Then again, the 745i may also go down as a lunatic attempt to replace intuitive controls with overwrought silicon, an electric paper clip on a lease plan. One of our senior editors needed 10 minutes just to figure out how to start it(insert the key, step on the brake, then push the start button), five minutes to drop it into gear(pull the electronic column shifter forward, then up for reverse or down for drive), and then two weaving miles to decode the arcane seat controls(select which quadrant of the seat you wish to adjust from one of four buttons located near your inboard thigh, then maneuver the adjacent joystick until posterior bliss is achieved)-all of which made him so tardy to pick up his kid that he rushed, only to get bagged by a radar boy scout within sight of the school. In BMW’s defense, we’ll note here that the 745i and its various ergonomic quirks, especially the little porkpie hat on the iDrive miracle knob that controls the dash-top computer console, are designed with the noblest of intentions. The iDrive system is supposed to give drivers more control over the growing number of features packed into premium luxury cars while also fighting the proliferation of buttons that can make an artfully sculpted interior look more like guidance control at Houston.
You can see from the pictures of the 745i and its sophisticated satin-finish, Swedish-living-room motif that the latter goal has largely been achieved. And if you don’t wad up the vehicle in the first few miles exploring the dashboard’s 700 individual functions-urgent warning to the population: give wide berth to a 745i bearing temporary dealer tags-the iDrive will become your friend.