This is a home run for BMW. I think it looks terrific. Much better than my S580. Mercedes took zero chances with the W223 exterior. Looks basically the same as the W222. And the interior of the W223 is a complete miss. The interior of the 7 series is stellar, best in class by far.

 

I don't agree on any level, but theres a horse for every barn lol.

 

and there is an *** for every W222 seat.

 

You should trade your S Class on one immediately.

 

7er's should be at dealers, I was told by a friend he spotted one at my local dealer. Gonna try and see if I can find it sometime this week.

 

I’ll build in some time to swing by a couple of the dealers here too

 

I won’t trade. I will sell my S Class privately in approximately 2-3 years. I will definitely get this 7 series in due time. Hoping maybe Alpina gets a future chance at one. I have time to wait. The reviews of this 7 series are quite the endorsement. Everyone LOVES it. My W223 is competent but by no means exciting to drive.

 

Then why go through misery of driving s580 for another 2-3 yrs? Volvo is fine. Seems like you are not happy with s-class.

 

definitely not misery diving it, just boring. Will prefer to wait and see for an Alpina 7 series in 2-3 years if BMW decides to do it.

 

I believe its been rumored and hinted at by Alpina that this is the first generation in a long time that will not receive an Alpina variant.

 

yes, I saw that too but want to wait a few years to confirm it is a fact and not just a delay for the time being.

 

Here's a copy and paste of my post on Bimmerpost about the 7er after seeing one in person.


Went and looked at the new 7er this morning. Definitely a lot to take in. There are parts of this car that I really like, and then parts that just make me very annoyed because its an equal mix of brilliance and why the f*** did they do that. For those who want a read, my design analysis below.



Starting up front, it's obvious. What the f*** were they thinking. The big grills are already a lot, and then they make it worse by adding gloss black all over the front end, in the grills, headlights, lower bumper, its too much. Mixed with the chrome and contrasted to the white, its design overdose. One of the reasons I went for white on my S-Class was because I find that white and chrome flagships look particularly opulent and elegant. Here however, not so much.



Next issue is the lights, and there's a few reasons why. First, double headlights just look wrong. They add too much vertical height to the car, and the other issue is (like the G8X), the lines of the headlights don't match the grills. Every single design line on the front of this car is going in the opposite direction of one another. Another problem I have with this grill is the teeth. This car has serious under and overbite, and it reminds me of when an animal opens their mouth and shows their teeth. It just looks weird having part of the grills sticking out more than the other.




This is probably the first BMW in a while where I find the Luxury-Line front end to be preferable to the M-Sport front end, although on the 7er, you can only get Luxury-Line on the i7.

The side starts improving things. From the A-Pillar forward the front of the car is very blocky, they maybe tried to do a bit of a Rolls look there, but it doesn't match the back. I am glad to see a traditional and very large Hofmeister Kink. The side is very reminiscent of the E23 and E32. Not the biggest fan of the door handle design. Usability is fine, but from a design perspective they look a bit tacked on. I think they could be more flush, also not a fan of black handles, they remind me of older base Corollas and Civics with plastic handles, even the Porsche gloss black handles give me the same vibe. Character line doesn't pass through the handles, but the side does show restraint unlike the front. I also don't like the gloss black rocker panels, just not befitting a flagship car.



Same can be said for the rear, a nice restrained design with not too much going on. I wouldn't say it strikes me as a typical BMW design, but I think it works well, and interesting move putting the plate in the bumper, I like it. A bit much on the gloss black, but it's not as bad as the new 3er or 4ers' black plastic fins out back. Overall the sides are rear are nice, but the front is just so overdone compared to the understated sides and rear.



I really like the interior of this 7er. In my opinion they finally stepped the game up inside which the last two 7er's needed in order to set themselves a bit further apart from the 5er. The layout is very nice looking, I like the added details to the door panels from the speaker grills to the armrests, as well as the overall layered look. The seats look a bit like baseball mitts, but I like that they didn't overdo the cross-stitching over the LCI G11. A new and modern steering wheel is also a very welcome change. I also like the crystalized ambient lighting and think that's a nice touch.



