[dbs600]

Surprised how soon the G12's have arrived; thought late-November, but dealer has three. Spent time in an Individual and noted the following:

One of the most beautiful parts of the car are the side view mirrors, but they have a flaw; they're positioned so low that their view is partially obstructed from the driver's seat! Nothing to do with mirror angle, but the housing itself. New rear view mirror is gorgeous too.

What's with the glove compartment 'shelf'. Nothing to the glove compartment now and something's bound to get caught / kinked in the area that dips. No chance of reaching the pen clips either. Also unfortunate that the hidden compartment behind the wood has been removed. Annoying new, unreachable position of trunk lock switch to boot.

As with the interior as a whole, cup holder area design is a step backward. Very budget. HATE clutter and will never store anything in plain sight next to the ash tray. New cigarette lighter position is sad; not hidden, as before, and what if liquid spills on same? USB socket position wrong too; should be out of sight and more discrete.

Love addition of a cover / door to the rear cigarette lighter sockets. Why fully exposed the front one now I have no clue.

Panel that moves when the rear armrest is pulled down does not allow comfortable use the iPad-like controller while docked. Option is gimmicky vs. adjusting controls via actual buttons, but crazy that can't be comfortably used when docked.

Door card storage bins are unbecoming of a luxury car; they're SUV-like. Loved how the F01/02 door bins allowed content to be secure and out of sight; whether an umbrella, mace or a stack of money, same could previously be kept safe and neat. Keeping anything on the doors of the new 7 would be an eyesore now.

Additional items:

Plastic parts color coded to interior color are not a plus, but remind me of electric and light switch faceplates novicely painted wall color.

Less business-like steering wheel design.

Engine compartment employs greater amounts of insulation that reduce direct injection engine noise emitting from same.

Interior lights are insanely bright and blinding; improper positioning directed right at you; nonadjustable as well.

In addition to cheesy faux buttons now used, remaining actual, physical buttons are now more flush with each other and more difficult to use, especially those surrounding the iDrive controller; why!? New gear shift design is less elegant.

Why do the rear seat bottoms feel like they are so high? No adjustment to lower further.

Superior floor mats!

Even more shallow rear 'map' pockets on front seatbacks; why!?

Dealer made mistake of placing F02 side by side with G12; F02 front and rear having FAR greater presence. Front and rear of G12 are more feeble, less imposing and less BMW-like. New kidney grill sits lower.

BMW Individual wheels are FINALLY forged, salesmen stated they will not bend, but crack if anything. Prefer design of my Style 301 wheels; wish they were forged.

Navigation screen smaller? Seems so, but can't tell...