Text | Whoops
Despite the mid-term modification of the X7 has been shot for prevention, although the trailer and camouflage car are already inseparable, although there are spy photos exposed 24 hours in advance, the moment when the new generation of 7 Series/i7 debuted, countless people still took a breath of cool air on the spot.
Chilled lung tablets have the same effect, but not necessarily the same motivation. Some people are sniffing melon seeds and shaking their legs, sitting and waiting to see BMW design to pounce on the street; some people are amazed by the courage and boldness of Munich; and some people eat hot pot and sing songs, without the heart to praise and denigrate, but simply a little afraid to believe their eyes.
Great atmosphere
When Mr. Gao Le, CEO of BMW Greater China, tried to pronounce the standard "atmospheric" Chinese pronunciation on the stage, the words "Chinese inspiration, German craftsmanship" have never been so convincing.
A few days ago, BMW just gave us a "warning" with the X7 with a mid-term modification, and the trailer video of the new 7 Series also made spoilers in advance: a double kidney grille that is larger than "big" and adds an LED glowing border, a slender daytime lamp further degenerated by the angel eye, and a split headlight body hidden in the front bumper below.
This design, known as the Iconic Glow, can be traced back to the X6's luminous double kidney grille and the iX's narrow headlights. The new X7 and the all-new 7 Series/i7 are a step further, delivering on a larger grille image and a narrower "headlight visual image."
In the not long release time, BMW executives spent nearly 5 minutes to expound on the concept of "taking China as home", specifically considering the situation in the Chinese market, affirming that China is the current fertile ground for innovation in global automobile design, and taking the sense of technological futurism preferred by Chinese consumers as the starting point, and finally creating this "atmosphere" work.
BMW recently re-embarked on retaining the Hofmeister corner design of the C-pillar, the new 7 Series and i7 are not too different from the current model on the side, and the door handles follow the concave hidden design on the iX and i4. The simple rear of the car is easy to ignore, but in fact, it also greatly weakens bmw's previous zigzag light strip elements and becomes a slender tail light similar to the iX.
There are only slight differences between the Fuel (with Hybrid) 7 Series and the Pure Electric i7, the latter with a more concise front bumper and an i-series signature blue trim in the center of the bottom, which is also dotted behind the front wheels, the rear bumper and other parts. The exterior details of the Fuel Edition 7 Series vary depending on the body kit.
If you use your imagination to cut off the double kidney grille of the new 7 Series, and then block the front and rear BMW markings, you should be able to associate with a large wave of independent new cars. Although it seems extremely radical, in fact, BMW made it clear at the beginning: this wave was inspired by China.
Even this time, BMW also provided a two-color car paint that is popular in China. Last year, BMW launched a limited edition of a two-color body for the previous generation of the 7 Series, but the limited identity plus only provides 760Li power, the price is more than 2.6 million, even the 7 Series owners can not afford it. And now the new 7 Series directly offers a two-color option.
Big big screen
If the exterior design is stuck at the tipping point between radical and overly radical, the interior design of the new 7 series and i7 is much less controversial.
At a glance, the iX is indeed the foresight and cornerstone of BMW's new generation of design, and the new 7 Series and i7 highly inherit the iX's innovative interior layout. The biggest difference is that the executive status of the 7 Series plus the fuel structure needs, the flat front floor on the iX naturally disappeared, replaced by a wide central control platform that highlights the aura of the luxury car.
Dual-frame steering wheel, curved suspension double screen, crystal knob and shift lever, BlingBling windmill door seat adjuster... These exquisite and dreamy atmosphere groups full of little bourgeois atmosphere have been fully affirmed in the iX test drive article ("Just staring at the nostrils of the iX, the pattern is small").
Flagships always have to be flagship exclusive, and in the new 7 Series and i7 cars, the traditional interior trim is positioned into a gorgeous, diamond-cut interactive light belt, which BMW calls the Interaction Bar. The air conditioner outlet is hidden under this "Bar", which is a bit invisible like the Tesla Model 3.
This is probably the final form after the 10086 color atmosphere lamp is rolled to the extreme.
