babypuppi: [10] Bmw Seven Series On This Year Gallery

From the July 2017 issue

Even as crossovers continue to conquer America, and seemingly every automaker has a two-door vanity project to cast a glow over its lineup, big luxury sedans still project gravitas in the German-car business. Audi’s, BMW’s, and Mercedes’ largest cars remain totems of brand values and stylistic themes, as well as vanguards for the technologies that trickle down to the rest of the fleet.

A year and 40,000 miles with Munich’s latest flagship, a 2016 BMW 740i, confirms what we’ve been saying for almost a decade: The soil under BMW HQ has truly shifted. The 7 makes clear that the drift of the 3- and 5-series from sports sedans to less athletic luxury cars isn’t a fluke but a brand-wide movement. It’s evident in the way this limo rolls down the road with enough float in the suspension to raise the Edmund Fitzgerald.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

That buoyant ride, in concert with a placid cockpit, plush seats, and a 500-plus-mile range, definitely had its virtues. The 7-series shined brightest when our staffers treated it as a more dignified alternative to commercial air travel. Our drivers piloted the 740i through 12 states, one Canadian province, and the District of Columbia during its 12-month stay, filling the logbook with high praise from occupants arriving refreshed and relaxed.

But serene highway cruising is hardly special in this segment of German big boys, and BMW’s failure to stake out a more compelling position leaves the 7-series chasing the competition. The latest S-class introduced Mercedes’ progressive and opulent interiors, Audi’s A8 champions intuitive tech, and the Cadillac CT6 is the driver’s choice. BMW could have delivered a knockout by blending those attributes into the complete package. Instead, it served up a conservative evolution of aging design motifs, dubious infotainment advances, and the soggiest suspension from a Bimmer in recent memory.

Our long-term 740i hid its biggest technological advance beneath a coat of rich Jatoba Brown Metallic paint. The 7’s structure is a cocktail of aluminum, steel, and carbon fiber, the only visible clue being a pair of “Carbon Core” badges behind the doors on the B-pillars. The weight savings helped our 740i undercut a Mercedes-Benz S550 (which admittedly lugs around two extra cylinders and one additional turbocharger) by more than 400 pounds. And while the dynamics engineers failed to make full use of this advantage, the sophisticated material mix delivers a sturdy structure and a cabin insulated from the din of traffic and the rush of wind.

“This car soaks up miles like a sponge. It rides almost as well as a Rolls-Royce and is nearly as quiet to my ear.” —K.C. Colwell, senior technical editor

It’s even more difficult to quantify the benefits of the in-car tech. With only me-too semi-autonomous features such as a lane-centering function that falls short of a true self-steering system, BMW’s hallmark for the 7-series is literally a bunch of hand waving. Gesture Control gives front-seat occupants six hand motions that can raise or lower the volume or dismiss an incoming phone call by miming a little routine in front of the touchscreen. Even after a year of exposure, this sort of orchestral conducting proved less precise and more hassle than using the buttons and knobs on the steering wheel or the center console. We also felt ridiculous talking to our car via sign language.

Our 740i came with an optional $250 key wearing a tiny touchscreen that can be used to precondition the cabin climate or check the status of the door locks and the remaining fuel range. But the operating range of this key is trivial—far shorter than a conventional key fob’s—and the need to recharge it regularly (either by plugging it into a wall or slipping it into a wireless charging holster under the center armrest) negates the convenience of permanently stashing a proximity key in a purse or a jacket pocket.

This 7-series excels where this class has excelled for decades, with space and lavish accouterments. As all U.S. 7-series now ride on the long wheelbase that’s optional in Europe, first-class legroom comes standard. The cushy rear seats with 16-way adjustability can cool, heat, or knead your backside as needed and are part of the $3900 Luxury Seating option. That kit also includes a heated steering wheel, heated front and rear armrests, and a Samsung tablet docked in the rear-seat armrest so passengers can control the audio, climate systems, and the ambient lighting, as well as open and close various sunshades around the car.

Our 740i was equipped with the $4100 Executive package, which includes power rear-window shades, 22-way ventilated front seats, a head-up display, a leather-wrapped dash, and ceramic controls that replace many of the plastic knobs and buttons. For $1900, the Driver Assistance Plus package added blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning, front-collision mitigation with pedestrian detection, parking sensors, and four cameras that stitch together a view of your surroundings. Upgrading to 20-inch wheels cost $2600, a two-pane glass roof with LED accent lighting added $900, and a spare tire tacked on $150. That last item proved to be a greater hindrance than a help. The spare raises the trunk floor six inches, and its usefulness was diminished by the run-flat summer tires on our test car.

