In this case you’d probably like the B7 over the M760. They both have similar hp, but the B7 is designed with a sport-like throttle in mind, wherein the M760 is designed with a smooth executive drive in mind (let’s say LS Lexus like drive) for comfort, so it makes sense that the throttle was designed that way. I’ve always had hard time to decide if I really like the B7 or the M760 more. As for the LCI, well, the ugly exterior styling is a no-go really for me. If a car needs to grow on me, then it’s not for me at first place. Good looking cars don’t need to grow on people, it’s only the poorly designed vehicles. As an example the new X7 LCI ugly front end has grown on me, but I know it’s still ugly : ) Not the best looking car. I also don’t like how high the new 7-series stands (actual difference might not be much, but it looks like it’s standing really high design wise). Big disappointment. Am a big big big BMW fan and a loyal customers, but recent BMW design language sucks.

 

Honestly, keeping these new “computers on wheels” much beyond 3 years does not appear to be attractive to me. I can’t imagine keeping one of these things “forever.”

$1700.00 per month sounds much better than the $2700+ I was paying on my 2022 S580 lease.

 

To you more knowledgeable BMW folks: What do they call the BMW equivalent of the MB Dealer Ordering Guide?

 

Thats where I am at. If I could get the 760 or 750e in the luxury trim I would do that now.

Agreed!

 

You can treat the online configurator as the order guide. BMW is way better in that regard.

 

It's called (or the best one for what you need is) the "Pricing Guide". It is a document that shows the full list of all options by name, and by code, and it also tells you exactly the cost for each (or if it's standard) for each trim separately. Also, it tells you for each option code what other options are mandatory or can not be ordered together.

I would not use the configurator if you want to customize a special car. BMW used to not include some features from time to time on the online configurator which you'd need to plan for with your dealer (following the pricing guide) to build it for what you need. I would use the configurator then to show the visuals (colors, etc) and so on. You will not miss any potential feature that you may want to wait for using the Pricing Guide, while the configurator may or may not include all the options.

Examples below for the Pricing Guide of a 2020 G12:

 

Always the case when ordering that, you get your conceptual idea of what you want from the configurator, and then you go see what you can build at the dealership. It's not just missing options, you also have constraints, holds, and so on.

It's also a good idea to see colors, trims, try suspension options, and anything else that may have subjective qualities in person before committing. Due diligence isn't always possible for every item, but you should, at the least, be able to reduce your regret window.

I went to Porsche when BMW ruined their last real M car so it's been a while but the last few I ordered over there, the dealer nailed the timing, and they were exactly as ordered.

 

A new Audi A8 is supposed to be coming out next year. I really enjoyed my last Audi and was on the verge of buying it outright after the lease. It was one of the few cars I’ve owned that zero issues and not one squeak or rattle throughout my three years of ownership.

Audi’s have always been very visually restrained/undercover, which can be good or bad depending on your preference, and they always tend to look better in person (like the Q8, which I really like as well). I would likely get the new A8 over the BMW 7 just on aesthetics alone, assuming Audi doesn’t go crazy with the redesign.

https://www.motor1.com/news/663519/a...l-audi-report/

 

I LOVED the A8 60 I drove before I got my S560. It drives great, their V8 was great...I just didn't like how plain the car was outside. Now the V8 is gone in everything but the S8 unfortunately...Audis leases are also terrible, several hundred dollars more than the S560 a month for a car that was $15,000 cheaper.

 

I had obtained one of these “Pricing Guides” several years ago and the one thing I remember is that BMW seemed to offer option packages and then, if you didn’t want all the items in a certain package, some—or possibly all—of the options were available as stand alone choices. I found this to be very attractive and I’m wondering if this is still the case. I’m also curious about the “BMW Individual Composition” and what can be done with that.

 

Yes, you would need to use the Pricing Guide like I said instead of the configurator to get to that level of customization. If the pricing guide does not restrict two individual options (or state that it demands another one), then you could always build individual packages however you like. My former X7 was built and customized that way, every single option was an individually added option. Not sure why Mbenz doesn't do that, but I've always found the BMW dealer experience as far as buying a car to be much better than Mbenz. Even the BMW community is more collaborative, wherein the Mbenz owners focus on questions and answers than collaborative projects. The nice things I enjoy about the BMW community is that it's easy to find multiple resources and forum guides on nice DIY projects that Mbenz owners don't focus much on. A lot of the DIY (at least for the S-class) projects seemed to be ghosted by greedy vendors trying to steal your money and promote themselves sharing lies and fake perfect reviews despite their bad reputation everywhere. Regardless, the level of professionalism by car owners and fans on this forum is superior to any other forum or brand, so don't get me wrong.

Also, BMW service experience was much better and reasonably priced too (150 USD was the limit for all my BMWs regardless of the trim) vs the non-sense 600-800 USD that Mbenz dealers charge stacking battery replacements and non sense fuel injector or fuel stabilizer additives for 100s of dollars when all I needed was filters and oil change! Plus, BMW never charged me money for diagnosis fees on my cars when the warranty expired. Parts have always arrived super quickly even when I needed taillights for my X7 from Germany (replaced, no question asked, as they were building cloudy from condensation).

