REVIEW: BMW 740i xDrive M Sport
Pretoria - While the world continues its love affair with SUVs it’s heartening to know that in the land of BMW their flagship model is still a low-slung sedan. And not just any sedan mind you, but the BMW 7 Series or just The 7.
I know behemoth is often used in car reviews but in the case of The 7 it really is.
Even the polarising kidney grille is large and while I feel it’s somewhat out of place on some of the other BMW models, in the 7 Series it fits the character of the car and is in proportion to the rest of it.
Driving the BMW 740i that we had on test felt like an occasion every time I got behind the wheel and you almost felt guilty if you weren’t stepping out dressed to the nines.
Because added to its impressive size the dual-tone colour combination (an option at R197 000) attracted even more attention.
It’s the kind of car you park far away from others and rather walk to your destination than have someone ding it with their door in the parking lot.
The BMW 740i is thrust forward by BMW’s 3.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 48V mild-hybrid technology producing 280kW and 540Nm. All four wheels are connected to an incredibly smooth, what else in something like The 7, eight-speed automatic Steptronic transmission that makes it glide along on adaptive air suspension.
For what it’s worth BMW claims a 0-100km/h time of 5.4 seconds and will even out at a governed 250km/h.
It’s certainly not the kind of car you’re going to be screeching around in, but rather cruising about ensconced from the everyday hassles that mere mortals face.
Should you decide to give it a hard right foot, if say, you or your chauffeur need to get away quickly from a threatening corporate adversary, it gets off the line without any fuss or drama, belying its almost 2.1 tons, and will rush you to safety without the inconvenience of wind or road noise despite the low profile tyres.
The suspension takes our unmaintained roads in its stride easily and should you have to swerve quickly for larger potholes the steering is direct and remarkably responsive for a car of this size. A handy addition for a car this size is the ability to pre-store a manoeuvring route in reverse or forward allowing you to get into and out of tight spots.
And if you’re close to an obstacle and press the door open and close switch it will automatically prevent itself from hitting it. We found this out by chance when someone moved away from the car and the door continued to open afterwards.
The real full orchestra piece though is the 7 Series’ interior.
I haven’t experienced something like that yet and although I’ve never flown first class, I suspect it’s akin to what those privileged enough to do so get in terms of luxury and comfort.
An enormous glass curved display greets you when you slide into the uber-comfortable seats, cooled and heated, obviously, with a 12.3-inch information display directly in front of you and a 14.9-inch control display.
The air vents are almost hidden away and the combination of plush leather, aluminium and crystal (for real) as well as BMW’s new Interaction Bar with dynamic ambient lighting that’s also a touch control display for climate control and door lights operation, all combine to make it something unique and special.
The new My Mode allows for one touch selection of modes that adjust various functions, display and ambience allowing you to choose Expressive, Relax, Digital Art Mode or Theatre Mode that automatically folds down the rear 31.3-inch screen and raises the rear half of the car’s window shades.
Coupled with a Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system the screen allows passengers to stream videos, watch YouTube, news channels or personal downloads via the 5G-compatible aerial system.
Doing that obviously means you’re in the back seat being driven to your destination, which allows you to fiddle with the 5.5-inch touchscreen in the rear doors to control seat adjustment, seat massagers or set the rear tone to whichever mode you prefer at the time.
There’s a reclining rear seat option and the front passenger seat folds down almost completely providing a comfortable space to take a snooze.
My partner’s son and I spent at least 45 minutes playing and trying to figure out all the various technological and very nice to have electronic features and we still didn’t manage to scratch the surface, but there’s always “Hey BMW” to turn to for most functions like asking it to open the door from the inside.
To top it off the car returned consumption figures of 9.5l/100km after a week of highway and urban driving.
When people talk of piloting a car, that’s what it’s like driving the BMW 740i. At first the size and technology can be a bit intimidating but it’s such an impressive and easy to drive car that you quickly understand why the rich and famous want one and considering it’s priced at R2 247 751 it’s not the kind of money they would baulk at.
It comes with a two-year/unlimited warranty and a five-year/100 000km maintenance plan.