Delivered! G12 750 xDrive; M-Sport, etc. (updated w/ Pics + Driving Impressions)

[luvthestck]

Beautiful car.That would be my exact order sheet minus the night vision.I am waiting for the day when we have night vision beside the HUD..I know ..I know ....nothing wrong in dreaming.Lease or Buy?

[TheBry]

Originally Posted by luvthestck

Beautiful car.That would be my exact order sheet minus the night vision.I am waiting for the day when we have night vision beside the HUD..I know ..I know ....nothing wrong in dreaming.Lease or Buy?

Haha! Agreed... would love to have Night Vision actually in the HUD (and not on the center display).

And, to answer your question, I bought. I know... I know... I'm a fool for paying cash for such a car, but I tend to drive my cars into the ground, and didn't want the hassle of getting "out" of the lease at lease-end with so many miles on the car. My last car -- a very capable 2012 F02 7 Series had nearly 115K miles on his odometer. I take very long road trips with my spouse -- have a home in San Francisco, CA and another home in Palm Springs, CA, and drive between the two several times a year. That's a LOT of miles to put on a lease. So I buy.

[vladberca]

Big congrats! Lovely specs you have there!
Share more pics of this beauty!

[TheBry]

Originally Posted by vladberca

Big congrats! Lovely specs you have there!
Share more pics of this beauty!

Your wish is my command haha!

Thought I'd show a contrast between my last F02 7 Series and my new G12 since they both have the M-Sport package. The first pic below is of my old 2012 F02. I was feeling sentimental and took the F02 shot in my parking space at work the day before I picked up my new G12.

The other three shots are, of course, of my new G12 in the same parking space the next day. Love this car.

[speeddeacon]

Both are beautiful cars Bry! Wish I could have gotten the M Sport Pkg. on a G12 in Imperial Blue. I do much prefer the black trim, particularly on the new vent along the bottom. We couldn't get M Sport on our F30 in IB either, although the only thing I lamented was not having the steering wheel because the sport line also came in black trim.

[wekido]

Originally Posted by TheBry

Your wish is my command haha!

Thought I'd show a contrast between my last F02 7 Series and my new G12 since they both have the M-Sport package. The first pic below is of my old 2012 F02. I was feeling sentimental and took the F02 shot in my parking space at work the day before I picked up my new G12.

The other three shots are, of course, of my new G12 in the same parking space the next day. Love this car.

cool, you ordered car from Stevens Creek, my house is 3mins away from there.
They dont have any 7 with packages which I want available can sell right now, they all under recall though.

How much did you pay for tint? I want to do so. btw, how much for the car?

[Powerbeast]

Beautiful! Why did they drill the front plate bracket on?

[speeddeacon]

Question for you, did two key fobs plus display key come with the car or one fob only?

[TheBry]

Originally Posted by Powerbeast

Beautiful! Why did they drill the front plate bracket on?

...because I asked them to. Received a "fix-it" ticket when I left the front plate off my last car. Not making that mistake this time around. Too much hassle for very little aesthetic gain. So I slapped the plate holder on the front and am awaiting my plates.

[TheBry]

Originally Posted by speeddeacon

Question for you, did two key fobs plus display key come with the car or one fob only?

One traditional fob, and one display key.

Although quite large, I'm starting to get used to the display key sitting in my front pocket. One other thing to note is that the display key doesn't have a "ring hole" for adding it to a key ring (as if you'd want to do that with such a huge key anyway).

Also, for some reason they've made the display key "Driver Profile #2" in the car, and the traditional key fob is "Driver Profile #1". So if you use the display key to unlock the car (when you first get the car) and start configuring a bunch of settings, those will be bound to "Driver Profile #2" instead of "Driver Profile #1". Frustrated me at first. It's easy to swap profiles, but I wanted to warn you ahead of time so you don't have to do double work like I did.

Looking forward to seeing your car!

[mamafufu]

Starting with March 2016 production date you will get two fobs. Early adopter can get the second fob free of charge.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=903330

[TheBry]

Originally Posted by mamafufu

Starting with March 2016 production date you will get two fobs. Early adopter can get the second fob free of charge.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=903330

Good to know, thanks for the tip. I may order one.

