German Car Zone

I think the interior is a dramatic improvement overall.

The talk about it resembling the A8's interior is lost on me ....I can't 'feel' that -- no doubt BMW studied Audi's great work in this area, but I honestly don't feel they have copied Audi in any way.

I'm sorry but I have a six-disc dashboard mounted CD changer in both of my cars. The biggest hassle is loading all six discs in one go - something that I'd never do on the move. It's something I do on the weekend in the garage or in preparation for a long trip.

On the move, you can only address one disc at a time so the dash-mounted single slot is ideal for that quick change on the fly.

Mounting the 6 disc changer out of the way in the glovebox is perfectly logical.

Day 3:
After letting the all visuals of this car settle-down in my head I'm starting to think that I'll soon come around to actually ride-herd and even love the F01. But my personal opinions aren't as important as the fact that I'm now convinced that this car will be a smash hit in its segment.

It's clear that the F01 was a vastly different creative brief than the E65, taking into consideration aspects that the BMW core disliked about the outgoing car and how it reflects the BMW personality when pitted against its competitors.

To the latter point, I think BMW have really smacked the ball right out of the park. It's not easy to see the pictures, but this car has a very aggressive, Maserati-like stance, with a blunt front end, long bonnet and slung-back greenhouse. The sculpting job on this car is two ticks more sophisticated than the E60 5er and is the real hero here. It wasn't obvious at first take, but lots of homework went into this design.

Clearly, the goal here was to create a 7er that is more E38 than E65, a car that was basically the outermost limit of how coupe-like one could push a mass-produced, full-sized sedan. It's BMW's native strength to have sport-leaning cars, and it's the area where they can most effectively distinguish themselves from the competition. If there's any doubt of this, you just need to look at the car straight-on from the rear. It's arguably the most aggressive, ready-for-trouble BMW rear-end this side of the 135i. It's not refined and dignified, it's rowdy with two big-ass tailpipes in case you didn't get the memo.

So from a differentiation point of view - Mission accomplished. This is a far shot from stately Mercedes territory, and definitely more extroverted and athletic a look than the A8 would ever care to attempt. This is a "very BMW" 7er, and every surface has been pushed to the hilt in order to suspend our disbelief.

This theme of "jumbo sportscar" is carried over with the interior, which is much more cockpit-like than the E65's spacious living room of the future. Enforcing this is the transmission "joystick," which is becoming a standard cast member on new BMWs, and the center console, which shoots straight-away into the center stack, as opposed to the E65's "Lay-Z-Boy" configuration. The focus definitely has been taken off domestication and has been placed on sport. (A small but critical detail is that the air vents are no longer aligned horizontally.) Detailing seems top notch and really sets a new bar for BMW that encroaches on territory that was once the exclusive realm of Audi. Remember how el cheapo the E60 interior felt when it debuted?

Since everything is so wonderful, why am I still bitching? I guess there's two things. One is "real" and the other is just me.

One - Rear overhang. The story this car tells with its lines hold water all the way until you reach the back, when you realize that this car has a very large trunk and isn't actually the pro athlete it portends to be. I'm sure the design team was very cognizant of this and did everything in their power to maximize space and camouflage the girth. Now - maybe through some miracle of how this thing has been sculpted the impression won't be so severe in the flesh, but as stands, the car looks like it really needs to take 6" off the overhang in order to pull-off that blunt, aggressive rear styling.

Two - Revisionist design history. There was an uproar when the E65 came along, because lots of the enthusiast base felt that Bangle & Co. were turning BMWs into "girlie cars" with all kinds of foo foo art school bullshit that diluted and corrupted the essence of what brought them to the brand in the first place. After a couple years of arguing ad nausium about the merits of BMW's product offensive we realized that, for better or worse, the goalposts for product design had been moved industry-wide. The F01, nice as it looks, seems to eschew what was accomplished over the past 6 or so years and, in many respects, feels like a product that could have evolved in a vacuum. So, sorta like the opposite of the E90, which did everything it could to evoke a connection with the E46.

So, my final Springer thought - It takes nerve to slag a design team for doing a consummately sharp job on a car like this. No doubt, Designworks is at the top of their game and is able to communicate through surfaces better than any other studio. The details don't do the talking on the F01, the sculpting does. That's neat.

I ended up warming up to the 1er coupe, which I thought was a lost cause. I think the same will happen to the F01.

Even Bangle talked about this cycle when the E65 came out. I saw an interview where he described brand product cycles lasting two generations. You get a disruptive generation of vehicle designs, then the next generation gets to build on that foundation - then, with the next generation, you get to tear down that foundation and start another revolution. Or something like that...

About the changer - CDs are just two ticks away from the trash heap of technology, so I don't see the harm. I have a 6-changer in my dash, and rarely do I ever load more than one disc at a time. It's a non-issue.

In the just published new videos you can see a different kind of seat which looks more 'sophisticated' (with that terracotta/saddlebrown interior..)
So probably the original photos showed the 'standard' seat, while the 'Comfort seat' is not only more comfortable, but also looking much better (or maybe its the 'Sport-Seat `?)..

Quote:
The tail lights look wicked when they are on. As for the "BMW dynamic xeon tag on the head lights, it's as tacky as Mercedes's optional 7G tronic badge.
Yep. That's what really bothers me. It's a bit to tacky for a car of such segment. Just a metal insert without a text would be much, much better.

So, what will be the text on the LED headlights? "BMW LED Technology" ???


Maybe it can be ordered 'debadged' ??

^ Brilliant synopsis there Josh.

It's obvious F01 interior is an upscaled, modernized / refreshed & refined evolution of E65 interior. I can't see Audi in it at all. Perhaps shift-stick & iDrive knob on the central tunnel reminds you of Audi. But we have seen that on other BMW's (like 5er, 6er, 3er etc) as well. It's nothing Audi exclusive.

I can also see the transition from more fuzzy design of E65's interior to more tranquil & zenish one in F01.

^ Tine ....I have not said I think it looks like an Audi interior -- others have suggested that and I have said several times I can't see it.

I included the Audi picture for reference only.

Here are a lot of new short video clips :
Go to the end of the page ...under 'Video-Schnipsel'

BMW 7er, Modell F01, Foto-Galerie (www.7-forum.com)

What a stunning car! It's getting better everyday I see new pics.
Those first press pics really were the ugliest!!!

I think it's the best looking BMW right now! Who would have thought? Not me!