We’re six days into our BMW 7 Series test drive and we’re loving the car more than ever. Our first encounter with the new 7 Series took place in March when a 750Li fell into our hands for a few hours. Of course, the time spent behind that wheel at that time was fairly limited, but even within that time frame, the car did not disappoint, on the contrary, we were quite impressed by its performance, design, luxury and the technology available.
We enjoyed the car so much that we worked our magic and received a short term loaner that we could drive around the beautiful Chicago area. Our plan was to use the car in different scenarios: as a daily driver, weekend and a family car. Also went the extra leg to “hire” one of my friends as a driver, so I can experience the new 7 from the rear-seat as well.
Has the car lived up to our expectations? Well, you will have to wait a few more days and we will tell you all about it. For now, we’re just teasing you a bit with some information and photos.
As far as dynamics, we’ve been through all the driving modes: Comfort, Normal, Sport and Sport +. Care to guess which one was most used? Comfort……nah…next….YES, Sport+, a pair of new wheels for the reader that got the right answer….okay, we’re just kidding now, but yes, Sport+ has been our favorite mode of driving the 7, most likely because we’re so used to riding in the 3 Series.
In Sport or Sport+, the ride becomes more dynamic, rough and….of course, sporty, perfect for those times when the road ahead of us was wide open and we felt more adventurous. Comfort was also between our top favorites, mostly because the City of Chicago streets are….let’s just say….not in the “best shape”. We heard some calling the Comfort mode as giving you a “boat” feeling, but we would say that the adjustments are just perfect and it does exactly what was designed to do: offer a more comfortable driving experience. Some will already jump ahead and compare it against the older 7, but fear nothing, we’re looking at total different cars.
The 4.4 liter V8 twin-turbo engine it does its job properly and maybe even beyond. At around 4,500 lbs, the 750i is far from being a compact car, but those 404 horsepower and the incredible 450 lb-ft of torque, make up for it and show the sportiness in this car. In the end, the 750i runs from still to 60 mph in around 5.1 seconds, pretty much where the 335i Sedan is rated as well.
We’ve been trying for days now to find some negative aspects and we’re not saying they don’t exist, but without having a comparable car in our garage for a longer test drive(Audi A8 or MB S-Class), it is really hard to accurately make a valid statement. But more on that in our full review….
As far as the design, it has definitely grown on us since the first time we saw the car at the L.A Auto Show and that “odd nose” doesn’t bother us anymore. We’ll talk more about the design cues very soon.
So, we hope we got your attention for a second and those of you that followed us on Twitter might have also seen our live tweeting during the test drive, including random photos.