Has anyone who uses the display key had issues with valet or car wash attendants handling / dropping / losing the key? I ask because I'm about to head out on a week-long road trip and will be using those types of services while away (for the first time with this car). Since the display key doesn't have a traditional key ring hole, I'm wondering what these attendants are going to do with the key. Typically they hang keys in a box, and if there is no key ring attached, they loop a plastic fastener through the key ring hole on the key and use that to hang it. No such luck with the display key.

[TXSTYLE]

I must say... The way you ordered this particular car, inside and out, is absolutely perfect!
I'm not 100% sold on the G11 but it's growing on me. Then again... White for me is the best color on just about every BMW model. I also appreciate the time and tracking you shared of the delivery. Congrats and enjoy.

[TheBry]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

I must say... The way you ordered this particular car, inside and out, is absolutely perfect!
I'm not 100% sold on the G11 but it's growing on me. Then again... White for me is the best color on just about every BMW model. I also appreciate the time and tracking you shared of the delivery. Congrats and enjoy.

Thanks! Seeing yours in your signature photo all these years contributed to my decision on color. Gotta say, I'm loving the combo, so thanks for the inspiration

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by TheBry

Thanks! Seeing yours in your signature photo all these years contributed to my decision on color. Gotta say, I'm loving the combo, so thanks for the inspiration

Man I really appreciate those kind words. It is always nice to see that people can give compliments and show respect and friendliness. It is rare. But always worth acknowledgement.

[Hans_ACS]

Congratulations with this beautifull car, it is indeed very nicely 'specced' and even seems majestic, I like it a lot !

[ando]

Your new 7 is impressive. I really like the M sport package with the larger wheels you specified. Mineral white and mocha is a great combination. Congrats.

[terrainx]

If Stevens creek drilled my front bumper I would return the car - no questions asked. Glad you like the front plate though...

[TheBry]

Originally Posted by terrainx

If Stevens creek drilled my front bumper I would return the car - no questions asked. Glad you like the front plate though...

Hilarious.

[jwestfield]

The display key is indeed awkward for valet people and car wash people. Etc. Be sure to get the leather pouch to keep it looking new

[TheBry]

OK, so I've got a few weeks of driving under my belt -- including a very long distance round-trip from San Francisco to Palm Springs, then Los Angeles, then back to Palm Springs, and on home San Francisco (that trip alone was roughly 1100 miles).

The Good

Engine
This V8 is sweet! Coming from an N54-powered 740Li, the sounds this N63 makes, and the immediacy of power when accelerating from a standstill (or overtaking at highway speeds) is spectacular. Man, how I've missed owning a V8.

Exterior Styling
The dimensions / proportions of the G12 are great. The car looks simultaneously elegant and menacing. Elegant from the 3/4 rear view, and menacing from the 3/4 front view -- the low and lean Icon Adaptive LED headlights (especially when illuminated upon approach to the car) are what lend to the menacing look. During my recent road trip to Southern California, I received countless compliments on the car. The best was some 20-something guy at a gas station saying "Dude, that car is Baller!" After consulting others, apparently "Baller" is millennial slang for "Epic" or "Extremely Hot". Even something I originally thought was unnecessary "bling" has proven on a few occasions to be a very useful feature -- the Light Carpet. I've come to love seeing the well-illuminated ground area around the car prior to entry.

Interior Styling / Features
LOVE the interior of this car -- especially compared to my 2012 F02 740Li. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is a level above what was in that older car. The leather feels much softer, the surfaces on EVERYTHING are a wonder (the metal finish on buttons, and the touch-sensitive displays for HVAC / Audio, etc.). The center iDrive display is stunning. This is another feature I thought would annoy me -- jutting upright from the dash with no surrounding cowling. However, it, too, presents an elegance to the cabin that must be experienced to completely understand. Although this screen is a touchscreen, I prefer to use the iDrive controller (I'm a neatnick, and the fingerprints on the display drive me nuts!).

The back seat is another wonder. Plenty of room, excellent visibility for passengers (lots of glass both around and above with the Panoramic Sky Lounge LED roof). And that roof, by the way, combined with the front sunroof, creates an incredible in-cabin experience when driving at night. It's not something I was able to appreciate myself since I was driving, but my three passengers (my partner next to me, and another couple in the back seat) kept raving about how cool it was during that long drive to and from Palm Springs.

