28 Nov 02
The main point of a car like this is to make its owner feel good, particularly in the rear, a minion having been appointed to do the steering. Back-benchers certainly won't think themselves short-changed, even if the 7's cabin style is not as richly opulent as a trad Brit interior. Indeed, the cabin is all the better without the extra-wood option, even if aluminium-effect plastic doesn't sound as sumptuous. Whether it's wood or plasti-minium, occupants enjoy a cocoon of leather and individual rear seats that will glide them towards a snooze-inducing recline while roof-mounted air conditioning vents issue a balm of cooling air. Should the sun prove too dazzling or The Sun' s paparazzi too intrusive, electrically-powered sunblinds can be drawn not just across the rear window, but the side windows and quarterlights too. A fridge big enough to chill a pair of champagne miniatures to perfection and a voluminous stereo should be enough to keep the rest of the world outside. That said, the tall and the broad may prefer the rear quarters of an S-Class, which offers more width and height in which to sprawl.
On the move, the commotion of motion is kept to a minimum. Unless revved with venom, the V12 and its six speed gearbox are virtually inaudible. All you hear - and you have to listen hard - is the low hum of progress, which rises slowly even at three figure speeds. But you aren't cosseted completely. A windy day can produce gusts around the pillars, and more seriously, sharp bumps will produce an audible thump, and a small shock, as those big wheels ride the rough stuff. Coarse tarmac will have those big wheels humming too, and the jolt and hum will only intensify if you order the big diameter wheels for a more sporting drive. It might not roll and wallow like a 1970s Jaguar XJ12 - still a comfort benchmark 25 years on - but it doesn't ride like one either, the 760 failing to deliver that near-magical separation from the road below. Come to that, BMW's V12 doesn't have the turbine-like quality of an early Jag V12 either. Perhaps it's right that the motor's exertions can be heard, given BMW's sporting mien, but the 6.0 litre doesn't sound as smooth as a Munich V8, and never mind that it reciprocates in perfect physical balance.
This all-new engine isn't short of go though. It churns up 445 horsepower and 443 lb ft of pulling power, which is enough to launch the 760i to 62mph in 5.5 seconds (the Li needs another tenth), to 120 mph in under 17 seconds and onto a limited 155 mph. That would be more than fast enough, were it not for the presence of Mercedes' revised S600, whose stonking 500 bhp V12 will bound it to 62 mph in 4.8 seconds. It's hard to see why the buyers of these machines might need such alacrity, unless they are drug barons, perhaps, but there you have it: BMW has been outsped by Mercedes.
And (don't snigger) economy? On the combined cycle BMW reckons the V12 is good for 21 mpg - not bad for a car like this, though unlikely to be good enough for Jesus. Such (relative) economy is down to the fact that this V12 is BMW's first direct injection petrol engine, its high-precision, high-pressure fuel injectors squirting direct into the combustion chamber for heightened fuel efficiency. This, in combination with a lean-burn fuelling strategy in which the engine burns a petrol/air mixture closer to the ideal for more of the time, produces extra power, extra torque, more miles to the gallon and lower emissions. BMW claims that this lean-burn direct injection motor is better engineered than any of the engines of similar ilk that have emerged over the last few years too. Arrogant perhaps, but given BMW's fine track record with engine technology, likely to be true.
