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By
EWAN KENNEDY
16 January 2006
BMW's 7 Series is the flagship of the prestigious
German marque. While it may look like a member of the limo class it
still has plenty of sporting flair, its designers and engineers would
have it no other way. A recent week’s road test of a 740i brought this
knowledge back to us on several occasions, bringing a satisfied smile as
the competent machine displayed its excellent dynamics.
The original body shape of the latest 7 Series
was a radical one that didn’t impress everyone. A major facelift
in June 2005 saw every front panel changed. The headlights became
larger and simpler in their style. The traditional BMW grille was
enlarged and pushed deeper into the bumper area. The bumper itself
was revised, using a bold ‘swept-V’ shape and the bonnet
received a larger power-bulge resulting in a steeper angle at the
front where it met the grille.
The controversial ‘separate’ bootlid
remained, but was reshaped to take some of the bulk out of its
sides. The rear lights go further across the tail panel to try and
take the eyes away from the bootlid.
It’s still an imposing machine and, as always,
the BMW 7 Series looks its best when in motion, particularly on
motorways. There's a sense of purpose, verging on aggression, that
looks just right.
The design cabin remains much as before, which
is a good thing as it works nicely. The seats with their multiple
adjustments are large and comfortable with good support. If
anything, the feeling of elegant refinement has been further
improved.
BMW’s controversial iDrive multi-purpose
system has been somewhat simplified. Some functions, particularly
those for controlling the radio, have been duplicated by
conventional buttons on the dash so it’s possible to ignore the
iDrive. However, we still don’t find the iDrive to be as
intuitive to use as it should be.
A major feature of the latest BMW 7 Series is
the BMW ConnectedDrive system. It contains a telematics function
that senses if there has been a crash which has set off airbags.
The BMW sends a message to the control centre. An operator then
attempts to ring the car’s mobile phone. If there's no answer,
the operator contacts emergency services with details of the car
and its location.
BMW Online can be used to get information, via
the assistance centre, on locations of restaurants, accommodation
and so on. In one mode, the remote operator can program
information on their own computer, then send it to the car. The
driver can then get the satellite navigation system to take them
to the location.
You can also sit at your desktop computer and
set up a route to be used by the car’s satellite navigation
system, then simply email it to the car. This is a handy safety
feature as there's often too much temptation to try and do things
like this on the run.
Detailed changes to the settings of the
suspension and steering have given the big Bimmer a slightly
sportier feel than the already-good superseded model, without any
noticeable change in comfort. This is a heavy car so isn’t
exactly nimble on the road, but it’s happy to change direction
without any fuss and responds to throttle input very well. In
motorway running it’s simply superb, purring along in a near
silent fashion with the engine barely working. Which should come
as no surprise because as you read this many 7 Series will be
travelling at a nice steady 200km/h in their home country. So
120km/h on Australian motorways is a real dawdle.
The midlife makeover of the 7 Series also saw
changes to the engine. ‘Our’ car used the smaller V8 engine,
which now has a capacity of 4.0 litres, not 3.6 litres in the
superseded one. It has good torque with a decent spread across the
rev range, though it still favours the middle and top ends of the
tacho dial in a sporting manner.
Fuel consumption is impressively low for a car
of this size and performance potential. Many drivers will find the
V8 using less than 10 litres per hundred kilometres in easy
country driving or on motorways. Around town that figure will
seldom go much over 13 litres per hundred. It can be argued that
people who can afford a car in this class aren't worried about the
cost of petrol. But remember that the less petrol a car uses the
lower the tailpipe emissions.
This latest BMW saloon is an imposing and impressive motor car. It
will appeal in particular to those with a sporting bent to their
driving, but don’t want passenger comfort to suffer because of
that.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
740i 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $178,300
740i Sport 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $188,200
740Li 4.0-litre four-door sedan - $189,900
750i 5.0-litre four-door sedan - $208,400
750i Sport 5.0-litre four-door sedan - $209,400
750Li 5.0-litre four-door sedan - $227,400
760Li 6.0-litre four-door sedan - $335,600
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard on all models
Air Conditioning: Standard on all models
Automatic Transmission: Standard on all models
CD Player: Standard on all models
Central Locking: Standard on all models
Cruise Control: Standard on all models
Driver Airbag: Standard on all models
Passenger Airbag: Standard on all models
Front Side Airbags: Standard on all models
SPECIFICATIONS (BMW 740i 4.0-litre four-door
sedan)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 4.000 litres
Configuration: V8
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 10.5:1
Bore/Stroke: 87.0 x 84.1mm
Maximum Power: 225kW @ 6300rpm
Maximum Torque: 390Nm @ 3500rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Rear
Manual Transmission: Not offered
Automatic Transmission: Six-speed with tiptronic
Final Drive Ratio: 3.64:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 5039mm
Wheelbase: 2990mm
Width: 1902mm
Height: 1491mm
Turning Circle: 12.1 metres
Kerb Mass: 1895kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 88 litres
Towing Ability: 750kg (2100kg with braked trailer)
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Double-joint thrust rod spring axle, anti-dive
Rear Suspension: Multi-arm axle, anti-squat, anti-dive
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Ventilate disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 6.8 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 16.1 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
City Cycle: 13.3 L/100km
Highway Cycle: 8.2 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Two years/unlimited km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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