After spending two days immersed in the wonder of the revolutionary all-new BMW 7 Series last week, I took a deep breath and wondered: who the hell designed this outrageously luxurious, hi-tech piece of metal, cashmere wool, leather and Swarovski crystal genius?

While there are always hundreds, if not thousands, of people involved in producing a product like the 7, the man with the central design vision is 47-year-old Frankfurt-born Croat, Domagoj Dukec, who took up the position of head of design at BMW in 2019.

Domagoj Dukec took the position of head of design at BMW in 2019. (Photo: BMW Group Press Club)

During his tenure, he’s introduced some pretty polarising design elements to the German premium brand, but perhaps none as controversial as those enormous kidney grilles that got BMW’s 40 million-plus social media followers talking. A lot.

In many quarters, the response was downright derogatory, likening the oversized grilles (first revealed on the straight 4 Series, M3 and M4 in 2020) to the face of a beaver, or oversized metal orthodontic braces.

Making a difference

In October last year, Dukec, who describes himself as an “emotional rationalist”, told Sharp magazine that he doesn’t pay much attention to naysayers: “I can’t, and I don’t want to please everyone, because BMW was never about pleasing everyone. Actually, my duty as head of design is to always create something which makes a difference.”

The new 7 Series, with its enormous nose, super-slim headlights, revolutionary tech and uber luxurious finishes, has once again elicited a passionate brigade of lovers and haters.

The 7 Series 740i and I7 in the Cape. (Photo: BMW Group Press Club)

The camps screaming “heresy” believe BMW has totally lost the plot.

There’s clearly nostalgia among the haters who long for the “good old days”, when a 7 Series was an ode to elegance, understatement and looked like… well, a 7 Series. 

When BMW unveiled the new 7 in April last year, one armchair critic going by the handle @ListerLawrence vented on Twitter: “No amount of black-packing or upgrading the alloys is going to fix the way this new 7 series looks. The only thing I can think is that BMW know (sic) how bad the chip shortage is and this is their way of getting ahead of it.”

Then there are the millions of fans hailing the 7th gen 7 as a giant leap in “Forwardism” — a term coined by BMW to coincide with the launch of their latest flagship.

Rather than trying to appease the old fans, BMW appears to be basking in the hoo-ha. 

Controversy

At a press briefing in October in California last year, BMW’s chairman, Oliver Zipse, admitted: “I want controversy… If we don’t have controversy (in the early design process), I already know it’s too easy… Out of the controversy you get engagement. You get people thinking about it and thinking about alternatives.”

I’m firmly in the Zipse and Dukec camp, being someone who’s never shied away from causing some ruckus myself. 

And besides, it’s not like BMW doesn’t know what it’s doing with the pinnacle of the brand’s product line-up. The company is acutely aware that the 7’s client landscape has changed dramatically since 1977, when the first 7 Series was launched. 

Research undertaken by BMW shows that around 45% of all new 7 Series models will find their homes in China, to owners between the ages of 28 and 38 years old. 

Gone are the days when the flagship sedan was all about understated elegance and subtle finishes — now, flamboyance, over-the-top luxury, expanded dimensions and super-sharp tech are the order of the day.

Theatre on wheels

The 31-inch retractable display screen in the rear. (Photo: BMW Group Press Club)

On local launch day, before I drove a metre in the new 740i, I got to experience the almost six-metre theatre on wheels from the back seat, courtesy of Peter, the chauffeur. Oh boy. 

This was no normal entry into a car. 

With a single touch via a button on the front door, Pete seamlessly opened all four doors to allow for a grand entry. 

After nestling into the cream cashmere wool and leather seat, the first things I noticed were touchscreens located on each armrest of the back seat passenger doors. 

About the size of a Samsung 22 Ultra, back seat autonomy is clearly the name of the game in the new 7, where stuff like climate control and a variety of massages, ranging from lumbar to shoulders, were available at my fingertips. 

And I had even added pleasure, from an almost fully reclined position, as the left passenger seat can be set up to almost mimic a bed. But wait, there was more! 

The pièce de résistance in the new 7 has got to be the 31-inch (yes, you read that right), 8K res display screen that seamlessly folds down, with built-in Amazon Fire TV, encouraging rear passengers to kick back, play games or watch streaming services like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime. The 5G-compatible aerial system provides high-speed connectivity.

New-level premium 

In 1998, BMW purchased Rolls-Royce, and the latest 7 clearly embodies a new level of premium. Rolls-Royce-like luxury oozes throughout the cabin by way of carbon trim and the finest of wood finishes. 

And there’s lots of Swarovski crystal, which is even found on the sedan’s slim headlights. 

There’s also a panoramic glass retractable sunroof that can open even when the big-ass TV screen is down. A Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system is integrated into all the headrests. 

The hi-tech 7 Series cabin. (Photo: BMW Group Press Club)

When in the driver’s seat, I immediately noticed that the cockpit — which houses a 12.3-inch driver’s display and a 14.9-inch infotainment unit on a curved display — has significantly fewer buttons, switches and controls than its predecessor. It also soon became clear that the mammoth amount of tech is surprisingly easy to figure out.

The drive

But all the luxury and revolutionary tech aside, the new 7 truly excels when it comes to the drive. 

Available in two fuel engines, there’s a rear wheel 740i 3.0-litre straight-six turbo-petrol, offering 280kW and 540Nm, as well as a 220kW 740d six-cylinder in-line diesel, which should arrive mid-year.

Both pair to a 48-volt mild-hybrid assist system. (There’s also talk of the 760i, a twin-turbocharged 4.4-litre V8 coming to our shores sometime during 2023.) 

The flagship of the 7 Series range, the all-electric i7. (Photo: BMW Group Press Club)

But, undoubtedly, the biggest news in the new 7 Series line-up is the all-electric i7 xDrive60, powered by a 101.7kWh battery, hooked up to two electric motors, pumping out a combined 400kW and a massive 744Nm of torque.

While this beaut can hurtle from 0-100km/h in just 4.9 seconds, forget about range anxiety — the i7 has a pretty decent 590-625km available on a single charge. And if you’re in a rush, BMW reckons the battery will go from 0-80% in just 34 minutes at a fast-charging station.

When it comes to driving the all-electric i7, with the addition of BMW IconicSounds Electric — developed in collaboration with well-known film score composer Hans Zimmer — you may even forget that you’re driving an EV, because this electric powerhouse sounds a lot like a good old fuel guzzler.

While I was mightily impressed with the 740i, it was the i7 that ultimately stole my heart.

It’s a silky smooth, super-fast and ridiculously efficient drive that commendably embraces the brand’s Forwardism philosophy, while still managing to have plenty of character and oomph. 

In my humble opinion, the new 7 Series, for its price, has the most outstanding cabin experience for passengers and drivers in the world right now.

While, for years, Mercedes Benz has claimed that its S-Class is the “best car in the world”, there are going to be plenty of media and owners of the new 7 who will claim that Merc’s crown has just been stolen.

Pricing:

BMW 740i — R2,160,000.
BMW 740d xDrive — R2,280,000.
BMW i7 xDrive60 — R2,825,000. DM