There have been conflicting responses to the new BMW 7 Series, not all observers being convinced by some departures from the BMW Saloon tradition. The layered third volume and the front with its direction indicators set above the headlights like eyebrows and the abandonment of the classic BMW wedge-shaped silhouette have all aroused some criticism.
This is how BMW director of design Chris Bangle responds to the nay-sayers: “Most people bare their judgement of cars on photographs that never tell the whole truth. Wait and see how this car presents itself when it takes to the road”.
The new BMW is the product of a search for more sporty character, combined with some evolved engineering and by one practical constraint that influenced its dimensions. It seems that the world’s population gets 10 mm taller every ten years. BMW took that into account by providing more leg and head room which meant expanding the whole package.
Design work on the 7 Series began in 1997 and focused on three main approaches: one sportier model than the previous 7 Series; one luxury version; and one extreme approach they called the Avantgarde. The end product is an amalgam of all three options and features a great many new ideas plus a decidedly aggressive front section.
The interior acknowledges our Age of Electronics by introducing the intuitive iDrive steering system and a cabin design as much for the passengers as the driver by allowing the former to make their own adjustments to all comfort functions. Faced with a potentially bewildering number of knobs and dials, BMW has solved the problem by dividing the functional elements of the man-machine interface into three groups according to their importance and how often they are likely to be used.
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 130