All in, the car bore $13,800 in options for a total bill of $96,095. If that number seems positively patrician, know that it is actually at the low end for a car that you can lard up with options to more than $180,000. And it’s probably fair to say the added mass of all these options helped to foil, at least somewhat, our sport-limo expectations.

View PhotosBottom left: This man is either trying to adjust the audio volume via Gesture Control or he's scolding the 740i. Either way, folks gonna think he's crazy.MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

The bottom line did benefit from our engine choice, the entry-level single-turbo inline-six. Here, the 7-series delivered a different kind of comfort: a soul-warming reassurance of BMW’s engineering prowess to counter our faltering faith in BMW chassis tuners. The 3.0-liter engine makes a convincing argument that Bayerische Motoren Werke hasn’t entirely left its roots behind. The straight-six’s humble yet hardworking 320 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque effortlessly marshaled our 7’s 4385 pounds with always-on thrust, free-revving enthusiasm, and satiny refinement. The logbook contained endless mash notes for the six-cylinder’s performance and manners, and, tellingly, not one staff member ever wished for the 7’s optional 445-hp V-8 or the 601-hp V-12 that became available for 2017 models. Crunching the fuel-economy data revealed that our 740i averaged 26 mpg, beating the EPA’s 24-mpg combined rating.

The six-cylinder pairs with the dependable ZF eight-speed-automatic transmission, as quick-witted and crisp-shifting as ever. Together this duo motivated our rear-drive 7-series to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 13.4, once the break-in period passed. We must have lost a few ponies over the course of 40,000 miles, though, because both of those numbers slowed by 0.3 second during the car’s exit exam.

The 740i’s chassis figures—0.86 g around the skidpad and 159 feet stopping from 70 mph—suggest a competent performer, but the car revealed an entirely different personality to the driver. The 7-series rides and handles with a soft and imprecise character that deputy online editor Dave VanderWerp compared with “the old Cadillac paradigm.” The car wallows over dips and rises and lists in corners. Yet despite the Jell-O in the suspension, expansion joints and potholes still managed to thump their way into the cabin with shocking clarity. Activating the 7’s sport mode only made these sharp tire impacts more jarring and did little to quell the unseemly body motions. We felt this pounding in our wallets, too, as we replaced three tires and one wheel during our test. Perhaps that’s the punishment we deserve for believing we could run 20-inch wheels and low-profile rubber on Michigan roads.

View PhotosOn the outside, the 740i is all brown, blobular, and bromidic. Inside, it's a wonderland of glowing lights, wriggling seats, and small electric miracles.MARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

A run-in with an errant, now ex-raccoon excised $486 for the replacement of a fog-lamp cover and lower grille, but our running costs were limited to the price of premium unleaded. Our four service visits were covered by the factory under BMW’s four-year, 50,000-mile free maintenance program. The fuel-filler door separated from the hinged backing plate at 8600 miles (replaced under warranty), and when the driver’s-side ambient lighting went dark around 35,000 miles, the dealer traced it to a loose connector. Our dealer also preemptively replaced the battery during the second maintenance visit per a technical service bulletin.

The 7-series lives up to the most basic promise of a big, comfortable sedan but goes no further. For better and worse, the 7-series occasionally feels like riding a pillow-top mattress through a carnival bounce house. That makes for divine long-range comfort, but also a less-than-satisfying daily driver. Spending near-six-figure money shouldn’t require this much compromise when the highway journey ends with a tight cloverleaf exit ramp. The competition shows that it’s possible to deliver first-rate refinement without so much isolation, leading us to conclude that when it comes to the 7-series, BMW has become too comfortable.

Rants & Raves

“I’d like just the opposite of what this 7-series offers: more body control and less impact harshness over sharp lateral seams.” —Dave VanderWerp

“This car is a boat. Put it in comfort-plus mode and it feels like a Kia K900.” —Jeff Sabatini

“This car is adaptive cruise control and a massaging driver’s seat away from road-trip perfection.” —Alexander Stoklosa

“This inline-six is magic, and it’s a joy to have it work a bit harder here in a heavier application.” —Tony Quiroga

“This 7 has convinced me that BMW has lost the scent.” —Don Sherman

“The ride is too soft and wallowy in comfort, and sport makes it flinty.” —Mike Sutton

“The array of cameras fitted to every corner combats the fact that you can’t see its corners from the driver’s seat.” —Josh Jacquot

“I drove the 740i almost 2000 miles with no back pain at all, which is not normal for me.” —Annie White

WHAT WE LIKE: Who says you need all-wheel drive to survive winter? As winter snow gives way to early spring rain, we can report that our rear-wheel-drive 740i sailed through the cold months and never struggled to find traction. It helps that we fitted our 7-series with Pirelli Sottozero Serie II winter tires, at a cost of $1556, but another factor is that BMW engineered an easily modulated, progressive throttle for dispatching torque.

