Category: Large Executive 
Price Range: £53,695 to £68,800
A technological showpiece, huge and refined performance, amazing mix of comfort and agility, quality feel, groundbreaking design.
Some of the technology isn't standard, styling is very controversial, steering-wheel gearchange buttons badly placed.
BMW wanted to make a bold new statement, and has succeeded. No other luxury car does so much so well. But if the styling's still a bit much, the new-generation model - with the wilder edges smoothed off - went on sale in April 2005.
The 7-Series has light controls and is easy to drive once you've got to grips with the automatic parking brake and gearlever on a column stalk, American-style. You're always aware of its considerable bulk, though. If fitted with the optional adaptive dampers, then in Sports mode the car's reactions are faster, so it feels smaller and livelier. The action of some switches takes some getting used to; the gearlever and parking brake are electronic, for example, and the indicators don't cancel until the steering wheel is almost exactly straight-ahead.Many systems are controlled by the iDrive interface, still in its first generation on this 7-Series though refined and simplified for subsequent BMW models and the facelifted version, and learning this can be a daunting prospect for buyers, old and young alike. It hasn't cut down on the number of switches on the dashboard, either.
Yet no other mega-saloon is as agile and entertaining. The engine's well-mannered eagerness, and its muted but inspiring V8 bark when worked hard, are a fine match with the Steptronic transmission, whose smoothness and speed of gearshift is spoilt only by the poor position of the downshift buttons. They're just inside the upper part of the steering wheel's rim, and easily caught by the heel of the hand as you turn the wheel. (The upshift buttons are on the back of the wheel's upper spokes.) In sport mode, the steering is weightier and sharper; combined with the Dynamic Drive anti-roll system, it makes this hefty car amazingly wieldy. The handling balance is near-perfect, and huge grip means the front wheels bite confidently even into a tightening bend.
The 3.0-litre petrol model is supremely smooth and refined; its 231bhp is enough to propel the heavy car to 62mph in around eight seconds, and overtaking urge is ample, though thanks must also go to the intelligent gearbox which makes the most of the engine. The 3.0-litre turbodiesel has slightly less power (218bhp), but more torque (368 versus 221lb ft), so it's actually quicker to 62mph, and is just as proficient when overtaking. It is, however, louder and grumblier than the 3.0 petrol. The V8s are big players, with 272bhp (735i) and 333bhp (745i) respectively, and stacked with technology (see captions on right). At the top of the range is the 6.0-litre V12, with 445bhp. Frankly, that's enough power for anybody.
Latest Readers' Drives About the BMW 7-Series
wrote on 20 03 2007