Every new car that comes to market usually bears a little or big bit of its predecessor. This is not, however, the case with the new BMW 7-series that has just gone on sale on the Irish market. Andrew Hamilton has been behind the wheel
"We have a flagship here that is an absolutely new, innovative car from the ground up, based neither on its predecessor nor on the competition," says Frank Keane, chairman of Motor Import Limited, the BMW Irish importers. "We are opening up a new world of motoring here."
But maybe a comparison with another flagship competitor, the S-Class of Mercedes-Benz, is appropriate. Flagship models, after all, are supposed to bristle with dials, switches and buttons: it's all part of the status thing. The S-Class has, fully equipped, 120 buttons on its dashboard whereas the new 7 comes with just 12. Everything else - some 700 functions in all - is hidden, controlled from a central computer screen. At this opulent level of motoring, the normal expectation (or indeed demand) is for more and more features.
The only problem, according to BMW, is that the fascia is getting overloaded, as indeed is the driver's memory. Hence the technological tour de force of the 7-series, iDrive.
The 7-series isn't a car that even an experienced driver could jump into and take off. That's why experienced personnel from BMW in Munich were on hand at Punchestown racecourse in Co Kildare this week, explaining the ultra-high-tech features to dealers, service people, customers and potential customers, and the motoring press. "There isn't any other car like this in the world," says Prince Leopold of Bavaria, a former racing driver, who is one of those doing the explaining. He, incidentally, is a great-great-grand-nephew of a famous Bavarian king, Ludwig I whose fairy-tale castles are probably Bavaria's biggest tourist attraction.
Playing a key role in the 7-series interior is a chunky aluminium knob on the central console: it takes the place of the gear selector. This knob is a combination of computer mouse and joystick. By gently pushing and pulling, turning and pressing, it gives access to eight different menus displayed on an eight-inch screen high up on the centre of the fascia.
The options are arranged on the screen like the points of a compass, with the four main areas - communications, entertainment, navigation and climate control - at north, south, east and west, and less frequently used functions at the points between.
The engines: V8s of 3.6 or 4.4 litres with respectively 272 and 333bhp, are started and stopped with a button and the key is an electronic device that slips into a slot. The selector lever for the automatic transmission is on the steering column - just like the old days- although gears can be selected manually from buttons on the steering wheel.
The handbrake is also operated by a dashboard button, and it can be programmed to apply the release automatically. The satellite navigation system is an integral part of the iDrive concept, as is the telephone. The car is equipped as an Internet gateway, able to send and receive e-mails.
The new 7-series is all-new in areas other than the dashboard: it applies to engine and transmission areas as well. The 3.6 and 4.4 litre units are from a family of new V8s that incorporate the Valvetronic system first seen on the BMW 3 -series Compact: it produces more power and uses less fuel than its predecessors. The six-speed automatic transmission is a world first and it is claimed to be lighter and more efficient than the five-speed it replaces.
New 7-series is very much new in looks as well. It used to be that a new 7-series had a strong identity in profile with the previous model. That's not so apparent now: BMW says boldly that its "revolution in the evolution" meaning that it is still unmistakably BMW in appearance.
Motor Import expects to sell around 200 of the new 7-series here, and 30 new models have already been registered. The 735i retails here at €95,000, while the 745i is €104,000. Long-wheelbase versions arrive in April, and next year we will see diesel models.
How will owners and drivers from previous 7-series cars, and indeed new customers, cope with all this change? Frank Keane says it won't be a problem: "Maybe we have been too traditional in our attitudes. Computers are in everyday use elsewhere, and now they are in the cabin as well as in the engine."