With redundancies on top of redundancies (such as gesture controls, steering-wheel-mounted audio controls, and standard audio controls), the iDrive infotainment system easily could have become irritatingly complicated. But we find the core interfaces—a large rotary knob and function buttons that allow jumps directly to navigation, audio, and phone menus—to be so intuitive that this is one of the easier systems to learn. Online copy chief Rusty Blackwell lauded the system for how quickly it processes commands. The system also has garnered praise for its ability to have two phones paired simultaneously via Bluetooth.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

And once again, the logbook contains fresh accolades for just how blissful the 740i is. “This car soaks up miles like a sponge,” noted senior technical editor K.C. Colwell. “It rides almost as well as a Rolls-Royce and is nearly as quiet to my ear.”

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: But Colwell was aggravated that gentle freeway curves require constant corrections. “It seems as though BMW focused only on quietness and ride comfort, because the steering, not to mention the handling, is among the worst of any car costing more than $50,000,” he said.

We also offer a word of warning to anyone considering ordering the $250 display key, a high-tech fob with a tiny touchscreen that can show information such as the projected range and whether the windows are open or closed. It also allows the driver to precondition the cabin, but only if the key is within a few hundred feet of the car. While the smart key is no thicker than the average key fob, it is taller and wider, making it bulky for carrying in a pocket. The biggest annoyance, though, is that you have to keep the fob charged either by plugging it into a wall socket or by slipping it into the inductive charging sleeve inside the center console. Pulling the key from a pocket or a purse negates the convenience of passive entry and push-button start. It’s telling that we leave the display key behind most days and use the standard fob.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

WHAT WENT WRONG: On three consecutive mornings, Colwell observed the engine misfiring shortly after starting the car, although the problem always sorted itself out and the car never displayed a check-engine light.

The 12-volt outlet near the front cupholders also went dead, sending Colwell on a hunt to locate the fuse. The iDrive-based owner’s manual directed him to a piece of paper in the right-rear fuse box, which uses pictograms, rather than words, to convey which circuit correlates with each fuse. It was only after finding an online forum with service-manual diagrams that he located the proper fuse beneath the glovebox.

In the bigger picture, the 740i continues to perform flawlessly, with only a single warranty repair to date (a replacement for a broken fuel door). And the car hasn’t requested a maintenance visit in the 6700 miles since our last update.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

WHERE WE WENT: One of our drivers stopped for gas in the shadow of that I-75 icon, the red-and-white circus-tent water tower that reads FLORENCE Y’ALL. Built on land that was donated to the city by a mall developer, the water tower originally read FLORENCE MALL until the wrong person at the Kentucky Bureau of Highways caught a glimpse of it. As painted, the water tower violated a law for roadside signage, since it advertised a shopping mall that hadn’t yet opened. Rather than pay to repaint the entire tower, Florence officials directed painters to turn the M into a Y and to add an apostrophe, providing the perfect non sequitur for a BMW 7-series review. Florence was merely a refueling stop on a round trip to Franklin, Tennessee, the farthest afield the 740i has ventured lately.

Months in Fleet: 11 months Current Mileage: 34,669 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 20.6 gal Fuel Range: 530 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $1360

WHAT WE LIKE: Our staff has made a habit of griping that we didn’t order our long-term BMW 740i with adaptive cruise control. We normally wouldn’t include this under the heading “What We Like” except that, in the car’s logbook, this comment is always framed with the context that our 7-series is such a gifted long-distance runner. We love that long distances shrink and tired muscles actually relax when we’re behind the wheel. Online editor Alexander Stoklosa contributed one of the typical notes when he wrote, “This car is adaptive cruise control and a massaging driver’s seat away from road-trip perfection.”

