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Long-time 7 owner here.
Oh boy... they weren't kidding when they said they weren't going to do anything radical with the successor of the E65.
When the E65 came out I hated it with a passion. I even signed some dumbass online petition to have Bangle fired. Then the design grew on me so much that I bought one of the cars (735), trading in my E38 750. When the time came I sold it and bought another (760).
This one though? It just looks boring. It's got the interior from the X5, a tail end that's the direct descendant of the current hodgepodge rear design of the 3 and 5 series, and a slightly surprised piggy face. None of these are terrible - but overall, very much ho-hum. Where is the evil smile behind the unsuspecting scrawny golfer? Was that really the same car?
Blueish dashboard glow? Visible tailpipes? Rear lights that would be right at home on some Toyota? These are minor annoyances, very much against BMW tradition but I could tolerate them if they gave me a good reason to. I mean, the E65 was very radical and had some questionable design elements but it had novel concepts (iDrive, Dynamic Drive, etc) to make up for them. This one though... evolutionary improvements all over: the X5 interior is not bad, and it'll be great to see it in the 7-series, what with the inevitable quality upgrades. It's great that the onboard computer has a copy of the manual. It's great that the nav system has been given elevation data so it can do what Japanese aftermarket units did 5 years ago. It's great that now you can get ventillated seats for the rear too. It's great that the stereo can copy music to the HD from a thumbdrive. It's all great. It's just really nothing to be excited about.
The new 7 arrives with a whimper. I was looking forward to talking to my dealer about trading in my X5 for an F01, but after seeing this... wake me when the V12 is here.
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