The Buick of BMWs (m)

So I went down to the dealership the other day to pick up some random parts, and noticed that there were about half-a-dozen 745s on the lot. As I reported before, I am emphatically *not* one of the people who believe that the car looks better in person. If anything, its distended bulges are more disturbing in 3D than they are on the printed page.

But this was the first time that I had a chance to sit in the car. I didn't have the key, so I couldn't play with the iDrive, but I did get a good sense of the "ergonomics" of the machine (using that term very loosely here).

For those who have not had the displeasure of sitting in a 745, let me try an paint a mental picture for you. First, imagine a 1988 Pontiac 6000 STE. Now, let's turn George Barris loose, but let's make sure that he's only been able to read a steady diet of Swedish furniture magazines for about 6 months. Let's also give him a TV monitor that he has to stick into the dashboard, but emphasize that he doesn't have to integrate it at all--a hooded enclosure, like something from the Batmobile, is perfectly fine.

The resultant horror is almost too unbelievable to accept. The dash retains the basic 80s GM sensibility, with a long, vertical line separating the top and bottom halfs, and eliminating completely any feeling of driver orientation or cockpit feel. The colors and materials are trendy in a cheap kind of way, like something from IKEA, except that you paid 70K for this furniture. The iDrive monitor protrudes from the center of the dash like an afterthought, managing to be both irritatingly in the driver's line of sight and at the same time requiring a head-turn to clearly focus on it.

In short, the E65 has an interior worthy both of its exterior and of its illustrious designer. Unfortunately, the one feature I was unable to locate was the one that I needed the most: an airsickness bag.