We relish the quiet cabin, the comfortable front seats, the spacious accommodations in the rear, and that there’s a high-tech convenience feature for every need—save for adjusting our speed to traffic. The one defense of our $96,095 configuration came from associate online editor Joey Capparella on a drive from Michigan to Tennessee: “I never really missed adaptive cruise because the standard system is so good. It’s easy to adjust in both 1- and 5-mph increments and very smooth. I also was never bothered by the lane-keeping assist or forward-collision warning. They’re both unobtrusive but still helpful.”

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

Time has done nothing to blunt our enthusiasm for the turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six. “This six is still magic, and it’s a joy to have it work a bit harder in one of its heaviest applications,” senior editor Tony Quiroga noted. “I wouldn’t need any more power in a 7.” And even though we do work the engine hard, our average fuel economy has climbed from 26 to 27 mpg since the last update. We’re now exceeding the EPA combined rating by 3 mpg.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: In the words of features editor Jeff Sabatini: “God forbid it ever drive anywhere not on the freeway.” In our jobs we’re constantly swatting down marketing pitches in which automakers claim they’ve built a no-compromise, do-everything vehicle. This 7-series seems the exact antithesis of that (usually wishful) notion. It possesses a singular focus on luxurious comfort to the detriment of the handling.

“There’s a weird, nonlinear heft added to the steering in Sport mode and there is a good deal of float in the chassis on the highway in Comfort. I suppose I should just forget about having a sporty BMW,” wrote Quiroga.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

Quiroga—in chorus with the majority of the staff—also dismissed the Gesture Control system that debuted with the 7-series. It allows the driver or front passenger to twirl a finger to raise or lower the volume, wave a hand to ignore an incoming phone call, or slide a pinched thumb and forefinger to rotate the view from the exterior cameras. “Gesture Control is the dumbest gimmick I can recall. How about a volume knob next to the iDrive controller instead?” He’s right. At best, Gesture Control adds another level of redundancy that we almost never use, except to show off to easily impressed friends and family members.

WHAT WENT WRONG: A freakishly large raccoon crossed the 740i’s path in October, and while the encounter ended much worse for the trash burglar than for our driver, we shelled out $486 to have the dealer replace a damaged fog-lamp cover and side grille. Also, the right-front tire suffered impact damage and developed a bubble in the sidewall, necessitating our second tire replacement to date. The new Bridgestone Potenza S001 RFT cost us $373.

Our pseudo-sentient 7-series also requested dealer visits at 21,000 and 25,000 miles. While the latter stop was only supposed to be an inspection, the service department changed the oil anyway. Both visits were covered under BMW’s four-year, 50,000-mile no-charge maintenance scheme.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

WHERE WE WENT: The 7-series is locked in a battle with our long-term diesel Range Rover Td6. Both sip frugally from large fuel tanks, delivering big range in addition to excellent comfort with plenty of luxury trappings. Since our last update, Capparella drove the BMW 520 miles to Nashville in a single shot. Stoklosa ran from Ann Arbor to Boston and logged more than 700 miles on one tank. Technology and mobility editor Pete Bigelow used the BMW to cover an assignment in Pittsburgh, and copy editor Jennifer Harrington used the 740i for a trip to Richmond, Virginia. Testing director Don Sherman returned to his Iowa alma mater to see the Hawkeyes defeat the Michigan Wolverines.

Months in Fleet: 8 months Current Mileage: 27,999 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 27 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 20.6 gal Fuel Range: 550 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $1360

WHAT WE LIKE: Commutes during Michigan’s construction season are just a little bit easier when cocooned inside a BMW 740i. The cabin mutes jackhammers, the numb steering neutralizes rumble strips, the suspension floats over milled pavement, and the seats—my word, the seats. If you can’t get comfortable in these thrones, you are probably a giraffe. The optional 20-way seats, part of the $4100 Executive package, include power-adjustable headrests, power thigh extensions, four-way lumbar, and—what really sets them apart—power shoulder articulation. The latter allows the angle of the upper seatback to be adjusted relative to the lower portion, accommodating all forms of posture from the rigidly perfect to the appallingly hunched.

The seats have garnered only a single complaint to date: “The driver’s seat provides essentially no lateral butt/thigh support on entrance ramps,” wrote one hard-charging driver using said on-ramp en route to discovering that the 740i “cruises nicely at 100 with no show of effort.”

