THE BEST 7 SERIES EVER MADE?

The 7 Series has always been BMWs big car for big occasions. While it was always infused with the German brands DNA for driving fun, the last couple of generations visually put on some fat to become a cruiser suited for a chauffeured moment in time. It's designed to appeal to the big cats but I am more of a 1 Series M coupe guy. Small, light, nimble is the preference. The big 7 series always felt heavy. Turns out, I was a little wrong.

What's luxury?

Executive Motors invited me to head out to Singapore where the new 7 Series was being launched. The PR event was full of beautiful women and journalists itching to get their fingers on a key instead of the finger foods on offer. And that's where the newness of the 7 begins, with the key. Luxury is hard to define but a list of tech options longer than a Starbucks coffee menu is a good identifier. The key itself has become a showpiece worth displaying. The electronic fob now comes with a display that lets you toggle through multiple settings such as remote interior adjustments as well as remote parking available for certain regions. James Bond pulled some drastic manoeuvres with the beautiful E38 7 series once and now you can be a bit of that too but without the high speeds and guns.

Air gestures

The list of features is ridiculously exhaustive. There are buttons for everything but in many cases, BMW has completely done away with buttons. The infotainment system now takes gesture controls where your mid-air finger movements can answer phone calls, change audio tracks and so on. Twirl an index finger in mid-air and it will change audio volume. Jab in the air to pause. This is taking hands-free to quite a different playing field. But please, no rude finger gestures.

Design

I've mentioned before that the previous 7 series gave off a bit of a heavy weight appearance. The new design has been streamlined to create subtle surface gradations that create a longer, sleeker look to the profile. The car visually looks lower making it less of a barge and more of a streamliner. The angular headlights gently sweep upward creating a sharper front end than the previous generation's headlight filled surprised face. I'm not a big fan of those massive kidney grills but those hide active fins that close on open roads to further reduce drag.

Lightness through construction

The big car has some huge weight saving tricks under its sculpted sleeves. The i3 and the i8 have paved the way to bring about carbon fibre strength and lightness to bigger cars. Cast carbon-fiber is used all through the roof structure and A-C pillar bows as well as the centre tunnel. All that translates to increased strength and rigidity while at the same time drops the center of gravity compared to the previous car.  Here's the whopper: they dropped 190 pounds from the car making it lighter than the current, smaller 5 Series despite having a lot more tech.

Rolling office

In Bangladesh, most of the clients will spend a significant amount of time in the rear seats. All the cars are now the extended version with additional leg space and power operated footrest. There's heating, cooling and massage functions along with a removable 7 inch tab offering full control of the improved iDrive infotainment. You won't really need to go to office in the car because the car can become your office.

3D parking assist

The coolest feature must be the new 3D surround view. It takes in images from all around the car and creates a bird's eye view as well as a panorama view of what is around you. In the demo, the car windows were covered up so you're in the dark and everyone got to use only the screen display to park.  

Driving characteristics

Let's get to the driving. The team arranged multiple cars for all journalists present and there was a course set up, part of which was a slalom to show-off the big car's agility. Agile it was as I aimed at the cones as quick as possible. The weight distribution is slightly more to the front with 54 percent. You could throw the car into a corner and use the throttle to move the rear out a little bit. On a longer drive outside in the city, I got to fully try out the new suspension system that now comes with air syspension front and rear as opposed to just rear before. Every aspect is adjustable to bring in optimum ride height, load and dampers settings. Comfort Plus setting offers the squishiest ride with a wafting boat like feel. Not quite what you associate with BMW but it is supremely comfy. You want old school ultimate driving machine? Click 'Sport', it is where I left the car most of the time. Things stiffen up instantly and turns no longer cause the car to lean.

Power

The car I got to try out was the 3.0 740Li with 326bhp and 331 lb-ft torque from an inline six. There's also a beefier 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8 offering 445 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque and a diesel 3.0 with 265hp and a massive 457 lb-ft of torque. While the driving dynamics are that of a smaller, nimbler car, the steering is deliberately kept soft because the buyers in this segment prefer the steering to do what is asked and not to talk back too much. I get it, the 7 Series is never meant to be a track buster. But it has all the tricks to make it an exhilarating drive if you can find the right roads. It will turn, steer and shoot out of a corner like a missile and it will cover potholes with grace.

Verdict

Luxury is easily defined as the options you can have and this new Bimmer comes chock full of that. The bulkiness of the last two generations has been toned down to create a sleek car that's big on performance, safety and efficiency. Will it be fun? A fellow journo asked a BMW spokesperson if it will drift. His reply, "It's a BMW, of course it will." Expect to see a full review when it gets to our shore. Hit the site for more photos.

Words and Photos: Ehsanur Raza Ronny