After Escaping the Hail with a BMW i7, I Find Its Top 3 Flaws

I especially want to touch the hail once.

As a Cantonese, I have encountered hail twice in my life, but I have never touched it once. The first time I saw hailstones was during a physics test in junior high school. I watched the crackling outside the window. After the test, the hailstones melted.

This year, I encountered the second hailstorm in my life, unfortunately, I was driving a test drive car at the time. To keep it out of harm's way, I walked 20 km east, avoiding the hail.

In this way, I once again passed the hail. But luckily, it's a nice car.

Restraint is another dimension of innovation

Some people say that in the era of electrification, BMW does not need to insist on the huge "kidney grille", but should weaken its sense of existence and abstract it.

But on the BMW i7, BMW's choice is to follow their design principles, with a large and vertical grille, to continue the luxury of the 7 series.

BMW seems to be very satisfied with this grille, and even used a circle of LED lights to emphasize its existence, even at night, the car in front of you can recognize you at a glance.

The straight waterfall grille and the split headlights on both sides can be summed up in one line:

two dish two

The front face of this generation of 7 Series is undoubtedly successful. In contrast, the appearance of Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W223) and Audi A8 (D5) is much duller.

What is commendable is that BMW has learned restraint this time.

Former BMW designer Frank Stephenson (Frank Stephenson) commented on his descendants:

The car will look better (compared to the previous model) and BMW probably realizes that they can't mess around like they used to.

The "fucking" in Lao Fu's mouth refers to the "big nostril" that was born in 2020. This design is also used in today's i4-yes, the grille area of ​​i4 is larger than that of i7 .

In contrast, the i7 series with a larger body size and a more square shape can better match the large-size grille and highlight the solemnity of a luxury car.

And this sense of solemnity continues to converge on the Swarovski imitation crystal headlights on both sides, and then extends to the rear of the car along a straight shoulder line, and falls lightly on the taillights.

At the same time, on the side of the car, BMW removed the "L"-shaped chrome strip that lasted for several years in the previous work, and replaced it with tough side skirts, as well as the straight light and shadow simply outlined above, and the lines of the roof have also become flatter. straight.

On the whole, although the i7 lacks a bit of luxury brought out by light and shadow, it has achieved a perfect balance between tradition and the future.

And this balance goes beyond appearance.

The joys and sorrows of "digitalization"

Last year, Uber launched a new service called "Comfort Electric (comfortable tram)", through which customers can choose a quieter, smoother electric car, but it didn't take long for a big or small, Talk about a small problem——

Hey, how do you open the door?

Uber drivers lost patience in repeating the explanation over and over again, and finally had to put various signs near the door handle to reduce communication costs.

There will be no such problem on the i7. For opening the door, BMW has obviously thought about it at a deeper level. Like the appearance of the i7, these four door handles have also found a way to blend tradition and the future.

Specifically, if you are familiar with this car, you will know that as long as you press the button at the front of the groove, the door will automatically open, and the 4 ultrasonic radars evenly distributed on the side skirts will ensure that the door is opened without hitting any obstacles.

The point is that even those who have never been in contact with i7 don't have to worry about the embarrassment of "unable to open the door in front of VIPs". And as long as you want, you can even use it as an ordinary manual door, it is not as difficult to push and pull as other automatic doors.

A good automatic door will not deprive you of the right to slam the door and leave when you are upset.

Although I have seen the cockpit of i7 before, but when I press the door close button, I will still be amazed at the enveloping light strip in front of me.

I'm not a fan of ambient lighting, but looking around the entire center console, and comparing it with EQS, BMW's understanding of luxury interiors will undoubtedly be better. The sense of luxury continues.

Inside the i7, colorful lights bring life to the glass trim here and there, and the 36-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system adds more splendor to the interior with a delicate diamond-shaped grid.

The place in this car that best embodies "traditional fusion and innovation" must be its center console – the combination of modern touch buttons and traditional wind direction levers. I am afraid that it can only be seen in the current period of pure electric transition. .

BMW's slogan on the i7 is, "Infusing rich emotions into digital technology".