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

That staffer wasn’t the only one smitten with the 740i’s silky speed. Deputy online editor Dave VanderWerp noted that the 740i “makes 100 mph feel like 70” and associate online editor Joey Capparella wrote in the logbook, “I cannot imagine wanting more power in this car.” That comment almost disqualifies Capparella from working at Car and Driver, except that he has a valid point. The single-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six has impressive low-end response and strong top-end pull, and it continues to deliver 26 mpg.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: The driving dynamics have taken a back seat to, uh, the back seat. We weren’t expecting the 7-series to move like an M3, or even a 3-series for that matter. We were expecting our 740i to have more steering feel than a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe and more body control than a middle-aged dad at a trampoline park. “BMW seems headed toward the old Cadillac paradigm,” VanderWerp assessed, noting the 7-series’ increasingly buoyant body control and increasingly ostentatious bright bits found on the interior and exterior.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

Those interior adornments are just one small reason our long-term 740i feels more opulent than its $96,095 price to almost anyone who passes through its doors. However, we have noticed a few whiffs of cost-cutting. For example, the doors no longer open with an infinite number of checks to hold them in place. Instead, it’s on the occupants to find one of the detents that keep the doors from swinging closed on their own, just like commoners in their Toyota Camrys. Also, the side glass isn’t acoustically laminated—even hoi polloi in the Honda Pilot can get quieting dual-pane side glass, and we’ve noted higher-than-expected wind-rush noise at highway speeds in our 7.

Other niggles reported in the logbook include a steering wheel that doesn’t tilt down far enough. Some think the ceramic coating for some controls, also part of the Executive package, make the volume and iDrive knobs slick and difficult to use, and one driver caught the nav system displaying mislabeled roads, including major interstates.

WHAT WENT WRONG: The fuel door began to separate from its hinged inner plate around 6800 miles and departed the car entirely by 8600 miles. Our dealer replaced it just days before the 740i went in for its first service at 10,000 miles. We didn’t pay a dime for either visit. The fuel door was covered under the warranty and the service was paid for under BMW’s four-year/50,000-mile included maintenance.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

We lost the driver’s-side front tire to a pothole on a 35-mph Chicago side street. The driver, who had criticized the run-flat tires for compromising the ride quality a couple of months earlier, drove 20 miles on the deflated tire. “I didn’t even bother swapping for the compact spare, figuring it was a waste of time to change one tire rated for 50 mph for another one with the same restriction.” We replaced the tire at a suburban Chicago BMW dealer at a cost of $501.

WHERE WE WENT: Other than the jaunt to Chicago and a quick run to Pennsylvania, our 740i has spent most of these past few months in and around Michigan. The 2000-mile East Coast trip mentioned in our 740i’s long-term intro story remains the longest trip to date.

Months in Fleet: 4 months Current Mileage: 13,569 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 20.6 gal Fuel Range: 530 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $501

After 120,000 miles divided among a 2012 BMW 328i sedan, a 2014 BMW 328d xDrive wagon, and a 2015 BMW M3, we’re ready for a respite from the sixth-generation 3-series. Each one of those recent long-termers left us cold: too disconnected, too expensive, or too flinty, but most of all, just short of totally satisfying. BMW’s quest to adapt the 3-series for mass-market appeal has watered down our decades-long love for the car that once combined control, practicality, and fun like no other.

Instead of hunting for the ghosts of BMW past with yet another long-term 3-series, we’ve redirected our focus toward a 2016 BMW 740i. We’ll spend 40,000 miles determining if BMW’s apparent new priorities—luxury and comfort before sport—have been perfected in the company’s flagship.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

The 7-series is less about driving and more about riding, and these days, that means a car packed with electronics. The sixth-generation 7-series takes the first baby steps toward automated highway driving with optional adaptive cruise control and brief stints of self-steering lane keeping. We assume that BMW designers also are fans of Minority Report, because the latest iteration of iDrive allows passengers to wave a hand or twirl a finger in front of the 10.2-inch touchscreen to accept an incoming call or to adjust the audio volume. Yes, the gesture controls are every bit as gimmicky and imperfect as they sound. Looking beyond the silicon and semiconductors, this new G11 chassis blends high-strength steel, cast and extruded aluminum, carbon fiber, and magnesium for a lighter unitized structure.