The massage feature also received high praise from the back seat passengers. My previous car (the 2012 740Li) also had rear massaging seats, but the massage was incredibly weak and limited only to back massage. This new system in the G12 not only gives a very forceful (and welcome) back massage, but it also massages your bum

Having the tablet in the center rear armrest proved to be useful to the back seat passengers, since it gave them one spot to control everything (instead of hunting for buttons in the doors and on the rear HVAC unit). One particularly fun feature one of my rear passengers kept commenting about was the "Driving Information" feature of the rear tablet. When launched, that feature shows a nice graphic of the car, the current speed, distance traveled, direction (N, S, E, W) time to destination, and fuel consumption. He's someone who LOVES that kind of info and loves to track progress, so it was a nice find for him.

The illuminated speakers in the Bowers and Wilkins sound system are also a very nice touch -- as is the illuminated Bowers and Wilkins logo adorning the center speaker (behind the iDrive display).

OH! And the trunk lid is super quiet now! In my last 7 Series, the mechanism that opened and closed the trunk lid made a distinct sound (like a gyro or something) that was somewhat loud. This new mechanism is whisper quiet. I love it!

Driving Characteristics
I've tried all of the driving modes and have arrived at the following conclusions:
Sport mode is excellent! It tightens things up nicely and really does provide a very rewarding driving experience. There are two drawbacks to Sport mode (from my perspective); 1.] It's not very efficient and can really drain a gas tank; 2.] My passengers didn't like "feeling the road" and commented as such, so I found myself switching to Comfort (why not Adaptive, you say?... read on)

Adaptive mode is actually quite cool too, but passengers didn't get it. In Adaptive mode, things would be nice and smooth during city driving, but the minute I got on the highway, and the speedo got above 70MPH, it would automatically switch into Sport mode which produced a stiffer ride than my passengers wanted. So I always ended up defaulting to Comfort mode. I find I use Adaptive mode when I'm driving alone (which is most days) and love the way it seamlessly switches driving modes based on the situation (speed, aggressiveness of driving style, cornering, road surface, etc.)

The Traffic Jam Assistant (and Active Lane Keeping Assistant) are compelling features that are really useful when you want them to be, but can be a nuisance if you leave them on. I found myself switching it on and off during my drive due to how aggressively it wanted to keep me in my lane. In some cases it mis-read deep cracks in the road for "lane markers" and tried to steer me away from them. The fault here is mine, because there's a way to dial down the aggressiveness, but I haven't done that yet (via iDrive).

All told, the ride in this car is really head and shoulders above the ride quality of my previous 7 (2012 F02). That last car felt really heavy by comparison, and was noisier at speed. This new G12 is sublimely quiet, and when in comfort mode is smooth as a baby's bottom.


The Bad

Actually, these are probably small quibbles, but if they were fixed / changed, I'd love the car even more than I do now (if that's even possible).

I hate the sound the turn signals make when activated. It sounds hollow... almost plastic-y. On several occasions I wondered if something had come loose in the mechanism, because it has a hollow rattle-y sound. Not befitting such an incredible car.

I hate the plastic behind the interior door pull. That area should have been made leather. My fingers touch it every time I open the door, and I'm constantly reminded that it's plastic. After so much attention went into all the other surfaces in the interior of the car, this hard plastic piece (touched every time I interact with the car) seems like an oversight to me. Again, a quibble, but still...

I don't like having to press the Media button every time I get into the car and want to hear music. If I was previously listening to music from my iPhone when I switched the car off, why not start playing the music again when I start the car? Pressing Media then waiting for the music to start is maddening (given the last car did this seamlessly).

BMW Apps will occasionally launch Pandora on my iPhone and will start playing that as source music. Getting iDrive to "quit" Pandora seems next to impossible. I have to force-quit the app on my device before I can select another input source. Could be user error, but it didn't behave this way in the last car.

And, finally, the driver should have the ability to lock out certain functions of the rear Touch Command Tablet. For example, one of my rear passengers (information obsessed) wanted to see the name of the currently playing song, but kept inadvertently skipping tracks on the playlist playing from my iPhone when he'd scroll through the list. Having the option to make that list "read only" seems like a no-brainer.

[speeddeacon]

Great read, thanks for posting. Glad to ear the bad are really minor quibbles. It seems they always exist in some fashion. Thanks for taking the time and putting the thought into the post.