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BMW 7 Series
Well, quite obviously this is a BMW. It's got the rondelle on the front, it's got your twin kidney grill. But trust me, this is like no BMW you've ever seen. It's the new 7 series and it's got stuff inside here that's going to boggle your mind.
For starters: that's the key. Notice there's nothing sticking out of there? There is no key to this car. It's all electronic. You stick it in the slot and, if you push this button, it turns on the ignition. If you have your foot on the pedal and you push the button, it starts the car. That's pretty cool. Push the button again, the engine shuts off.
But what really makes this car different is something called I-Drive. This a system BMW's designed to try and figure out how to handle all the functions that people want in an automobile without cluttering a dashboard with too many buttons. Well, you might say they already failed there, but never mind. If you push this little lever like that you come up with a menu that tells you a number of different things. If you push the button forward, it goes to a communication, your telephone system; pull it backward, it switches on entertainment; push it this way, it goes to the climate menu. Then you rotate this little knob and you can see the box flying around to different functions. Set the seat temperature, the car's got electric seats. It's even got air-conditioned seats. And you push what you want, you push the button down, it's all done for you. Except I'm doing all this while I'm stationary.
What's it like to drive? Well, to tell you the truth, I can't tell you because I can't figure out how to release the parking brake because that's done with a separate button over here. I'm just kidding. We did drive the car yesterday. It is quite fantastic. A fabulous engine, wonderful chassis, a lot of electronics in both the engine and the transmission and the suspension: there's gadgets everywhere.
But the only button that's really easy to work - well, that's this one, right here.
You push it and you turn on the radio. Now there is a concept.
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