BMW 7-Series (2008-) Review

On the road

• Previous: Reliability and Quality
• Next: Safety and Security

Luxury cars should be capable cruisers but when it comes to road-holding the weight and sizeable proportions of these cars often compromise the handling.

Not so with the new BMW 7-Series. It's agile - you could even call it nimble - and there's always a sense of real involvement, particularly on twisty B-roads. The three settings - Comfort, Normal and Sport - can be interchanged and they do make a demonstrable difference: if you are on a long motorway stretch, stick it in Comfort and you'll appreciate the softer ride that makes you feel like you are 'gliding' over road imperfections. The Sport mode is fantastic for more entertaining jaunts on twisty country roads, offering a flatter, firmer ride, quicker steering throttle response and shorter gearing. Normal mode does strike a happy balance and if this is your 'default' setting you'll still find the handling wonderfully precise and composed.

Integral Active Steering (£1195) ups the ante even more. This system turns the back wheels by a handful on degrees and that makes the 7-Series extremely capable in the turns. Throw the car into a bend and turn-in is confidence-inspiring and quick: if anything there's a fraction of oversteer, but it's not disconcerting at all, merely a way of underlying how completely at ease this car is around corners. Body lean is virtually absent when the car is in Sport mode, but things can be a little stodgy in the Comfort mode. The four-wheel steering not only helps the handling but manoeuvrability around town, too. At low speeds the back wheels turn in the opposite direction as the fronts, which means that this large barge-like machine is much easier to park and thread through busy city streets.

There are three engines available: a 3.0-litre 245bhp straight six diesel, a 3.0-litre 326bhp petrol and a 4.4-litre 407bhp V8. The 3.0-litre diesel is expected to make up 86% of 7-Series sales in the UK.

This engine delivers 398lb-ft of torque and will take the 7-Series from 0.60mph in 7.2 seconds and all the way up to 153mph. It's also frugal and clean (see Running Costs) and it's got plenty of low-end and mid-range grunt. It's flexible, highly useable and offers the perfect blend of performance and economy.

We drove this and the V8 and although the V8's a bit of a riot, it's somewhat unnecessary. Although you may enjoy the 0.60mph sprint time of 5.2 seconds, you'll find the regular trips to the fuel station not so enjoyable. It is fun to drive, even though the gearchange can be jerky at times, and with 442lb-ft of torque available it's got plenty of pulling power, but with all that it's fair to say that this is neither a sensible, or realistic option for UK buyers.