BMW has a very comfortable interior that becomes even more enticing in long wheelbase spec. It's incredibly opulent riding in the rear seat and the 7 is best experienced back there. I know the chassis is surprisingly good if you happen to visit a track with your 7, but I've never warmed up to BMW's new twin-turbo engines with automatic transmissions. The throttle calibration makes it almost impossible to smoothly leave a stop, so I'd rather let someone else deal with that while I spread out and relax in back.
Having driven a six-cylinder 7-series from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back recently, I really wonder why buyers would choose the V-8 in this car. I understand V-12 buyers don't care about cost and want the ultimate in luxury, but the V-8 increases in cost much more than it does in performance when compared with the I-6 car. The six is so smooth, so quick, and so efficient that I can only understand choosing a V-8 if you require all-wheel drive.
Phil Floraday, Senior Web Editor
I've always found it difficult to enjoy the fabulousness of BMWs 7-series because accelerating from a stop is such a chore. The problem is twofold: the throttle is stiff and difficult to modulate; and the 4.4-liter V-8's twin turbos lack a progressive buildup. This xDrive-equipped 7 suffers from the same issues but it's a bit more tolerable because the all-wheel-drive system distributes the power to all four wheels preventing the embarrassing tire squeal that happens when the mountain of torque kicks in -- at a surprisingly low 1750 rpm -- and overpowers the rear tires. If you absolutely have to have the 750i with the V-8, I'd recommend spending the extra $3000 for the xDrive model.
Jennifer Misaros, Managing Editor, Digital Platforms
With its pearlescent white paint over a white and black interior, our BMW 750Li xDrive looked really dramatic. I was reminded of a BMW media event I attended two years ago near Lisbon, Portugal, when the assembled journalists were chauffeured to a seaside dinner along a winding coastal road in a fleet of identical white long-wheelbase 7-series sedans. If our single snow-white BMW looked good on the streets of Ann Arbor, you can imagine why a dozen or more of them chasing the sun as it set over the Atlantic burned an indelible image in my mind.
Back here in the real world, where I was behind the wheel of a 750 rather than in the spacious back seat digesting a dinner of fresh seafood and white Portuguese wine, I was surprised by just how sporty this huge, heavy sedan manages to feel. I see that our tester had the optional $2000 Active Roll Stabilization, and this seems like money well spent as this car remains remarkably flat and composed even if you pitch it into a freeway entrance ramp like you're driving a BMW Z4 roadster rather than a 5000-lb behemoth. Combine that impressive body control with a firm yet supple ride and communicative, progressive steering, and you have a full-size, full-boat luxury sedan that belies its size. Really, this is just the latest derivation of a recipe that BMW first served back in the 1990s, when the Bavarian automaker was the first to make a full-size luxury sedan handle as well as most sports cars. It remains a classic recipe, that's for sure.
Joe DeMatio, Deputy Editor
I'm with Phil on the BMW 7-series: The twin-turbo in-line six-cylinder is so good that this twin-turbo V-8 seems superfluous. Of course, this 750Li xDrive is still a delight to drive. Just a few days after driving this BMW, I landed in a Hyundai Genesis 5.0 R-Spec, which reminded me that while car companies can easily benchmark a spec sheet, it's much more difficult to capture and recreate the character of a competitor. The 7-serise is as good a touring car as a Mercedes-Benz S-class or an Audi A8, but BMW has raised the bar by instilling a sense of agility that seems impossible for a car this large.
Despite its athleticism, the 7-series has one shortcoming that could be improved. If BMW is going to offer a four-mode adjustable suspension, I'd expect at least one setting to be stiff enough to offend someone or at least be too firm for a long-distance drive. Instead, the ride always feels soft, even in sport plus mode. The suspension is where the 7-series' surprisingly sporty character meets its end. That's not to undermine BMW's achievement here: the 7-series always shows impressive control of its body motions. It's just seems to me that this car has even more potential to shame the less exciting competitors.
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