This year is definitely the first year of BMW's new products. I haven't completely calmed down from the freshness of the domestic long axis X5 and i3, and BMW has brought us a new 7 Series today.
If it weren't for the pandemic, I might be admiring these two new cars up close at the Beijing Auto Show at this moment. Although I am a little sorry, I still feel a huge excitement at the moment when the real car was officially unveiled at the press conference.
As an old enemy, the situation that the fuel 7 series is suppressed by the S class must give BMW a headache. Mercedes-Benz took the lead last year, launching the EQS, a pure electric large sedan carrying the "S Class" banner. Although the emergence of the i7 and the new 7 series is slower in time, but believe me, BMW is not led by the nose of the opponent, this time the carefully polished new 7 series, is the "king of the explosion" in the two fields of electric and fuel.
The new 7 Series released this time includes the following models:
i7 xDrive60
760i xDrive
M760e xDrive
Without further ado, let's start with the appearance.
01
Appearance: From angry eyes to cold and ruthless
Let's start with the dimensions of the i7: 5,391 x 1,950 x 1,544 mm and wheelbase 3,215 mm. This data is basically at the same level as the S level.
Since the first generation of E23 in 1977, the BMW family's iconic double kidney grille and angel eye headlights have been on the 7 series for more than 40 years, and the "angel eye" and "double kidney grille" have also changed in the time of technological change.
In the hearts of many BMW fans, "angel eyes" were once synonymous with BMW. But on the i7, that iconic feature became the headlights of the upper and lower splits. We first saw this design language on the mid-term redesign X7 released some time ago, but compared to the mid-term redesign X7, the i7 is undoubtedly more coordinated at the beginning of the design, which takes into account the split headlights.
The i7's exterior is at the top of the slender daytime running lights, and if the angel's eyes feel like "angry eyes", then on the i7 it feels more like "cold and ruthless". The front and back logos of the i7 are decorated in blue, and you can also choose the blue element decoration on the underside of the air intake, the side skirt and the tail deflector.
The completely enclosed double kidney grille optimizes aerodynamics, and this massive grille has a soft contour light at night, which together with the daytime running lights outline the entire front face. Just from the photos, the overly large double kidney grille is slightly strange at night, but it has to be said that the recognition is extremely high.
The exterior of the 760i and M760e is slightly different from the i7. Compared with the i7, I think the appearance of the fuel version of the 7 Series is the final form: the blackened trim as a background extends to the bottom of the front face, and the slightly obtrusive split headlights are integrated into the whole with the fang-like body movement on both sides, lowering the overall visual center of gravity and further reducing the sense of abruptness.
I reckon that many people can't get out of BMW's regret of canceling Angel's Eye in a short time. However, objectively speaking, the technology of automotive lighting has made great progress in recent years, and now the volume can be greatly reduced under the premise of ensuring the lighting effect. The bright lines of the shape design are "familial style", and the dark lines are the technical support of the current era. So it can be expected that there will be more designs in the front face of the vehicle in the future that break our conventional cognition.
Coming to the side of the car, thanks to the 3,215 mm wheelbase, the i7 side looks very slender. In order to ensure the solemn aura of the D-Class, the sides of the i7 do not have an exaggerated design, a rib line extending from the hood to the rear of the car creates a muscular feeling, and the trim at the bottom of the side resembles a fitted suit pants, reinforcing the slender visual feeling on the side.
The new 7 Series features a concealed door handle with a button style, which is the same as the iX. The redesigned Hofmeister corners on the C-pillar remain a classic element of BMW. Compared with the very sporty and designed front, the design of the rear part of the car is slightly bland.
The design of the 7 series of the previous generation G11 (G12) is missing, replaced by a more traditional-looking left and right taillight group. The area of the tail light is not large, but the lighting effect of the LED interior light strip is still very online.
There is a small aerodynamic slot on the left and right of the lower surround, but even so, the rear of the i7 is still a bit "top-heavy" due to the higher taillights. In addition, starting with the taillights, the i7 tail curve has a clear tendency to protrude outwards, somewhat similar to the heavy bumpers on models around the turn of the millennium.
In contrast, I think the appearance of the fuel version of the 7 Series is better than the i7 in terms of the harmony of the new front face and the overall design.
BMW seems to be too concerned about distinguishing between pure electric and fuel models, which in turn makes the appearance of such as the i3, iX3 and i7 look out of coordination with fuel models. Thankfully, this sense of loss was relieved when I saw the interior.
02
Interior: Luxury with a German mindset
The luxury of the front row converging
BMW's new family interior design style we have seen on the iX and the recently listed i3, so this time to see the interior of the i7 is not the surprise of the first sight. But this does not mean that this interior is not excellent, if you compare the previous generation of 7 series, i7 this interior is absolutely refreshing.