Expensive, But Not That Expensive

We’ve been conditioned to think of the 7-series as a six-figure car, so we impressed ourselves when we ordered our long-termer with a $96,095 price tag. It helped to start with the least expensive 7-series, an $82,295 rear-wheel-drive, six-cylinder 740i, because from there we positively splurged on indulgences. The $3900 Luxury Seating package with Cold Weather brings heated, ventilated, and massaging power rear seats; a heated steering wheel; heated front and rear armrests; and a 7.0-inch Samsung tablet in the rear console that allows control of just about everything in the car except for the steering wheel and pedals. The $4100 Executive package adds power side-window shades, ventilated 20-way adjustable front seats, a head-up display, and ceramic trim for the shifter, the iDrive controller, and the radio.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

We went for the $1900 Driver Assistance Plus package, which includes front-collision mitigation, lane-departure warning, speed-limit display, automatic parking, and blind-spot detection but is most notable for the included surround-view camera system with a 3D view. BMW uses four cameras to stitch together an image that looks as if your personal cinematographer is filming the car from 10 feet away, and you can pinch the air and wiggle your wrist to rotate around the car for different angles. The jury is still out on whether this is more useful than the bird’s-eye or traditional vantages (these are also selectable views in the 7-series), but this bit of tech feels less like a gimmick and more like something truly innovative. Notably, we skipped the Driver Assistance Plus II package that adds adaptive cruise control and active lane-keeping for $1700. We don’t expect to miss either feature much. Our drivers typically prefer traditional cruise control, and, based on experience, we know that the BMW’s steering assistant is merely a lane-keeping aid rather than a stand-in for two human hands.

Sundries include $2600 for 20-inch wheels and $900 for a larger panoramic glass roof with LED accent lighting. We also spent $250 for what we’ve taken to calling a “key foblet.” It features a tiny touchscreen that allows you to precondition the cabin and to check the status of the door locks or the windows. It was probably money we shouldn’t have spent. There’s a phone app that accomplishes the same thing, and the key is merely one more electronic gizmo to keep charged. Finally, we dropped $150 for a space-saver spare, which adds some additional security against being stranded, over and above the standard run-flat tires, but comes with the penalty of raising the trunk floor by about six inches.

Driving the Thing

We weren’t expecting sports-car moves, so we were surprised when the 320-hp six-cylinder made such light work of the burden it carries. At the track, the 4385-pound 740i reached 60 mph in only 4.8 seconds, and a panic stop from 70 mph required just 159 feet of roadway. The skidpad figure of 0.86 g qualifies as respectable, although not exactly impressive.

View PhotosMARC URBANO, MICHAEL SIMARI, ALEX CONLEY

Several logbook commenters have noted how soft the ride is, particularly in the car’s Comfort Plus mode. One staffer even compared the 740i to a Kia K900, a recent and unloved long-termer in our fleet. Bizarrely, that plush suspension tune doesn’t mean the ride is entirely comfortable. Our 7-series seems to be affected by a paradoxical chassis tuning in which the suspension doesn’t provide enough body control, but the wheel impacts are too harsh. Over sharp lateral features such as expansion joints, the 740i pounds and smacks the pavement. The run-flat tires likely don’t help, but we’ve never had this problem with a Mercedes-Benz S-class on run-flat rubber.

Despite the persistent drumbeat of complaints about the stiff tires, the 740i is still a wonderful way to cover big mileage. Assistant buyer’s guide editor Annie White logged almost 2000 miles driving from Ann Arbor to Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and back to Michigan. “By far the most comfortable car I have ever road-tripped in,” she wrote. “I had no back pain at all—which is not normal for me—thanks to the truly excellent seats with seemingly endless adjustability.” The small-displacement engine also is delivering on its end of the bargain: In addition to the impressive track-test performance, we’re averaging 26 mpg through the first two months.

Months in Fleet: 2 months Current Mileage: 7160 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 20.6 gal Fuel Range: 530 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $96,095 (base price: $82,295)

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve inline-6, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 183 cu in, 2998 cc
Power: 320 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 330 lb-ft @ 1380 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 126.4 in
Length: 206.6 in
Width: 74.9 in Height: 58.2 in
Passenger volume: 115 cu ft
Cargo volume: 18 cu ft
Curb weight: 4385 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW
Zero to 60 mph: 4.8 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 12.4 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 21.6 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 5.6 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 2.9 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 3.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.4 sec @ 105 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 156 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 159 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.86 g

PERFORMANCE: 40,000 MILES
Zero to 60 mph: 5.1 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 12.4 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 22.5 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 35.1 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 5.8 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 3.0 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 3.7 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.7 sec @ 104 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 156 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 159 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.88 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA combined/city/hwy: 24/21/29 mpg
C/D observed: 26 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt

WARRANTY:
4 years/50,000 miles bumper to bumper;
12 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;
4 years/unlimited miles roadside assistance;
4 years/50,000 miles scheduled maintenance

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