Leaders
don't always have it easy. They take charge, but they have to take responsibility,
too. They take credit, but they take flack. Leaders go first, and it's not always
easy to blaze the trails. But every once in a while, for a job well done, leaders
accept awards. No
car currently on the market embodies what leadership is all about than the controversial
new BMW 7-Series. Its styling has courage
you seldom see in such a traditionally conservative class of automobile. Its luxury
features are without peer. But most importantly, the true mark of its leadership
is the way that it has revolutionized the way that it goes about its business.
From its "key" to its turn signal to its controversial iDrive controls
for radio, climate control, navigation and more, it compels you to reconsider
and rethink the way you operate an automobile. The big Seven represents a quantum
leap forward from the conventions of the past into a future that many of us have
longed to bring into the present. The
Seven has power, and plenty of it: 325 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque in the
745i. And it feels like it has even more. BMWs have always harnessed their horses
in a most efficient way, consistently achieving acceleration times that belie
their horsepower numbers. The Seven also handles, thanks to large-diameter wheels
and sophisticated suspensions. Seriously, no car this big has any right to dance
the way it does. But
the Seven-Series is first and foremost a luxury car. The optional heated and cooled
front seats adjust in a bazillion directions. Even the headrests have separate,
adjustable pillows. The dashboard cabinetry is delicious. Touching and spinning
the metal iDrive disc is a sensation to be savored, a quality that makes climbing
the system's steep learning curve that much more enjoyable. Speaking
of iDrive, the system may take a bit to master (four or five days of "normal"
operating conditions), but once you get it, all other cars will seem passé.
Not all leaders have posed popular ideas, but sometimes, they really work. And
iDrive works. So
the Seven is as an everyday luxury car as much as Napoleon Bonaparte was your
everyday French farmer. Trust us when we say that what BMW has achieved with the
new Seven, others will be sure to emulate. | 
