RE: BMW 7 Series: Driven

[bigfatnick]

Matt Bird said:

bigfatnick said:

very little mention of road noise. Why does nobody care about the horrible drone of road noise any more. and why dont we have anti sound getting pumped into cars, noise cancellation headphones style.

also, the only petrols in the uk are now straight 6. No V8 or V12. Shame.

Edited by bigfatnick on Sunday 18th October 22:10

There's a V12 coming next year! Road noise seemed very well suppressed from front and back I think.


Matt

How's the road noise compared to say an s class, xj or my ls460? Or even better, since the ls460 isn't as quiet as my old ls400, one of those?

[drivin_me_nuts]

Diesel Meister said:

That's the thing. i think you'd struggle to call it objectively offensive at all (which is a debatable point in the case of some other cars in BMW's lineup of late). But whilst it's more contemporary than say and E38 and less "challenging" than a pre-facelift E65 may have seemed when Bangle unleashed it on us, the G-model is just a bit bland. I personally think BMWs should be either functional and understated, or suave and understated. You could argue this meets those criteria but its a bit of a underdone result that lacks an obvious identity. lose the kidney grills and the badges and aside from the vestigial Hofmeister kink, its a complete anonobarge. Which is sad given that historically speaking they have some good form for looking nice and driving well (all sevens up to and including the E38 at the least, imo - I've only driven the E32 and E38 though).

I'm glad that not everyone see it the same way as that would be even more dull than the car looks!

it must be a challenge for the designer to get enthusiastic about a car whose primary function is 'posh' airport taxi.

[e21Mark]

If I had tens of thousands to spend on a car, to be wafted around in the back of, I'd buy an E23 and have a modern engine and interior upgrade install. Can't imagine people looking at the new 7 in 30 years time and wishing they still owned one.

[Diesel Meister]

Amen!

[Erudite geezer]

Saw one of these on display in Munich airport's Terminal 2 this afternoon.

Over-riding impression was 'meh'.

[Atmospheric]

I'm interested in the 7 series generally. PH, I'm not interested reading about diesel versions.

[mwstewart]

I like that a lot. BMW sure are recovering from the Bangle era.

[ZesPak]

cluckcluck said:

agreed the e38 looks just as plain but the e38 also looks very outdated whereas the new model dosen't. most e38's ive seen on the road look rotten and ready for the scrapper, or this:

The main problem with the E38 was that it was no where near as good as the W140 it was supposed to go up against.
Other than that, it looks brilliant.

Let's just see how well this new model keeps up in 20 years.

Oh and it's a good thing the yet to be released model doesn't look outdated, isn't it?

[sunnydude]

Had a sit in it today in the local showroom (730xd M Sport SWB with 20" wheels, laser lights, sunroof, gesture control, HK Surround, heads up display, and anything else I didn't notice)

My view:
+ Seats are excellent, and I welcome their decision to make nappa leather and comfort seats standard across all models. Also standard is heated front and rear seats as well as front lumbar support with seat massage function.
+ All models get adaptive drive as standard
+ xDrive models get BMW's DPC torque vectoring system from the X6
+ Despite being such a big car, it still feels driver centric in terms of controls. This is unlike the CL-class (W216) - based on the S class - that I had previously, which was of similar size
+ Despite the size, there wasn't much 'empty space'. It still had a somewhat sporty enclosed feel for it - but bear in mind I'm 6' 3" so this may not be everyone's experience
+ Cool LED ambient lighting strips
+ High quality switches and buttons compared to my current 6 series (F13).

I haven't driven it yet which is, of course, quite an important part of my view, but it seems fantastic when stationary at least. I love the front, and the back is OK. I think they could have made the back look a little less like an A8, but nothing to complain about.

[BlackLabel]

Shmee's mini review of the new 7 series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEyDminvr7Q

The new tech looks really cool but I bet it will be a nightmare after it's out of warranty when things start to go wrong.

[epom]

How can people dismiss this as ugly and think that the S class is good looking ?? Astounds me. Different folks I suppose.

[sealtt]

[epom]

Oooooohhh S class wins inside thats for sure !!

[Zod]

epom said:

Oooooohhh S class wins inside thats for sure !!

Really? They don't even look that different.

[cerb4.5lee]

I wasn't sure about the looks when I first saw it in magazines and on here but yesterday I was in for an oil service at a local dealer and had a good look around one and I was pleasantly surprised and I really liked it.

I have always had a soft spot for the big 7 series.

[sealtt]

Zod said:

Really? They don't even look that different.

You have to go and check one out in person, the S-Class interior is unbelievable. Design is great, but it's the quality & finish that really takes it to the next level.

There is a brand new S65 LWB at our local Mercedes dealer and I would genuinely say it is the highest quality interior of any production car on the market.