reviews now with comments such as "moving as if conducting a symphony" and "I'm watching you Focker." I think there should be a few more gestures available on launch and the recognition area focused lower around the center console.
Adaptive Drive - why add a redundant button to tell the car to perform a function automatically when nearly every car has done so without the need for a button for decades past and will continue to do so whether it's pressed or not? And why are the suspension settings still labeled in a manner that I've seen cause more confusion for non enthusiast buyers than anything else I've seen for quite some time. How about Eco, Comfort, Automatic (where it defaults most of the time anyway) Sport, maybe Sport +?
- Ambient Lighting...it was too bright to truly get a feel for it. I just hope it's not as awful as the S65 I had last week. Great in photos but awful in person. Glass roof seems like it will be one of those novelty/new passenger conversation features that will begin to go unnoticed or become annoying over time.
- Camera Systems - I see where it's going in the near future and really wish it wasn't presented in the manner it was. It makes sense when taking remote parking into consideration but not as a way to avoid kerbing a wheel. I can see drivers now trying to adjust the view to avoid a kerb only to be startled by the collision avoidance triggering to prevent slamming into another object.
As critical as some of these are, many are easily rectified and one thing made up for almost all of them. BMW was kind enough to fly over a second M Sport Equipped car yesterday and if you know what to look for, it's even more special. Unlike the current Generation, the new M Sport makes the car. It's athletic yet refined and elegant and just makes the new 7 really stand out from the competition.
I give it a solid 8.5 out of 10 with M Sport, and with some tweaks here and there easily see it bumping up to a 9.5 in my book and make me reconsider the Ghost Series II I've ordered.