BMW i7's understanding of "luxury" is obviously different from the Tesla Model S's American exuberance and Mercedes-Benz EQS's mercurial style, in the i7's interior atmosphere to create a more German sense of "convergence": the light bar located on the dashboard and door will be brilliant and soft and cleverly integrated, the visual feeling will not make you feel frivolous, but appropriately create a sense of luxury.
BMW calls this "Interaction Bar", in addition to the lighting effect also integrated touch function: the lower left of the steering wheel function control, the central control area air conditioning and multimedia volume and other functions, the co-pilot front of the light strip brightness control can be touched.
Steering wheel area, the i7 features a touch + upper and lower circular paddle design. On the left side of the steering wheel are driver-assist switches that can be adjusted by metal paddles, while on the right are voice assistants and multimedia shortcut buttons. The metal keys look very delicate, but the i7's steering wheel circular lever has only two degrees of freedom, up and down, and the functions are limited. It might be nice to be able to give some custom space.
Looking down, the control area in front of the armrest box is very delicate. The "Big Chicken Leg" gear has been turned into a small and exquisite lever, and the gear shift lever, round iDrive controller, and volume control wheel are all made of crystal-like materials. In addition, the i7's seat adjustment button is placed above the door panel, similar to the iX.
Gao Le, President and CEO of the BMW Group Greater China, said at the press conference: "The new 7 Series is a restrained luxury". I agree with this very much, the interior of the i7 has both the intelligent atmosphere brought by the sense of science and technology, and the home atmosphere that makes people feel calm, and the two seemingly contradictory existences of the i7 are very in place, which is worth learning from the new forces in China.
And that's not all, the back row of the new 7 Series is the highlight of this interior.
Uninhibited 31-inch "big color TV" in the back row
Even as a D-class luxury car, the BMW 7 Series has always been more driver-oriented. On this i7 we found that BMW's center of gravity has actually become "more biased towards rear passengers".
First, let's take a look at the 31-inch German-style "big color TV" that was sent when you bought a car. This 31-inch 8K (7,680 × 2,160) resolution 32:9 OLED screen with 36 speakers of Borgward Health 4D audio (total power 1,965 W, 4 seats have vibrators), giving people the impression can already be described as "exaggerated". The PAD that operates this screen is located on the left and right armrests in the rear row, and there are buttons around the PAD position that control functions such as door locks, door switches, and privacy sun blinds.
In-car entertainment systems support 5G connectivity and can stream content over the Internet. BMW has cooperated with local video copyright owners to support third-party video websites such as iQiyi in the future.
The big screen is usually stored on the roof of the car. Looking upwards, the new 7 Series is also equipped with a Sky Lounge (Starry Sky Lounge)panoramic glass skylight with LED light lines, which is more advanced at night than the laser dot matrix canopy on the current Series 5 and 7 series. It's just that the existence of this big screen slightly affects the integrity of this beautiful canopy. But it's also a necessary sacrifice for the comfort of the back row.
The i7 also has a seamless leg rest for the Boss Seat VIP, and the rear backrest can be adjusted at an angle range of 42.5 degrees, with the aviation headrest with intermediate soft material, and the comfort configuration is full. Customers who have been buying the 7 Series have been embarrassed to talk about the gap between the rear comfort and the S-class of their cars, and this problem has been solved on the new 7 Series, and the luxury of this rear row can be said to be more than the S-class.
03
Chassis: The basic disc was not dropped
Don't worry about the BMW i7 becoming a stable ship, the chassis and control part is bmw's basic disk. Let's take a look at what black technology the i7 brings to the chassis under the electrified architecture.
At this level, double wishbones and air suspension are naturally essential. The dual-axle adaptive air suspension dynamically adjusts to speed and vehicle load, and works with active electronically controlled anti-roll bars, integral rear steering and front and rear electronic limiting systems to improve handling and balance the weight burden of the battery pack. The five-link suspension of the i7 rear axle has been optimized to ensure that the drive motor is highly integrated into the rear axle subframe.
As an electric vehicle, how to optimize the endurance is also a must-do problem. The i7 features 21-inch low-rolling resistance tires, and the braking system integrates kinetic energy recovery for further weight reduction and continuity.
The configuration of this chassis is basically the same as that of the BMW iX. Colleagues have previously tested iX and given a very high evaluation:
In the dynamic driving part, the iX almost subverted my perception of large luxury SUVs, while retaining a high level of comfort and tranquility, the iX's large size, long wheelbase and large weight were very cleverly hidden by BMW, both in posture and dynamic execution.
The physical handling characteristics of the sedan are inherently stronger than those of suvs, and I'm looking forward to how the i7 actually drives.
