aria
Former Moderator
- Joined
- Dec 4, 1977
- Posts
- 39,546
Since I'm the resident "old man" of driving tastes, I wanted to comment about my recent time behind the wheel of a 2009 BMW 750Li --I had the opportunity to spend about 300 miles driving it, so I can compare it to my time behind previous model years as well as several other BMW models. I've driven several 7-series, from the original 2002 Bangle Butt (and impossibly dumb iDrive) through a few later models.
First of all, I like the new styling. The nose looks like its from the 6, and part of the reason for the change were new EU rules that forced a pointy-er nose to reduce the impact on any pedestrian hits.
The car hauls ass even more than before. I drove one of the most notorious uphill stretches of interstate in America (the Grapevine between the CA Central Valley and LA) and it tore up the steep grade without missing a beat. It felt like much more of a driver car than what I refer to as "yacht"-driving which I've experienced with my old 1989 Cadillac Coup d'Ville or a current Rolls Royce Phantom. I drove it in standard, sport and comfort mode and there wasn't too much difference in handling.
The car has two cameras on either side of the nose, just in front of the tires, so --if you're coming out of a tight driveway (like an alley)-- you can see oncoming traffic without having to go out too far into the street. Not bad.
They moved the gear stick from the old-man position on the wheel to the center console, which alleviates an annoying problem with the previous models--everytime you'd be in a tight situation, i.e. a quick 3-point-turnaround, and reach to for reverse or drive, you'd occasionally accidentally grab the windshield wipers to a dramatic, awkward effect.
iDrive is actually pretty useful now --they finally came up with an intuitive interface and the much nicer screen helps push things along. This is what the first generation should've been. Everything is primarily based off of left-right toggling and they got rid of the more annoying aspects of the feedback function that would slow down the turns. After the previous iterations, this one really has to be tried to be believed.
I mentioned it earlier, but the screen is very nice --it also handles all the cameras --rear and the cool split-view for the two nose cameras. The object sensor is far, far less annoying than earlier models, whose beeping would drive me nuts ("okay, I see the obvious poll in front of me, please shut up!").
Everything computer-related syncs a lot easier --pairing a bluetooth device was simple, setting up various pre-sets was effortless compared to my own byzantine '08 Z4.
The seat AC wasn't bad --while I was expecting colder, the seat did keep from getting hot (and that's something I'm particularly sensitive to).
Overall, the whole thing is much better than before --I was genuinely impressed. This is what classy driving is all about.
Ah, perchance to dream...
First of all, I like the new styling. The nose looks like its from the 6, and part of the reason for the change were new EU rules that forced a pointy-er nose to reduce the impact on any pedestrian hits.
The car hauls ass even more than before. I drove one of the most notorious uphill stretches of interstate in America (the Grapevine between the CA Central Valley and LA) and it tore up the steep grade without missing a beat. It felt like much more of a driver car than what I refer to as "yacht"-driving which I've experienced with my old 1989 Cadillac Coup d'Ville or a current Rolls Royce Phantom. I drove it in standard, sport and comfort mode and there wasn't too much difference in handling.
The car has two cameras on either side of the nose, just in front of the tires, so --if you're coming out of a tight driveway (like an alley)-- you can see oncoming traffic without having to go out too far into the street. Not bad.
They moved the gear stick from the old-man position on the wheel to the center console, which alleviates an annoying problem with the previous models--everytime you'd be in a tight situation, i.e. a quick 3-point-turnaround, and reach to for reverse or drive, you'd occasionally accidentally grab the windshield wipers to a dramatic, awkward effect.
iDrive is actually pretty useful now --they finally came up with an intuitive interface and the much nicer screen helps push things along. This is what the first generation should've been. Everything is primarily based off of left-right toggling and they got rid of the more annoying aspects of the feedback function that would slow down the turns. After the previous iterations, this one really has to be tried to be believed.
I mentioned it earlier, but the screen is very nice --it also handles all the cameras --rear and the cool split-view for the two nose cameras. The object sensor is far, far less annoying than earlier models, whose beeping would drive me nuts ("okay, I see the obvious poll in front of me, please shut up!").
Everything computer-related syncs a lot easier --pairing a bluetooth device was simple, setting up various pre-sets was effortless compared to my own byzantine '08 Z4.
The seat AC wasn't bad --while I was expecting colder, the seat did keep from getting hot (and that's something I'm particularly sensitive to).
Overall, the whole thing is much better than before --I was genuinely impressed. This is what classy driving is all about.
Ah, perchance to dream...
