Solid proof it’s easy on the eye-liner
Now the honeymoon period is over, it’s time to answer some searching questions
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if, after decades trying, BMW has finally found the formula required to create a truly world-class luxury car
“It is the only car in which it is possible to apply liquid eye-liner.” As measures of a car’s ride quality go, it was a somewhat leftfield contribution, but this prescient observation from my 16-year-old daughter was no less valid for that.
For I guess the single biggest question mark that has been hanging over this BMW 740Ld as the months have passed is whether it really does have what it takes to cut it as a true luxury car. It seemed on first acquaintance to buck the trend of all those also-ran 7 Series that preceded it, but could that initial feeling of well-being it imparted be maintained once the novelty had worn off and familiarity set in?
In the main the answer is yes. But sometimes its looks and interior architecture make the 740Ld feel like a long-wheelbase 5 Series, and although the Five is also at or near the top of its class game, there are times when I wish the Seven was more obviously differentiated than it is, given the considerable additional outlay. But then I drive it, feel that ride quality and the hushed cabin ambience at a motorway cruise, note that it is also the only car in which the aforementioned daughter reckons she can fall asleep in, and it seems very comfortable in its super-luxury shoes.
So it has an ace ride and is very quiet. But how much BMW still lurks within those imposing walls? The thing with previous-generation 7 Series is that while they’ve not been a patch on the likes of the Mercedes S-class for lowering your stress levels, wafting you around and making every journey seem shorter than it is, so too have they always been quite special to drive. And for those who liked to have a bit of a pedal once in a while but needed a big car more for its space more than the last crumb of comfort it had to offer, it made some kind of sense. It was a niche crowd, sure, but one I imagine BMW would not choose to forsake.
This Seven is different. Although similar in weight to its predecessor, because its additional feature content and standard four-wheel drive is offset by its lighter, carbon-intensive structure, and identical in wheelbase, it takes another view of the open road. While its parent was firmer, quicker to react to the steering and most demonstrably sporting in nature, this car appears to have abandoned this territory. At least on first acquaintance. It lollops along in a straight line, and if you just ease your way through some curves, you may conclude that there’s little more of interest to discover here. But you’d be wrong.
Or at least you’d be wrong in this car. It’s fitted with both Integral Active Steering and something called Executive Drive Pro. The former is essentially four-wheel steering, the latter active roll bar control to go with the already electronically controlled dampers. So, and in short, when you want to have fun, the car knows and does its best to oblige. The rear steer effectively shortens the wheelbase, making it feel more like a 5 Series, while the computer-controlled roll bars actually anticipate corners using info from the nav and cameras, so it doesn’t have to react to steering inputs: the system is already primed and ready. The result? A big barge that nevertheless corners flat, fast and with commendable accuracy. Only the steering lets the side down a little. There could and should be more feel to the helm than it has.
But one question still remains to be answered: is it actually as good or perhaps even better to live with than an S-class. In short, can it claim one of the most coveted scalps in the entire automotive field? Happily, editor-in-chief Steve Cropley has just such a car at his disposal and he’s as keen to try the BMW as I am to sample the Benz. So we’re going to swap for a bit and report back.