2020 BMW 7-Series

2020 bmw 7-series

9/25/2019

extended luxury - sedan

It only seems like it was two (2) generations ago that we were talking about the horrible update to the rear of the 2002 BMW 7-Series. Yes, those days are now behind us, thankfully, but really was it the worst 7-Series design of all time. We would like to say so as it had vast amounts of open spaces, a lack of luxury refinement and that

horrible duck tail rear end. Sure, it made you well aware of the rear boot, but really it wasn’t in any way good to look at. So, if we really had to measure what model the new 2019 7-Series has to live up to, that would have to be the E38 from 1994 till 2001. That was by far the best of all the 7-Series models and it so happened to star in a “James Bond” movie as well.
Funny enough is that the 2019 7-Series is the 7th generation of the model. Maybe that’s a good sign of great things to come from the model. Or maybe that means they finally got it right after all these years. Any way you look at it the 2019 7-Series is something that is all good for the company and this model.

With an enormous oversized grille overshadowing the rest of the front end, it seems that some of the better features may be missed when looking over this design. Taking a look, a little bit lower and you will find an eloquently styled brake and lower air inlet. Both of which flow perfectly with each other and are blended with each other with the use of a slim chrome accent. This accent really brings out the luxury appeal of the vehicle while creating a break between both inlets. But again, smack dab in the center of this lower air inlet you will find another feature which draws your eye in. The front camera along with the bumper sensors, could have been downsized or integrated a bit better into the design. Sure, the camera does somewhat flow with the air ducts fins, but really it is a bit too big to make you not notice it.

As you are sucked into the largest grille ever to grace the front of a 7-series, you will find that maybe BMW went a bit too far with their expansion plan. And the funny thing about this expansion is that a good portion of the grille is covering the lower portion of the hood. Not the best thing to do as it does give off the impression that the grille was made oversized and they just fit it onto the design they had. Sure, it does blend with the hood, but really it should move with the hood instead.

Moving along the perfectly flowing belt line we find ourselves immersed in a sea of chrome accents. That isn’t a bad thing when you consider which segment of the market this product fits into. And it seems that BMW has done a wonderful job at adding the correct amount of chrome to the side of the 7-Series. This is really apparent when you look at the bottom of the door sill and find yourself gazing at beautifully crafted side brake duct. This duct is accented with the right amount of chrome that flows from the top all the way down to the door sill accent. When there the accent carries itself from front to rear creating a beautifully flowing line of chrome. We just wish this would hold true on the wheels as well.

As with most 7-Series sedans the wheels come as standard equipment. But really shouldn’t BMW have broken their standard mold and gone a bit further than the classic wire wheel design. I guess the broken star design of past models is over and done with as this might have been better suited to the new 7-Series. Ah well I guess this is just something that the aftermarket world will have to work on.

   Onto the rear of the new 7-Series and we find the end of the chrome accent bar which flows from the front brake duct all the way to rear reflector lights.  It is too bad that BMW cut this a bit too short as the reflectors to take away from the accent.  Cheap shoddy plastic may be to blame here and the fact that they are inset instead of being flush with the accent strip.  BMW could have either glossed over and made them flush or moved them to another location.  The only nice thing about this was that the accent strip stops just as the accent around the exhaust ports starts.  If they had blended them together it could have been a world class finish for the accent, but instead it’s just short of a perfect finish.
   Moving back to the exhaust ports we find a perfect world balance between the exhaust and its accent strip.  This brings out the luxury appeal while still blending with its surroundings.  We would consider this a home run and kudos to BMW on a world class finish.  A bit higher we find ourselves again staring at oversize bumper sensors.  We know they are required, but couldn’t you blend them a bit better into their surroundings.
   The lights we can say were a decent feature of the rear, complete with accents and tinting.  It did however loose its luster as BMW did add a ripple effect to the light casing which is highly seen from a side profile point of view.  Adjusting this to flow better with the rear could help the lights better flow with their surroundings rather than standing out from them.

For 2019 BMW has done an excellent job in updating the style and appeal of the 7-Series. It will make a great starting point for the aftermarket world and we can see this becoming a threat to the competition. All around the new 7-Series is a beautifully crafted executive model from BMW and we hope to see this appeal flow onto more of its products.

Everett J.
#AutoLooks, #autolooks, @Autolooks.net