Bucket Seat: The new BMW 7 Series

Couple weeks back BMW lifted the covers on the much anticipated new 7 series, being the flagship model from the German manufacturer, a lot of what the car has to offer now will be filtered into future models. The car has changed a lot from concept stages which is sad as I quite liked the look of the Vision, it was bold and different where as the new 7 doesn't look that much different from its predecessor, okay it is slightly bigger and bolder but not striking like the concept. Guess I'm just upset about that part. 

But its good to see BMW didn't drop most of the gadgets and cool stuff, hand gestures are a real thing, touch control aircon, laser lights, remote control park which is damn cool! The body structure is made from a new carbon fibre re-inforced plastic compound that has reduced weight of the car significantly, almost by 130kgs! An all new engine line up which includes a 740e plug in hybrid.

Being bigger, the cars comforts levels have been improved with increased space for passengers. Staying on the inside, as always there will be a host of interior trims, colours and textures to chose from. There is an executive lounge option for the car that comes with automatic 4 zone air conditioning, electrically adjustable seats with massage functionality with a foot rest. Other features include a fold out table, extra cup holders and a removable 7" tablet that fits onto the center console and controls all the functions stated.

Anyway as cool as the back may sound, its up front is where the action is. Gesture control as mentioned before is a big one, for now it's limited to things such as audio control and phone calls. The infotainment screen is now touch sensitive so you can control it like an iPad. Standard iDrive toggles will still be available if you chose to still do things the old school way.

There's still loads to this car that I haven't even begun to talk about and I'm sure there's more we will learn about it as we wait for local launch which could be early next year. As much as I am disappointed with the cars exterior design, there's no denying that they have made up for it in abundance every where else. Like I said, most of what we seeing here will be phased into the BMW's of the future as BMW Group's Senior Vice President, Adiran van Hooydonk said "At BMW we believe the future can be predicted most effectively if we're helping to shape it. The primary objective in the development of the new car was to create a vision of modern luxury and to exceed our customers expectations."

                     

Bucket Seat: BMW Vision Future Luxury Concept

The BMW Vision Future Luxury Concept was unveiled this week at the Beijing International Motorshow. That's a long name for a car, thankfully it is just a concept so if and when it does go into production, it will be shortened and given a number. Most people in the industry have already tipped it to take on the 7 badge and with good reason too. The 7 series has always been the pinnacle of BMW's design philosophy, with it leading the way in design changes that from there gets passed onto the other cars in the stable. 

To be honest this car took most by surprised, BMW did well to keep it under wraps with the odd spy shot being captured now and then, maybe all their other new models were distracting us? Whatever the case is, they did a blody good job on this one. When it comes to big luxury sedans, there are really only two and with Mercedes Benz already throwing down the gauntlet with their all new jaw dropping S-Class, BMW had to step up to the mark to match their German rivals. From what we're seeing in the VFLC (I'm calling it that for short) ,they're certainly up for the challenge as in previous models one always felt that the 7 series lacked something when coming up against the S-Class. 

Bare in mind this is just a concept so expect some major changes to the production model, so the fancy lights could be changed to the more used xenon/ led option and those suicide doors might be swapped for the more conventional type doors. Interior wise, the seats will probably have more bulk and as much as I want the Starship Enterprise set up for the driver it will be toned down due to cost purposes. 

Overall I think BMW have got a true contender here, it's massive wheel arches and wide stance just makes it look like it's the business. I could go on with the stuff given in the press release but one really just has to look at it to understand what went into this vehicle during design and conception. It would be wrong to say it is "simply stunning" because there is nothing simple about it, so I'm going to go with "sophisticatedly stunning".