I am a BMW fan, I admit, and if it wasn't for the S-class experience, I would never ever consider Mbenz. I am looking forward to the W223 facelift, and if it is not up to my expectations, I might be out of Mbenz for at least 6 years which never happened before in my case for that long. I always had at least one Benz. If that happens, I might replace our relatively new Accord as bonus car with an E-class if the trade-in make sense as pre-owned with another pre-owned, but am not holding my breath. I really hate to leave the brand, but the W223 is pushing me to do so.

 

I did the Enterprise Q8 as a rental a few years ago; I was perfectly happy with it. For me it's the best look of the bunch when compared to the other VAG offerings on the platform.

 

I know how you feel.
Of the various BMW forum sites, which one do you feel is best, from a non-performance oriented point of view?

 

100% Bimmerpost.

 

Thanks. “Streamliner” now has a presence there—Heaven help them!

It’s interesting that one of the first threads I read there was about wind noise coming through the door seals on the new 7. In that thread, people were complaining about diminished build quality over previous 7 series models. In another thread, new 7 series drivers were complaining of bent rims and blown tires. I had to do a double take and make sure I wasn’t here on W223! Just a sign of the times I guess.

 

I am also on the bimmerpost 7 series forums. The bent rims thread was from the older 2020 7 series owner which posted in the the wrong new 7 series forum otherwise no other complaints of wheel tire problems unlike the S class. The wind noise was fixed on an updated TSB and I took one for a test drive a few weeks back and it was so quiet and I was impressed. Will be testing another one on the 21 inch rims as the previous test drive was on 20s. Most likely I will order the new 7 with the 20s.

 

I drove both the 760 and the i7 up to 90 MPH and I detected no wind noise that was problematic.

 

I have to admit that all my BMWs have more wind noise than the W222. Recent BMWs are known to have some level of wind noise. It’s not excessive, but non of them was as perfect as my W222 and it bothers me at least for the X7 knowing that the MSRP is almost similar to the W222. I test drove a lot of 2020-2022 7-series vehicles and they had similar wind noise to my X7, X5 or 5-series. I test drove the new 7-series but not in a windy day. All my BMWs fail the wind noise in a windy day. They do just fine in a normal day, but not as good as the W222 in a windy day. The new 7-series forum members would likely tell u the same (which I think you’ve already noticed).

 

That’s right, there was an SIB as BMW has formally acknowledged the issue for all 7-series trims, however, almost all owners who got the new seals and the SIB done reported that the issue was NOT solved. At the very best, some said that it was reduced, but not eliminated. It’s a common issue. If you don’t hear it, it still exits. Doesn’t seem to be a solution yet. I hope it’s not the mirror design (some have suspected that it’s the car body angle and mirror design in that area (front of driver and passenger doors). The car cabin is so quite that makes noises worse. I don’t trust BMW to “fully” fix this issue or to completely eliminate the noise (i’ve had this issue in all my recently/modern BMWs like I said). The quietness of the i7 magnifies an issue that BMW already has in many of their cars (my perosnal opinion).

 

The G70 7s I have driven have less wind noise than my W222. The G12 I agree had more wind noise than the W222. The G70 is really really quiet.

 

I went in for my second 2500 dollar windshield yesterday and decided to walk down to the BMW dealer while I waited. It's a small dealership, maybe 70-80 cars on the lot; I'd say more than a third of those were EVs. The salesman came up saying good discounts were to be had on EVs on the lot; he went on to say this was becasue BMW wanted the dealership to discount them to get more people interested in the new tech. I'm figuring it's more likely they aren't moving very well, and they floored too many, but I'm a bit of a cynic about such things. In any event, all the 7s were EV, all had the black interior, all but one was black with a white car rounding out the exterior options. All but one was fairly loaded. I didn't go for a test drive; no chance I would buy one. I find the quality a bit of a push compared to the S class. Things feel more solid but don't look as nice. The infotainment can be laggy in some areas which is a pet peeve of mine.

I don't see myself in one; I still detest the front styling and I'm ambivalent about the interior. I didn't feel any itches to pull the trigger unlike the M8 Gran Coupe which it turns out is ridiculously fast and really pegged my hootometer.

 

It's quite per your experience, but so many owners reported that they were not happy with the new G12 on windy days. It is the most common reported issue based on what I've seen. This is very well documented with lots of complaints, that even BMW themselves admitted it and issued an SIB. So whether you experienced it or not is one thing, but excessive wind noise DOES exist and it's real. I haven't driven the i7 during a windy day, so I can't speak to that but it's well documented that on a windy day that new 7 is not as good as other vehicles in that price range like the S-class

 

I think the newer 2024 units likely have the SIB and design change already implemented. I don't deny people had issues, but wind noise is something I'm really attuned to and I specifically was listening for it in the units I drove last week.

The W222 isn't as isolated from wind noise as my LS460s were...it is better isolated from road noise. The W223 is quieter than the W222.

 

They don't (not sure about very recent ones though), and even if they do, like I said all those who did the SIB reported that it didn't work or at the very best didn't fully address the issue.

 

Not sure where you are reading that, I post on BimmerPost in the G70 forums also: