By Al S. Mendoza
THE All-New BMW 7 Series, easily a billionaire’s toy car but hardly a millionaire’s fancy for its gaudy price, was launched recently in an amazingly elegant black motif at the plush Shangri-La Hotel Grand Ballroom at the Fort in Global City Taguig.
This prime bimmer model that’s been very much around for four decades now has always been touted as the car not for the rich but, rather, for the extremely rich. If you have it, you are made—not to mention you could be in league with men owning pricey initials, such as HS, JG, LT, AT, ER, GT or RSA maybe. Billionaires all.
Even the evening air in this night of BMW nights was wrapped in black. Men in black. Women in black. Everybody, almost, in black.
It was charcoal black all over that the only thing lacking to make it an apt all-black party was “Black Is Black,” the jumpy hit of not-too-long-ago, as background music while Maricar C. Parco, the ravishingly beautiful president of Asian Carmakers Corp. (ACC) what with all the stunning splendor of her lusciously flowing black gown, was delivering her much-applauded welcome remarks.
I heard someone say the All-New BMW 7 Series is way beyond his wallet’s reach, adding: “Even if I have P20 million in the bank?”
“Keep it there,” said another. “Restrain yourself, my dear.” Millionaires today are a dime a dozen. Be quiet. You are a mere millionaire, and billionaires will simply sneer at you.
Now, it’s different, of course, if your millions have ballooned to, say, a hundred. Yes, I can grant you that: Buy one BMW 7. Just one, OK? Don’t try to be cute. Greedy. Get only the first BMW 7 variant: 740. It costs only P8.49 million. You should know where you belong. Look, for billionaires like LT, that’d be perfect for use of his Forbes Park maid to buy grocery items.
What, you also wish to buy the other variant, 750? You say, you have P12.49 million more to spare for it?
OK, go, get it then. What is P20.98 million when ranged against your P100 million? Did I not hear that lately, you’ve been making a killing in your business, whatever that is?
Genuinely luxurious
NOW, what does the 7 Series mean to you? Better that we listen to the experts, like Ian Robertson, BMW’s sales guru. “It’s our flagship, our technology leader, our innovations platform. It is also genuinely luxurious and comfortable while remaining a real driver’s car. Put simply, it sets the new benchmark. Importantly for the company, this is the car that offers the very latest leading-edge technology with features that, over time, will be available throughout the BMW range.”
Global studious involved
FROM Adrian Van Hooydonk, senior vice president of BMW Group Design:
“Designing a car is always a bit like going on a journey. To start with, we got all our global studious in Munich, Shanghai and Los Angeles involved. We also sent our designers to places we considered important sources of inspiration for the BMW 7 Series—such as Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Seattle. Our aim was to develop and even better understanding of what constitutes modern luxury. Some customers place more importance on elegance, others on sportiness, depending on taste and cultural background. That’s why we wanted our designers to experience and understand these differences and to view the car in context.”
Communicating with its driver
FROM Stephan Durach, the electrical engineer who is in charge of all communications and input systems in the All-New BMW 7 Series:
“Never before has a BMW been capable of communicating with its driver in such a variety of ways and so individually. Voice control. A tough display and a BMW gesture control now complement a perfected BMW i-Drive system. The i-Drive is the best system ever as it ensure minimal distraction while driving, even as a touchscreen is sometimes more practical and intuitive, such as when moving or enlarging a map, for example, or selecting a point on it. For certain gestures, we point a finger to accept a phone call or make a wiping motion to reject it. Besides being a very direct, swift and effortless method, it’s also really fun to control functions in this way.” Continued on E4
Intelligent blend
AND finally, Walter Schindlbeck, who has “overall responsibility” for the All-New BMW 7 Series:
“The body team is especially proud of the way in which carbon fiber technology has been transferred to large-scale series production. The intelligent blend of steel, aluminum and carbon fiber is ideally suited for use in a luxury sedan of this size. No other carmaker in the world has mastered this highly complex process…The Executive Lounge behind the front passenger seat is a very special highlight. The passenger seat backrest and head restraint can be folded a long way forward, opening up a panoramic view through the windscreen from the rear and generating an unprecedented sense of space…To drive it—it’s a dream. No other sedan of these proportions feels so light and delivers such incredibly fun and dynamic performance and such impressive ride comfort. At the same time, the occupants find themselves in a wonderfully peaceful environment. The acoustics experts and sound engineers have done a great job—as has the whole team.”
Billionaires, welcome.