The back row of the executive-level flagship, specifically the right back seat, is always the place that can make people sigh the unevenness of the world. The new pattern of the new 7 Series is the rare seat integrated leg rest, and the maximum inclination angle of the back of the seat has reached 42.5 degrees this time.
The ideal L9 has just been showing off the whole car to play games for the whole family, and the Lantu Dreamer has crammed into a lifting TV wall, and BMW has given a more generous way than the ideal "family fun" and more decent than the Lantu "dance hall" - 31-inch 8K theater widescreen. The screen ratio is 32:9, just enough to provide two pieces of 16:9 for passengers on both sides to watch separately, the resolution reaches 7680×2160, and it can be stored on the roof when not in use.
The rear of executive flagships is often placed in a central position, and some are also made into a small flatbed to facilitate the removal of two passengers to operate separately. BMW's choice this time is that I want it all, directly on the left and right door panels fixed a 5.5-inch touch screen, both sides can control everything in the back row and even the whole car, never allow the left and right guests to fight.
It perfectly avoided major business accidents such as "Luo Yonghao and Cook negotiated the acquisition of Apple in the car, only because they competed for the only small tablet in the back row to adjust the volume".
Big big size
If you vaguely feel that the new 7 Series and i7 are "so big", congratulations, this time BMW is indeed quite generous in size. The wheelbase of the two reached 3215mm, which is equivalent to the current long shaft 7 series, and the length has reached 5391mm - 118mm more than the current longshaft version! To know the Rolls-Royce side, the standard shaft version of Gust is only 5546mm.
What is more surprising is that such an important flagship "originated in China", BMW did not release a long-axis version at the same time.
Because of this new 7 series and i7, there is no plan to provide a "long axis version" at all. The 7 series of the standard wheelbase version is designed according to the size of the major axis, the standard axis is the long axis, and the long axis is the standard axis, which may be understood as "no longer has a standard axis version".
BMW said that the 7 Series (fuel/hybrid) will not be listed in Europe at the same time (only the i7), while the Sino-US market is the 7 Series and the i7 twin car parallel, combined with the wheelbase size trade-off, it can be seen that BMW's attention at this level has been completely inclined to The United States and the United States.
The PHEV version features a bottom-mounted battery design
The fuel version of the 7 Series powertrain is nothing new, the V12 engine exit is what we already know, the launch includes a total of 3.0T and 4.0T a total of three pure fuel power, all with 48V micro-hybrid system. The two plug-in hybrids form a new powertrain, and the chassis tiled battery pack provides around 80km of pure electric mileage.
Although the pure electric i7 has a special identity, for us, the pure electric model derived from bmw's CLAR platform is no stranger. With a long wheelbase, the i7 has a battery pack of about 100kWh and a cruising range of about 625km under the WLTP standard. Like iX, it supports up to 195kW fast charging, of course, this requires the infrastructure support of fast charging stations in China.
After the amazing styling hammers of the new 7 Series and i7, many people turned over the case of Chris Bangor when he launched the E65, intending to prove that some malicious criticism was just a floating cloud to cover his eyes. Our current generation of auto editors is either generally younger than generational characteristics, or everyone's collective memory has never been embodied.
Even if you really want to get out of the E65, you should first give the wheat to "Bangle Butt"
Design is always set against the backdrop of the times. Large, conspicuous, highly recognizable, posted on social media can make as many people (or, ID) recognizable at a glance, can trigger re-evaluation on social media three times, is the background color of our time about design, about aesthetics.
Frankly speaking, from the three-pronged star that Mercedes-Benz is eager to cover the whole car, to bmw's enlarged kidneys, and then extended to the car design in recent years, just like the rocket tail of the American car in the 60s of the last century, whether you love it or not, it is the nature and inevitability of the times. When you sort out the ins and outs of all this, you will no longer be obsessed with using beauty and ugliness to define the waves of a certain era.
BMW is experimenting with new styles that look challenging and risky, but if you look at each radical element separately, you will realize that they have no "reversal" at all - giant luminous grilles, narrow daytime lights, split headlights, slender tail lights, are all designs that are commonplace in our time to the almost mainstream.
What people are not used to is not themselves, but only that they appear on a BMW.