ROAD TEST: BMW 740i
By: Jason Woosey
Johannesburg - BMW’s new 7 Series has so many brag-about gadgets that to mention them all in this test I’d have to concoct some messy mixture of abbreviations, short-hand and emoticons, but let's not go there.
From the moment you step inside it becomes clear that this new Seven is also trying to make life easier rather than more complicated.
In stark contrast to its two-generations-ago E65 ancestor that pioneered iDrive, the new model’s dashboard houses plenty of buttons and rotary controls, all within easy and convenient reach.
It still has a conventional iDrive controller on the centre console, linking you to a gazillion sub-menus with settings for just about everything short of shuffling cabinet ministers. You don’t have to use it though as, for the first time in iDrive history, the central display can actually operate as a touchscreen and if that seems too last-century there’s also a showy new gesture-control system that allows you to change volume by swirling a finger, or use other simple gestures to answer a call or play with the 3D map display. A bit gimmicky perhaps, but the point is that you can choose how you want to communicate with this car.
Just about drives itself
Oh yes, and the new 7 Series can just about drive itself too. Don’t worry Jeeves, your job’s still safe for now as the new Seven is far from being able to completely take over, yet it’s still a step towards that future with its combination of active cruise control, traffic-jam helper as well as steering and lane-control assistants. Not only can it accelerate and brake on your behalf, it also provides steering assistance around corners up to 210km/h. Don’t think you can catch some shut-eye, though – this is strictly a “comfort-enhancing feature” that relies heavily on clear road markings and even then it only guides you into the corner. Let go in any but the gentlest of curves and you’ll soon be in trouble.
Back-seat indulgence
Many of this BMW’s well-heeled buyers probably won’t care who’s doing the driving as the real party is in the back and BMW really has organised the shindig of the century here. You can go all out if you order a 750 Li with the Executive Lounge Package with individual seats and fold-out tables and all that, but many of the snazzy features are also optional on ‘humble’ standard-wheelbase cars like the 740i on test here, which offer decent but not extravagant legroom.
Pick up the Touch Command removable tablet and you can choose between up to eight different types of body massage, or even full-on recuperation exercises, all offering three levels of intensity. Having your body parts punched and bent into shape costs an extra R14 300 (double that if you want it in the front too) and the tablet adds R6 400 to the bill but there’s a lot you can use it for.
Besides allowing the usual tablety things like gaming, surfing the net and You Tubing (it speaks to the onboard Wifi, of course), it can also control the window blinds, seats, sound system, navigation and the two 25cm rear-seat entertainment screens, which cost R40 300.
You might as well just spend another R28 600 while you’re at it, to watch Game of Thrones in the comfort of electrically-adjustable rear seats that can recline up to 42.5 degrees. And when you crave that lord-of-the-manor feeling, or just a little extra legroom, there’s a ‘Gentleman switch’ that allows you to move the front seat forward.
I could crash Wikipedia writing about all the gizmotronics in this car: Dazzle-free laser headlights (R15 600); a night-vision system that shows you pedestrians and animals before you see them (R28 800); an air ionising package with a variety of different fragrance choices (R4 200). And more. And more. Soon you’ll even be able to move it in and out of the garage while standing outside, using the car’s ‘key’ which is a multi-functional mini touchscreen device on its own, although the actual remote parking option is not yet available in South Africa.
Masterpiece cabin design
You can give your customers all the toys in the world, but you can’t crack the luxury-class code without a cabin that looks and feels the part and here BMW has created a masterpiece of clean design and truly tasteful materials. It literally feels like you’re inside one of those glossy lifestyle brochurezines that five-star hotels like to put on their coffee tables. You can adjust the ambience too, with the optional mood lighting system that offers an array colour options.
Given how advanced it is inside, it almost seems strange that this car’s exterior styling is just so conservative and austere. Some might prefer it that way, but I feel it lacks the stylish elegance and stately presence of Merc’s S-Class.
Among all the excitement it’s also easy to forget that this is an actual car with an engine and a suspension, and one that must drive on the road, in that strange place called the real world.
As you’d expect BMW hasn’t missed a beat here, with a brand new structure that cleverly combines steel, carbonfibre-reinforced plastic and aluminium to reduce weight by up to 130kg, and standard air suspension with dynamic damper control on both axles. A rear-wheel steering system is available too.
The new Seven not only rides comfortably but it feels a lot more agile and fleet-footed than a car this size should and the 3-litre straight-six turbopetrol fitted to our 740i, rated at 240kW and 450Nm, provided smooth, brisk and effortless acceleration. It’ll get to 100km/h in just 5.5 seconds at the coast, according to claims.
Verdict
You might never leave the back seat in a car like this, but if you do, the 7 Series is the one limo in this class that you’ll actually want to drive – it’s more rewarding to steer than a limo ever needs to be. Yet the fact that it has more wow factor in the cabin gadget department than its German rivals is surely going to be its biggest selling point. Pity it has so little parking-lot presence.
FACTS
BMW 740i
Engine: 3-litre, 6-cylinder turbopetrol
Gearbox: 8-speed automatic
Power: 240kW @ 5500-6500rpm
Torque: 450Nm @ 1400-5000rpm
0-100km/h (claimed): 5.5 seconds
Top speed (claimed): 250km/h
Price: R1 382 876
Warranty: 2-year / unlimited km