It's not all roses though, as one main annoyance is the iDrive 8.0 system still needs some improvements. First, gauges still suck, and need different design schemes. Next, the HVAC menu is a mess. There are no buttons for any HVAC, including seat heaters/coolers. This all requires a menu deep dive through the touchscreen, and the iDrive controller can't access the menu without hitting the touchscreen. If you like to sit back it can be an annoying reach. The controller itself also doesn't move much, it uses haptic feedback for when you kick it in different directions or click down, which required me to look back a few times as I was unsure if I actually clicked down properly.



Another issue is menus in general. There's far too many. Open the apps drawer to access general items such as seat controls, assistance systems, lighting, etc. and you're greeted with at least five rows and probably thirty or so icons that all look the same. Some stuff just shouldn't be buried in there. For example, if you want to change the ACC distance, its in the iDrive settings, despite having a blank area on the steering wheel controls perfect for it. Brake recuperation modes for the i7, are in the menu, even the sunshades for the rear do not go up with the window switches, but instead are in a menu. There is definitely a steeper learning curve than ever for iDrive, one I'm sure that many will get use to, but it would be nice to have more shortcut buttons and quick keys for things like seat heating/cooling, or driver's assist.



Overall, car is both fantastic and questionable in many areas at the same time. If they had just designed a proper front end it would be so close to a home run in my opinion. Oh well, perhaps the LCI will make things better.

 

You are on a roll! Yesterday you said you will look for it and today you are already sharing your impressions on it : )

 

That is a stunningly beautiful and elegant car. If they had produced that, there is no chance I would have switched brands to Mercedes S 580.

 

The day got away from me and I wasn't able to go see if any of the dealers here had one, very cool you found one. I think the car is much more attractive without the M Sport package...really a shame its only available on the i7.

Really?! I just don't see it. Elegant?!

 

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, there are certainly things that some people will like about this car and I guess I am just glad there is a car for everyone to suite each and everyone's wants and needs, glad competition exists for those that don't like MB, there is BMW and for those who don't like BMW there is audi etc. Agree with forum member js_cls the side profile really is nice and the rear as well, as for the front, it might grow on me xD.

 

I just don't see anything about it thats "elegant"...

 

Nasty front end. It hurts my eyes. The grille is OK but the piano black plastic is terrible.

Rear diffuser looks like a filled-up diaper.

Side view looks good. Overall the proportions and silhouette look good. The design language and graphic design is bad.

 

I watch this guy fairly often; has an older school view of things. He was more positive in his S Class reviews (appeared to like it) but had gripes there with the lack of knobs and switchgear. One thing I note in all the video reviews of this car where they show operation of the rear control screens: Those things are slow and respond poorly.

 

I Was talking about this Edited picture, taken from Reddit, posted much earlier on this thread. If BMW had used this design, I would never have switched to the S class.

 

Even this would have been more palatable

 

Guys, are we buying our cars mostly for the appearance or we really care about how advanced the car is and how it drives ( ok, beside the appearance ) ?
Appearance wise this Bimmmer may not the most appealing car around but if it drives like the 7 Series I've had it could easily be a real winner !
And I remember when the 7 Series "Bangle butt" with the "mouse" came on the market, (which I've bought it and loved it ) everybody was *****ing.....guess what all the cars has that today !

 

Frankly, I'm more concerned about the BMW version of "Ambient" interior lighting. The videos I have seen make it look like a pinball arcade in Tokyo. The colored lighting doesn't look "ambient" at all, it looks like it is right in your face and a bit nuts.

 

BMW did a great job on the interior IMO; the outside is painful to look at. Definitely a car that works only in dark colors; I for one like the two tone paints here and on the Maybach.

 

Both. I'm not buying a car purely for appearance, however looks are an important part of a purchase for me. If I am paying well above six-figures, I want the car to fit my needs for looks. I look at my car everyday, so it can't be something that I strongly don't like.