The BMW 7 Series just dropped in the heart of Manhattan, and in Beijing, simultaneously. That’s fitting, because those are the two main poles of the luxury market, although perhaps a better North American location for this car’s debut may have been in Silicon Valley.
That’s because it comes bristling with tech that, in person, is almost overwhelming to comprehend. I’ve just had the briefest of experiences tapping screens and haptic-feedback “buttons,” but even so, it’s fairly clear BMW wants its flagship to be uniquely tech-forward. And in some ways, their solution for this finally addresses the fatal pitfall that Tesla created with the Model S, and every carmaker fell into subsequently. Here’s a quick-and-dirty explanation of what I mean, and why BMW’s solution was long overdue.
The Digital Tablet Conundrum
When Tesla debuted the Model S back in 2012, it wasn’t just a groundbreaking EV. It gave automakers a “hack” that provided permission to mount a dirt-cheap digital tablet on the dash of their cars. Tesla went so far as to remove any instrumentation in front of the driver, which, fortunately, most other carmakers didn’t ape. But central touchscreens became the icky norm, and the reality of tapping and swiping, rather than just using physical interfaces for mundane tasks like turning up the audio volume or turning down the temperature, suddenly required balletic dexterity that—duh—also took our eyes off the life-or-death task of driving.
The Panoramic iDrive Solution
BMW‘s “fix” for the problem of too many screens is to add yet another layer of them. This might sound like stomping on your toes to ignore the pain in another part of your body, but in many ways this is actually the most natural progression of two problems, one old, and one new. The Model S-era issue was centralizing all functions into a tablet, which takes the driver’s eyes off the road. Sit in the new 7 Series, however, and BMW’s Panoramic iDrive sweeps the lower lid of the dash. It places useful information, such as MPH, right below where your eyes should be all the time (on the road), and secondary info, such as the radio station you’re tuned to, just to the right that instrument field.
What Stood Out During My First Look at BMW’s Next-Gen iDrive
It’s all about effortless connection with BMW’s futuristic new iDrive system, with smart features out to make every drive seamless and intuitive.
How AI Will Learn Your Habits To Customize Controls
If you sit in this car, you also realize the other clever “hack” that Panoramic iDrive allows at long last: Better digital customization. Sitting with BMW designer Max Missoni, he explained that of course “for a very long time now we’ve had buttons and dials,” for controlling in-car functions. It’s one thing if that’s switching from Park to Drive. It’s quite another if your 7 Series is going to evolve over time—and therefore, what a switch or dial can control will also need to evolve. Which was why Missoni said BMW needed controls that could adapt. So this 7 Series—launching this coming fall as an ICE vehicle, a hybrid, and a full BEV—gets such controls. For instance, switches on the steering wheel with haptic feedback that don’t have to be dedicated to a single function. Missoni says AI is going to play an increasingly large role in not just future cars, but starting with this new 7 Series, all BMWs going forward.
Driver-Customized Intelligence
For the moment, this will play out with the driver deciding what fields they want displayed on which part of that perimeter projection screen. If you want a tile showing you entertainment options closest to the center of the dash, fine. If you want climate functions farther to the right, in front of the person riding shotgun, dandy. And you can swap fields out of the central 14-inch cluster, too, however you like. But Missoni believes that through the use of AI, (and BMW has studied this), increasingly the car will make suggestions based on how every single driver actually operates their 7 Series, and which functions they access—and how they access them. Then the car will make suggestions that will further streamline your interactions with the vehicle.
Home Theater Beyond Any Home Theater
BMW showed off a fold-down flat panel display in the prior 7 Series. Here they’re offering an evolution of that system, with an 8K resolution and a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System with up to 36 speakers. Again, I wasn’t exactly able to fully recline and take in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (which was shot in 8K), because there were approximately 500 other members of the media clamoring over this BMW. But should you have the luck of owning the new 7 Series, deploying the flat panel auto dims the “Skylounge” LED roof and raises all the sunshades. All of the puddle and door lighting will dim, and you can tweak the angle of the flat panel to suit your seating position—which is also fully adjustable.
The Luxury Backseat Is Likely Going Beyond The 7 Series
It’s hardly news that Americans don’t buy as many 7 Series as SUVs. BMW X5 and X7 crossovers outsell the 7 series exponentially. So you can expect to see what BMW calls the Executive Lounge functionality expand to the second row of more BMW cars. No, they wouldn’t confirm this precisely, but Missoni and other officials talked about both this infotainment system and Panoramic iDrive as “scalable” to everything within the Neue Klasse pantheon—which is to say, the future of the brand.
TopSpeed’s Take
In most ways the newest 7 Series feels like what it should be—a land yacht with all the gravitas of the landmark where it just debuted. Is it pretty? Not precisely. But supersized sedans just aren’t that. And from the inside, where titans of the globe will be perched, it is indeed very luxurious. While execs here demurred comparisons to that other brand BMW happens to own, Rolls-Royce, it’s not difficult to make the comparison and think this car feels more buttoned up and less like a rich person’s vehicle for swanning. It’s ultra-deluxe for sure. But you know, because you’ll be able to take Zoom calls from the second row (thanks to new camera tech), my guess is this is where the deals will get done. Then, of course, you can Netflix and chill in your driveway—or eight-car garage.