2009 BMW 7-series: Better hustle, less bustle
The BMW 750iL is more conservative, perhaps less dramatic, still handsome elegant and more in keeping with the tastes of those who can afford a car that starts at $104,900.
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Getting a grip on xDrive
BMW has been slow to get four-wheel drive into its range-topping 7-series.
Its main German competition, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, have been there forever.
But the Bavarians have finally taken their advanced xDrive system and adapted it to their flagship and we had the chance to try it out at the company's Miramas, France, proving grounds.
Unlike other applications of xDrive on 3- and 5-series cars, which nominally split torque 40/60 to the front and rear axles respectively, the 7's system gets a more flexible, adaptable division.
A ratio of 30/70 is more common, to maintain the rear-biased handling for which BMW is famous. But it can slide to 20/80 if the car's attitude and the driver's inputs so suggest.
At low speeds, all the torque can be directed rearward for a more aggressive launch.
But if the rear wheels happen to be on ice, or, as at Miramas, on a water-soaked metal grating with approximately zero coefficient of friction, the torque can be directed frontwards, too. Likewise, if one side of the car is on ice, and the other has some grip, you're good to go. In either of these conditions, the rear-drive car remains immobile.
Several laps of Miramas's tight handling circuit in 7-series cars with and without xDrive showed two things:
The rear-drive-only car handles brilliantly. Even with severely compromised grip, it reacts flawlessly to your inputs. Be gentle though, as too much input means too much output.
The xDrive car was significantly faster under all circumstances.
But the 7 xDrive not only moves, it reacts like a well-balanced rear-drive car, without terminal understeer that affects many four-wheel drive systems.
A back-to-back test with a 4Matic Mercedes-Benz S-class and an Audi A8 quattro would be illuminating and really the only way to determine the relative differences between them.
Given that these two competitive cars are now only offered in Canada with four-wheel drive (apart from the AMG S-class), the xDrive should assume a dominant share of BMW Canada's 7-series sales when it is introduced in late October.
Jim Kenzie
LUXURY SEDAN FINALLY GETS NEEDED FACELIFT
Sep 18, 2009
Special to the Star
When you think of the previous-generation BMW 7-series luxury sedan – should you do so at all – two thoughts will come to mind:
Bangle Butt and iDrive.
Because that car, launched in 2001, not only introduced the controversial rear-end treatment championed by BMW's recently retired chief stylist Chris Bangle but the 7 also introduced – some would say inflicted – iDrive on an unsuspecting public.
The 2009 fifth-generation 750i essentially dispenses with both.
The new exterior styling, penned by Montreal-born Karim Habib, still has a hint of bustle in its aft end. To paraphrase Bangle when the previous car was introduced: The trunk lid has to be so high for cargo space and aerodynamics; the car can only be so long; there are only so many ways to get from A to B.
The fact that just about every luxury sedan since has dealt with this challenge in a similar manner suggests Bangle was right.
In any event, the 7 stood out from the crowd, sold well and Bangle is now retired. So let's move on.
The new car is more conservative, perhaps less dramatic, still handsome, elegant and probably more in keeping with the tastes of moneyed clientele that can afford a car whose prices start at $104,900.
While many of us got used to the rear end of the old car, iDrive continued to mystify. Supposedly mimicking a computer mouse, the multidirectional rotating-knob-cum-push-button simply didn't work.
iDrive was BMW's answer to another challenge: how to fit controls for all the functions customers demand into the limited dash and centre console available space.
It's a quandary faced by all carmakers, and BMW may have penalized itself for trying to be first.
Others, notably Infiniti and Audi, have done it better, so BMW has admitted defeat and come up with a much more intuitive design.
A series of dedicated buttons surrounding the knob allow you to go directly to the menu you want – navigation, radio, CD, telephone or back to the main menu.
Use the knob to select the submenu you want, rotate it and push down to select the value you wish. You can also program eight buttons for commonly used iDrive functions.
The 7 has the world's first automotive "online" owner's manual, more like a computer's help function, available through iDrive. No matter what feature baffles you, there's an owner's manual setting to help.
It only works when the car is stopped; you'll have to learn it while sitting in the car. But chances are you don't have chairs this comfortable in your living room, anyway.
