The new styling has not pleased everyone, however. The design, particularly when viewed from the rear, has been controversial among automotive media. BMW says its buyers love it. We did not care for it at first, but we are warming up to it after spending time with the car and receiving a detailed (and entertaining) explanation by BMW's chief designer of why it looks like it does. BMW says it did not want a bland design for its new 7 Series and suggests that the appearance of the previous-generation 7 Series (1995-2001) was overly conservative. It should also be pointed out that this company was not what it was just a few years ago. In addition to its 3-, 5-, and 7-series sedans, BMW now has an X5, a Z3, a Z8, and, in Europe, a 1 Series. Its portfolio could be compared with a small library: Instead of having just three books as before, it now has a big shelf loaded with books and several different types of volumes. The company did not want the 7 Series to simply look like a big 5 Series. BMW felt it was time to step out of the mold, time to exercise some design leadership. Frankly, we're pleased to see passion and emotion come out of this conservative company.

To understand the styling, it is important to keep in mind that this is a radically taller car than before (2.2 inches taller), giving its occupants more head room, more comfort, more rear-seat roominess, and a larger trunk. The greatest increase in height is along the outer edges of the roof, increasing head room and improving safety for occupants. The 7 Series is slightly longer (1.8 inches) and wider (1.6 inches), but the wheelbase is significantly longer (2.3 inches) than before. With these dimensional changes, BMW had to re-work the proportions and redesign the surface details.

To maintain good proportions, the 7 Series was given a fast greenhouse with a very fast C-pillar. (All of the roof pillars are much thicker for enhanced safety in the event of a rollover.) Big wheels were used. While front-wheel-drive Chryslers use a cab-forward design, the rear-wheel-drive BMW 7 Series uses a long hood and a swept back, giving it a sporty, coupe look.

The rear end is the focus of the controversy. Much of its design can be traced back to an attempt to handle the substantially raised rear deck height. Because the roof was raised dramatically, the rear deck needed to be raised to help the 7 Series achieve its excellent aerodynamics. Aerodynamic efficiency is crucial in reducing wind noise, improving fuel efficiency, and increasing the top speed, and the 7 Series is highly successful in all three of these areas. The traditional design did not work because the tail needed to be raised so high, so a sculptured appearance was used to maintain the lines of the car.

A by-product was a much larger trunk. At 18 cubic feet, the 7 Series trunk is significantly larger than the Mercedes S-Class (15.4 cubic feet). It's dramatically larger than the trunk on the previous 7 Series and nearly as large as the humongous trunk on the Lexus LS 430. The 7 Series trunk is oriented to carry four golf bags transversely or five standard pieces of luggage. A single-link tubular hinge eliminates intrusion into the trunk space, yet it springs open when the remote is activated. A power trunk lid is also available.

The back end does not look like a BMW. Thin secondary brake lights are a radical extension of the L-shaped taillamps BMW has used previously, most notably on the current 3 Series. Extending across the trunk lid, they are designed to draw the eye across the back, making the car look wider. The taillights are a technological marvel themselves, employing a new feature BMW calls adaptive brake lighting that is designed to signal the intensity of the driver's braking to other drivers. Under normal braking, the outboard and third brake lights illuminate as usual. Under hard braking or when ABS is activated, the taillights join the brake lights for a significant increase in visibility of the brake lights. If that isn't impressive enough for you, a monitoring system will signal you when a bulb burns out. And while you're waiting for an opportunity to get to a dealership to replace it, the system will commandeer other bulbs in the taillamps to use as brake lights. That's but one of many examples of the amazing attention to detail on this car.

In front, the outer edges of the four round headlamps sweep up, instead of down like they do on other BMWs. Set relatively low, the headlamps are set off by turn signals above them, looking like the eyebrows of a hawk. (This is a departure from other BMWs, which set the turn signals to the outsides of the headlamps.) High-intensity discharge headlamps are used for both low and high beams on the outboard lamps; the inboard lamps are conventional halogen high beams. All four beams are outlined by light rings that function as parking lights. The grille and upper front fascia are designed to look up, as compared with other BMWs, which have looked down. However, the lower intake works with the bumper to give it that shark-like overbite so feared by other drivers in the left lane.