04
Power & Smart Driving
impetus
Today, the BMW 7 Series directly put the oil, electricity, plug-in and mixed three types of power versions at one time. The 760i in the fuel model is no longer a V12 engine but replaced by a 4.4 T V8, and the M760e plug-in model is a twin-turbo 3.0 T S58 plus electric motor, and the two models are powered by 536 and 571 horsepower respectively.
This time the focus is on the pure electric model i7, the currently released version is the dual-motor 4WD i7 xDrive60, the model information is as follows:
Max. horsepower 544 hp;
Battery usable capacity 101.7 kWh;
WLTP range 625 km, EPA life 523 km;
Maximum charging power 195 kW;
Maximum kinetic energy recovery power 220 kW;
Extreme speed 240 km/h.
The follow-up BMW will also launch the i7's M high-performance model, the i7 M70, corresponding to the maximum power is expected to be around 650 horsepower, this model will also become the most powerful 7 Series in BMW history, launched in 2023.
You know, the BMW i7 has reached 2,640 kg of curb weight, but the average power consumption of WLTP has reached 18.4-19.6 kWh/100 km, which is a very good level. With a range of 523 km under harsh EPA conditions, the BMW i7's drive system has excellent energy control capabilities.
Smart driving
In the hardware part of intelligent driving (the yellow part of the picture below), the i7 is equipped with BMW's most powerful perception system at present:
Monocular camera located in the front windshield;
Front-view camera located on the grille;
A lateral camera located in the left and right side mirrors;
Millimeter-wave radar located in the center of the grille;
Four-corner radars on both sides of the front and rear bodies;
There are 12 ultrasonic radars in front and behind.
In addition, the i7 vehicle is equipped with more than 30 assisted driving sensors, in the perception of hardware level of "stacking" reflected in the results, i7 in some areas can support the highest level of L3 assisted driving, can do to identify traffic lights and self-parking, after the optional assisted driving advanced package, adaptive cruise allowable opening speed can reach 210 km / h.
With the optional "Pro Driver Assistance" package, the i7 supports drivers on closed roads (highways, etc.) to completely disengage themselves in the North American market, with speeds of up to 130 km/h. In the U.S., the i7 also supports guided driving. Due to the differences in localization research and development and regional laws, it is not known what level of assisted driving the i7 in the Chinese market can eventually achieve.
05
Write at the end
In the warm-up stage of today's new 7 Series conference, a friend asked us in the Weibo comment area: Is the i7 an oil to electricity platform in the end?
The "oil to electricity" platform refers to the production of pure electric models after being "modified" from the original fuel platform. At the beginning of the development of such platforms, it did not consider leaving room for the battery pack and motor assembly layout of subsequent electrified models, and the electrification architecture did not have many intelligent considerations. Therefore, most of these platforms carry some "dirt" of the fuel platform, such as space generalization, low overall drive efficiency, poor intelligence OTA capabilities, and so on.
BMW's CLAR platform was considered compatible with fuel, pure electricity, plug-in hybrid and even hydrogen energy models at the beginning of the development, and the platform was mixed at the beginning of its birth, not a pure oil platform, so it is also "oil to electricity" is not applicable to this case. If we have some consequentialism, we can use these two points as a yardstick:
Whether the energy consumption of electric drive is excellent compared with competitors;
The degree of intelligence and OTA capabilities are superior to competitors.
The average power consumption of the i7 in WLTP is 18.4-19.6 kWh/100 km, which can be combined with the on-board 5G system to achieve fast vehicle OTA. Of course, I can't deny that it is precisely because the CLAR platform considers the development of fuel models, so the central platform still has a drum bag, and the comfort of the rear passengers will be affected to a certain extent.
Let's talk about the audience of i7. Audi still hasn't come up with a pure electric jumbo, the Porsche Tycan is very niche, and the Model S looks too "American" and not commercial enough. The only thing that looks like it can break your wrist is EQS. But to be fair, let's not mention the EQS's strange appearance for wind resistance optimization, which is not outstanding in terms of power performance and luxury.
Then in the field of pure electric executive cars, at least in China, there is only the i7 option (Lucid abroad). Consumers with the level of consumption power of i7 must have some American luxury that do not like Model S, and the emergence of i7 has given this part of the consumer a "condition that cannot be rejected".
BMW said it plans to launch 12 pure electric models in the Chinese market in 2023, covering almost all market segments at present; by 2025, at least a quarter of the cars BMW sells in China will be pure electric vehicles. The emergence of the i7 is not only a step in this plan, but also BMW's "showmanship" in the field of electrification at this point in time.
However, the reality that needs to be faced is that BMW does not have a self-built charging network in China, and currently cooperates with third-party publics to provide charging services (except for the charging stations set up by BMW in dealers), which may be a big obstacle for the vision of vigorously developing new energy.
Author: Mingming
Edit: Reinhardt
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