The new iDrive/SatNav screen is also considerably larger and brighter than before.
Your living room may not have a stereo system this good, either. New is a 13-gig hard drive that can store just about every song ever recorded, uploadable via CD, USB stick or MP3 player.
All of this is housed in a significantly upgraded interior. In the old car, there were rough edges here and there; not so in the new one.
The (optional) Nappa leather dash cover, soft leather seating surfaces and fine quality woods and metals make this the nicest BMW interior yet, perhaps finally giving Audi something to worry about.
As before, the 7 comes in two lengths, the 750i and 750iL, with 3070 and 3210 mm wheelbases respectively.
Mine was the 750iL, and rear seat room is almost ridiculous. There are even little triangular-section footrests for Sir and Madam, plus individual video screens in the back of the front seat head-restraints.
Just one engine though, a twin-turbo 4.4 litre V8 that was introduced recently on the X6 Sport Activity Coupe. The V12 has been discontinued.
Horsepower is 400, with 450 lb.-ft. of torque available anywhere from 1800 to 4500 r.p.m., substantially more than before. Amazingly, fuel consumption is down by about 3 per cent as measured using European test cycles.
An engine this beefy barely needs a transmission at all; BMW offers a smooth-shifting six-speed, manipulated by a centre-console-mounted electronic toggle lever, as in lesser BMWs.
This replaces the odd steering column-mounted lever of the former car, and not a moment too soon.
It still takes some getting used to because the lever itself is always in the same fore-and-aft position – you just nudge it forward or backward to change from drive to neutral to reverse, or touch a button on the top of the lever to select park.
Pull the lever to the left, and you can manually swap ratios yourself – forward to downshift, back to upshift.
The car was slightly reluctant to roll smoothly and gently away from a stop – you need to nudge the gas pedal more than I expected.
Once rolling, the car flies down the road smartly. Zero-to-100 km/h is accomplished in a tick or two past five seconds.
When you lean on said pedal a bit more than necessary, the exhaust note takes on a purposeful growl. BMW hasn't forgotten that even its most luxurious cars are supposed to be sporting machines.
A less welcome noise is considerable wind rush around both side-front windows at highway speeds.
An all-new suspension features double wishbones at the front for the first time in a BMW sedan.
The long-wheelbase version gets standard air suspension, for an even smoother ride.
In keeping with BMW's driver orientation even in a luxury sedan, the 750 offers as standard four driver-selectable settings for the chassis: Comfort, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus, affecting damper firmness, throttle response, power steering assist level, transmission shift characteristics and the dynamic stability control intervention threshold.
In Sport Plus, the stability control system switches to Dynamic Traction Control mode, which reduces the intervention of the chassis electronics for, as BMW says without irony or embarrassment, "track-style driving"
In Comfort mode, the car rides beautifully. Yet the dampers firm up instantly if you dial in some steering to take a curve quickly.
Despite being lavishly equipped, the 750 can be customized considerably. My tester had integral active steering as a stand-alone option. This combines the variable steering ratio introduced a few years ago in the 5-series, with rear-wheel steering, which turns the rear wheels slightly in the opposite direction as the fronts at low speeds to aid manoeuvrability, and in the same direction at higher speeds for greater stability.
It can also compensate for potential loss of control under hard braking due to side-to-side difference in available grip on an uneven road surface.
My car also had the executive package, which included a Nappa leather dash, electric sunshades for rear and rear-side windows, Sirius satellite radio with a one-year subscription, soft-close doors – no need to slam them, James – and ultracool peek-a-boo cameras on the corners of the front bumper, which almost can see around corners.
Compared to a Mercedes-Benz, Lexus or Audi, you'll get a more involved drive with the BMW: the Merc has a tad more prestige; the Lexus a lower cost of ownership, and the Audi a classier interior.
One thing that has never been available on the 7-series is four-wheel drive, which is either standard or available on the major competition.
That changes with the addition of BMW's xDrive to the 7-series model lineup. This is one of the more sophisticated four-wheel drive systems available and is offered on just about everything else BMW sells (see accompanying story).
If you truly like to drive and if the current economic crisis hasn't caused you to aim your car-buying crosshairs more toward the 1974 Pinto segment, the new 7-series needs to be on your short list.
Toronto Star
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