2023 BMW i7 First Drive Review: A joy to drive, a pain to use
On the whole, it’s pleasing that the i7 delivers the kind of driving experience expected from a BMW 7 Series. Drivers with experience with EVs or past 7 Series should find its driving dynamics appropriate and enjoyable. Sadly, there are some puzzling and annoying technology aspects that spoil the experience.iDrive leaves much to be desired. On a very basic level, it is adequately easy to use. The home screen is configurable and features shortcuts for apps, music, and navigation.
We're also not fans of the secondary controls on the center console. The capacitive touch buttons require a deliberate press, which prevents accidental activation, but the buttons are small and the tactile bumps don't really help enough to allow for no-look operation. In most cases, you'll need to take your eyes off the road to use them until you're intimately familiar with the layout.
A small touchscreen in the rear doors controls everything from music, interior ambiance modes, seat functions, climate, and sunshades. Curiously, there aren't any navigation controls, which seems like a misstep if you want to select a destination for the driver. The massive new 31.3-inch Theater Screen is visually stunning and selecting Theater mode automatically closes the sunroof and window shades, and pivots the large screen from the roof.
On top of that, the rear window shade is as opaque as a Las Vegas hotel blackout curtain. That’s apparently to keep from distracting fellow motorists on the road, but it also effectively eliminates the driver's rearward view. That alone raises some safety concerns, especially as a camera-based virtual rearview mirror is bafflingly not offered.
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