Indeed, in terms of digital experience, BMW has prepared a lot for this "flagship of the electric age".

The newly launched eighth-generation iDrive provides 7 different theme modes for i7 occupants, including "soothing mode", "joyful mode", "digital art", and "theater mode", in an attempt to integrate the surrounding light belt with the The two large screens on the instrument panel bring "emotional digital travel experience".

Frankly speaking, some of the modes are mainly the changes of the dashboard theme and the color of the ambient light, but there are still a few modes that can really provide a good experience.

First up is Soothing Mode and Theater Mode, but before we experience those two modes, let's get into the backseat.

The "soothing mode" is easy to understand. Lie down on the back, raise the leg support, close the sunshade, and then turn on the massage for you. It can be regarded as a basic operation on an executive car of this level.

The real highlight of the i7 is the 31-inch display with an 8K resolution overhead.

This 32:9 BMW floating giant screen is cleverly integrated into the ceiling system, and it will automatically unfold when entering the "theater mode", and it can also be called up on the armrest touch screen.

Judging from the built-in domestic top ecological applications such as iQiyi and Huawei App Store, BMW is indeed determined to bring a complete entertainment system to Chinese users, instead of supporting HDMI like some luxury car companies. thing.

However, Dong Chehui still found some problems during the experience.

1. Rear view mirror blocking

After pressing the "Lie down button" on the armrest screen, the passenger seat will automatically move to the front. At this time, it will most likely block the right rearview mirror (depending on the driver's specific sitting posture), and it needs to be moved back manually.

In addition, the rear screen, after unfolding, is the only thing left in your rearview mirror.

2. Software UI/UX

May wish to experience the menu of iDrive 8 first.

It can be seen that iDrive 8 is still fully functional, but its design and interaction seem to be stuck in the previous era.

You may get lost in the complicated menu, just like I still don't know where the switch of the main driving massage is, but fortunately, its voice function is still available.

3. Charging cover

An executive sedan with a price close to 1.5 million yuan, its charging cover has to be manually opened outside the car. I really don't want to touch the dusty fender after the rain.

quiet, smooth, cool

After introducing the "soothing mode" and "theater mode" in the back row, the last space should be reserved for my favorite part, "sports mode".

Compared with sitting, this i7 must be more suitable for driving, and it is driven in sports mode for a long time.

After turning on the sports mode, the enveloping light strip will become red and blue, the instrument panel will also be more "combat", and the instantly tightened seat is also ready for the curve.

Underpinning it all is its adaptive two-axle air suspension.

The i7 is equipped with the active comfort anti-roll function first applied to a BMW model, which actively adjusts the height of the vehicle on one side of the vehicle during cornering, making the handling more stable.

Imagine that you are sitting on a fast train, circling in a circular track. Although your body will lean to one side, as long as the train does not derail, it will always be in an approximately horizontal state.

Navigating corners in this 2.7-ton i7 is pretty much what it feels like, as long as you don't push the limits of the tires.

But the main event is still in the straight line. Come on, take a look at this paddle, it's for unlocking joy.

Press it, and you can get all the 536 horsepower and 745 Nm torque of the two front and rear excitation synchronous motors, giving this 2.7-ton "big guy" a zero-to-hundred-acceleration performance of 4.7 seconds.

The bad news is that it only lasts for 10 seconds;

The good news is that you can continue to press after 10 seconds until you run out of 560km of cruising range.

True Pure Electric Flagship

I still remember that at the EQS press conference, Mercedes repeatedly emphasized that EQS is not a pure electric version of the S-Class.

And indeed it is.

From the price point of view, EQS 580 4MATIC is only 1.3 million yuan, while the guide price of S 500 L 4MATIC is more than 1.8 million yuan.

But BMW is different. Even the top-of-the-line 740Li is a 2 Series worse than the i7.

For BMW, the i7 is the first attempt of the BMW brand to put a pure electric drive system in the flagship series. Yes, unlike the EQS, this is a true flagship.

BMW hopes to use the i7 to define the new luxury of the pure electric era, and hopes that this i7 can lead the entire BMW Group to accelerate towards an electrified future.

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