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Presets is not remembered as last position and instead defaults back to XM, FM, etc. - This is my biggest nitpick with the X7. I would believe most people on Day 1 set their radio stations as Presets and spend the rest of the time they drive the car jumping between stations on the Presets list. Despite this, every time you end a trip and start a new one, the radio defaults to the last band you were listening to instead of the Presets list.
Wireless charger target zone - Every time I lie my phone down on the wireless charging pad it's an adventure, the sweet spot of the coil is too small, and one has to pull it down and towards the right to maybe get a solid connection that will last the duration of one trip.
Wireless charger blue light location - The car must have been designed for the UK as the blue light that indicates your smartphone is actually wirelessly charging is on the left edge of the pad which is impossible to see from the drivers seat unless you stretch your head across the center console.
Awkward way the front compartment opens - I'm not sure who thought that pushing down and forward on a wood door coated in shellac was a good idea but my wife can't figure it out and its a matter of time before she scratches the hell out of it.
Really small glove compartment - For the biggest car in BMW history it surely has the smallest glovebox in BMW history. Can't even fit the usual amount of napkins and papers in there, and it doesn't bow down deep inside. It has an almost flat bottom so keys and pens move all over the place including forward right into your lap.
No red/blue temperature shortcut - For long-time BMW enthusiasts this one is a huge miss, that little red/blue temperature wheel really made a quick and easy business of tweaking the temperature to be just right in winter, spring, summer, and fall. Now it's buried in the climate control menus. And unlike the Sync function, you can't make a 1-8 shortcut button to it. I use this wheel all the time. Now I have to drill through menus and it's awful.
Armrest leather and delicate aluminum trim unprotected with 3rd row folded down - We spend most of our time with the last row stored and use the back space for hockey equipment, groceries, soccer gear, etc. I wish BMW would have engineered for that use case and protect the 3rd row's armrests and aluminum trims so they aren't so exposed and won't get scratched.
Slowness of 3rd and 2nd row seats - I get the fact that the car is automated in this regard, but it's way too slow to be practical and frustrates the family. And since there are 4 different ways to trigger the movement of the middle row, couldn't one of them have been good 'ol manual mode so that my kids can get in and out in a fraction of the time?
First row seats move when back rows move - Heaven help a pregnant woman in the front passenger seat if the driver has to make a pitstop to pick up someone who has to get in the 3rd row as her seat folds almost perpendicular and slides towards the dashboard unexpectedly.
Captain's Chair passthru wasn't considered - It's like BMW went out of their way to say "nope, not going to let you use this car like a minivan, not going to make it easy for kids to go through the side doors and glide into the 3rd row" when it's something that would be a huge advantage to consumers and against their competitors. The armrests should have been made thinner or removable and that plastic tray cup holder shouldn't be on the floor. It takes almost 40 seconds to get a child into the 3rd row with all the time to wait for the motors to move everything and a second row passthru would have been a welcome addition. It's like BMW doesn't know who is buying these things.
Stunning lack of 3rd row air vents - This one is so outrageous its mind-boggling. If you don't have a tough winter and you think you don't need the Cold Weather Package, guess what- without it, you don't get A/C vents for the passengers in the claustrophobic 3rd row. They should call it a Hot Weather Package instead or at least train their salespeople on the subject. My kids are going to hate me on hot days. What $100K 7-passenger luxury SUV doesn't have rear air vents?
No remember last position on auto start/stop - BMW used to, as a courtesy upon request, code the car so that those of us who hate the start/stop feature could have it disabled. Now they don't do it. And the button on the X7 is small, slippery, and doesn't take on the first attempt half the time.
CarPlay works less than half the time - BMW says the problem is Apple's iOS but without fail every time BMW makes an iDrive update it breaks iOS and not the other way around. You would think they would figure it out by now.
The car can lower itself but it doesn't - I really like this one. Want the car to squat down when you put it in Park? Nope. Want the car to stay low down to make it easy to get back in on the next trip? Nope. Want the stance to be way down for a lower sense of gravity in Comfort or Sport mode? Nope. Want the car to be as low as humanly possible so you can squeeze into a parking garage without decapitating the cargo box on the roof? Nope. What is the point of this feature? It's an airbag to nowhere.
No bottle strap in rear compartment like 4 Series - Over the years BMW has added some nice touches in the trunks and rear compartments of its cars like the elastic bottle strap in my X5 which was the perfect place for a sports bottle enroute to baseball practice. In the X7, the SUV flagship, we get a small space with a tiny net and no other options in the most cavernous rear compartment in brand history.
Big Picture #1: It's like the designers assumed a world where everyone was using all three rows all the time. The electric folding seats are pitifully slow. The leather armrests and aluminum trim are exposed to damage from sliding cans and hockey sticks. There is no sense of tie-downs or nets to hold groceries or water bottles in place.
Big Picture #2: They call this "automation"? To get going on my trip, I need to a) start the car, b) hit the Auto Stop/Start button to off, c) hit the radio menu and d) navigate to Presets, e) drill in menus to get to the red/blue temperature wheel, and f) hit one of the shortcut buttons to set climate control to Sync. That's 6 actions in my X7 that used to be 1 in my X5. Not good.
There are many wonderful things about the X7, but in almost every case BMW has taken a step backwards on consumer conveniences and I can't fathom why. Their User Interface may be the best in the business but whoever is making the User Engagement decisions has most definitely never had kids, never owned a minivan, is never in a rush to get anywhere, and really likes to push a lot of buttons for the sake of a clean looking cockpit.
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