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2016 BMW 7 Series Interior Spied: the New iDrive Interface Revealed

Usually, spyshots don’t reveal a whole lot to out spy photographers and that’s especially true for interior shots but today we have a big surprise for you: the new iDrive interface from BMW. Our dedicated team of carparazzi got up close and personal with the upcoming 2016 BMW 7 Series’ interior and snapped a couple of photos that included the look of the new infotainment system.
2016 BMW G11 7 Series iDrive 9 photos
Photo: CarPix
2016 BMW G11 7 Series Interior2016 BMW G11 7 Series iDrive2016 BMW G11 7 Series Interior2016 BMW G11 7 Series2016 BMW G11 7 Series2016 BMW G11 7 Series2016 BMW G11 7 Series2016 BMW G11 7 Series
There are a couple more interesting details in the photos but the one that caught our attention immediately was the iDrive infotainment system interface. It’s even more surprising to see it being used on this prototype as nobody reported anything about a radical restyle of the system so far.

As you can see, everything’s new and there are 6 big categories to choose from on the main screen instead of the 8 submenus we’ve been getting used to on current systems. Furthermore, they have a new design that’s vertical instead of horizontal like it was up until now. On top of that, each has a picture on it to describe the submenu you’d be entering upon selection.

Looking at the photos, we’d say that even the test pilots haven’t seen it so far, proof in this regard being the fact that the driver is himself taking a picture of the screen with his phone.

New air vent design with matching touch-sensitive controls

We know that the G11 7 Series is supposed to be based on the Future Luxury Vision Concept and bring forwards a new interior design for the whole range but so far, we’re not seeing huge changes. What we did notice were the new air vents that have a different design and what look like touch-sensitive controls underneath them that allow you to adjust the temperature.

Even so, they might not be functional at the moment, as the HVAC panel below seems to be controlling the climate inside the car. Speaking of the HVAC, it also received a new face, seemingly being made of aluminum and with a similar design to the one found inside the i8.

On the center console, we can also spot the same material being used for the iDrive controller and the neighboring buttons including the electronically assisted parking brake.

As far as the instrument cluster goes, it appears as if it went digital but we applaud the fact that they seemingly decided to keep the chromed rings around the speedometer and tachometer. The steering wheel also seems new, inspired by the one used in the 2 Series Active Tourer.

LEDs used for the stoplights, laser light for headlamps

On the outside, the car doesn’t tell us a hole lot. The camouflage covers most of its details pretty well but we could make out a new design for the taillights. BMW promised that future models will offer the latest Organic LEDs or OLED for short. However, this prototype, at least, doesn't have them.

That’s a new generation of LEDs that are a lot smaller compared to their current equivalents and have been used on smartphones for quite some time now. Thanks to their compact size they offer the same brightness as their predecessors while weighing less and allowing the designers to use them for more purposes than before, including inside the cabin.

Up front, the car follows the trend set up by the Vision Future Luxury concept and seems to be wearing thinner headlamps that our spy photographers said were lasers as well as bigger kidney grilles.

The new model is expected to be unveiled at Frankfurt this fall as a 2016 model. It will be using the new B-family of engines and we’re expecting a plug-in hybrid to also be introduced. Lovers of big engines need not worry as the 760i and 760Li models will be kept alive with upgraded 6-liter V12 plants under the bonnet.
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