I found the i-Drive controller to be intuitive. I was able to access many functions with no explanation whatsoever, and a very short briefing enabled me to use all the functions.
Occasionally, having only one control and screen for several functions I was trying to use simultaneously or alternately made navigation a chore. And, having functions available that one isn't likely to imagine on one's own made it possible to get lost. However, getting found was never more complicated than one or two sideways movements of the controller. The solution is to spend 15 to 20 minutes familiarizing oneself with the many functions. I preferred the i-Drive interface to the touchscreens in other luxury vehicles, because my hand was always able to find the controller and my eye was never far from the road.
The i-Drive system has allowed new freedom in interior design, eliminating clutter and the temptation to gadgetry. BMW compares the new 7 Series interior to furniture and architecture, which are more about a style of living than they are a mechanical device. The cockpit and dash are a single element, and the wood that used to be decorative is now used naturally. Traditional ash grain is available, but the simple elegance of Shaker furniture is offered with open-grained black cherry. Luxury is in the look and feel of the materials.
The new 7 Series' optional stereo system, called Logic 7, is the most advanced I have seen. Subwoofers are integrated into the chassis under the front seats, using the rocker panel sections as 20-liter ported enclosures. Logic 7's creator, Dr. David Griesinger, has made a life's work of studying the way the mind hears and interprets sound. He created digital sound processing software methods that go beyond state-of-the-art 5.1 theater standards. Requiring seven speakers plus subwoofers rather than just five, Logic 7 creates a sound stage inside the vehicle, making the mind believe it is in a larger space. To my ears, Logic 7 does exactly what BMW and Harmon-Kardon say it does. It will be truly unusual music that does not sound better through the system.
The remainder of the chassis is nearly as impressive as these parts, but from BMW that's not really surprising. The unibody has 140m of flanges bonded with adhesive prior to welding, giving 15-percent increases in torsional and bending stiffness and the same increase in energy absorption during crashes. The six-speed automatic transmission is 18-percent lighter than the five-speed it replaces. Under the i-Drive concept, there is a PRND stalk on the steering column and shift buttons on the steering wheel. To avoid a gas-guzzler penalty, U.S. models will not feature Steptronic shifting until the sport package and 760Li.
Active roll control, called Dynamic Drive, works by twisting the anti-roll bar hydraulically, providing up to 6 degrees of roll compensation and allowing a maximum of 4 degrees roll at 1g cornering. Up to 0.5 g, there is no body roll at all. Because anti-roll bars can redistribute cornering grip between the front and rear axle, BMW was able to dial in perfect neutrality at lower speeds and gradually change to understeer as cornering loads increase. The active damping system is manufactured by Sachs. Based on a twin-tube damper, a solenoid-controlled valve in the piston functions bi-directionally to make damping whatever the computer wants it to be.
Luxury details include the standard seats, which combine the functionality of the old car's sport and comfort seats. Each of the 85 electric motors in the car (not counting about 50 percent more in the seats) makes exactly the sound it should, as do hydraulic and air movement systems. In most cases, that is no noise at all.
So how does it drive? On Mini-sized Italian roads, often with broken pavement, the big 7 was perfectly controlled and capable at all times. Several of BMW's engineers present expressed both surprise and pleasure that journalists were driving the new 7 Series as if it were a 3 Series. That, in the end, is the genius of BMW: To make cars that drive exactly the way cars should, combining comfort and performance with little compromise between the two.