Luxury, refinement dazzle inside BMW 760i
Reclining rear seats, V8 power among amenities.
How does the other half live? I’m not sure, but I might’ve gotten a glimpse of it this week driving around in the BMW 760i. The six-figure price tag aside, this is a car for those who want all the creature comforts and to live like royalty.
This full-size sedan may not look that special from the outside. Sure, the exterior still boasts that classic BMW styling and the longer body shows an impressive posture. But to the average person, it may get overlooked as something truly special due to the understated styling.
In all truthfulness, the exterior styling suits this car. Trust me, there’s plenty of garishness inside that it didn’t need bold styling that might not age well or might be too divisive. Rather the 760 is expertly and precisely designed as an executive car and the looks match that vibe.
If the exterior is understated, the power underneath the hood is not, at least in my tester. There are three powertrains, including two 3.0liter inline six-cylinder engines (one with a hybrid). However my tester was the oh-so-powerful 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine with a mild hybrid. This engine with its 536 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque makes the 760i a real sleeper if someone was only judging this car by how it looked.
It’s not lumbering or underpowered, rather it screams off the line, but does so smoothly and controlled. All 536 horses are refined and the eight-speed automatic transmission helps keep all that power shifting smoothly. For a car with more than 500 horsepower, the 760 is cool, calm and collected. It does not drive like a sports car with a similar amount of power, it maintains all its composure.
Inside, the luxury and refinement are abundant. If the exterior is understated, the interior is the opposite. Every touchpoint, everywhere you look there are special features. The Executive Package ($3,700) adds crystal headlights and front massaging seats. The Rear Executive Lounge Seat package ($7,500) adds reclining rear seats with a footrest and the BMW Theater Screen. This feature is so lavish and amazing I had to do a couple of videos of it on my Instagram. It got a lot of views as I kicked back in the rear seats, put my feet up while a huge TV screen drops down.
See the executive reclining seats in this Instagram video. And see the huge TV screen drop down in this Instagram video.
It’s called the Executive Package because that’sw exactly who the demographic is for this car. Executive who want to drive clients around and impress them. And they will be impressed. Without a single bit of hyperbole, I make this statement: the interior of the BMW 760i is the most lavish, most special and most memorable interior of any vehicle I’ve driven (and I’ve driven a lot of vehicles, including brands like Bentley).
Now for the big numbers. The base price of my tester (before those executive packages) was $113,600. After all those extra perks and niceties were added, the final MSRP of my tester was $149,045.
Additionally as a V8, the fuel economy is what you’d expect. It is rated at 18 mpg/city and 26 mpg/highway. I averaged just over 20 mpg. You may think this is a little on the guzzling side, and it might be. But if you can afford a six-figure car, you don’t care about extra trips to fill up the tank.
Everything about the BMW 760i made me wish I had the bank account to afford this car. That executive lifestyle is not really for me, but I can certainly get on board with driving around like some big-shot executive.
The fresh air comes in the front, and as air escapes out back through these flaps, fresh air moves more easily throughout the car.
When I went back to my shop to share this epiphany with the other knuckleheads I work with, one of them said, “Oh yeah. Actually, I remember once I rested a huge iced coffee on top of the sunroof as
I was getting out of a car, and when I shut the door, there was so much pressure in the car, the sunroof actually lifted up a little bit. It sent iced coffee everywhere.”
Almost all cars now have these air escape flaps hidden behind the rear bumper. I don’t know if that’s how the mice got into letter-writer Doug’s car and devoured his peanut M&Ms. I still think it’s more likely that they sought out the leftover heat from the engine and found their way in from the cowl. But it’s certainly possible they used the back door. If we find a Chilton’s Repair Manual in their nest, open to the bumper removal page, then I’ll concede the point, Michael. In the meantime, thanks for the education.