BMW 730i Sport (E65) | Shed of the Week
Remember back when everyone thought Chris Bangle was ruining BMW? We didn't know we were born
Apparently, the upcoming BMW i7 M70 has six excitation windings in its electric motor, rather than the usual three. Shed has zero interest in electricity. For him, an excitation winding is what happens when the postmistress simultaneously hoists and twists the elastic waistband on his vintage BHS Y-fronts.
Electric, as he calls it, shouldn’t be powering a 7 Series BMW, one of his favourite barges, so today’s shedly offering – a petrol-powered 730i Sport – is not only right up his strasse, but also a refreshingly cheap antidote to the M70 which will doubtless be well over fifty times the price.
When it was new in 2003 this gen-four 730i Sport wasn’t cheap. It wasn’t lacking in controversy either. At the E65 launch in 2001 there was a good deal of harrumphing about the Chris Bangle-approved styling and in particular about the boot which had a very tacked-on look about it. The Ken Greenley-penned SsangYong Rodius of 2004 suggests that there was something weird going on in designers’ heads back then. The Rodius remains resolutely ugly to this day, but you’ll have your own views on whether the Bangle pixie dust has worked its usual long-term magic on the E65.
The first gen-four renderings for the E65 were reportedly quite Panamera-like in their fastbackiness, but these were considered a bit too radical by the management. Did Bangle and his crew deliberately try to visually sabotage it as an act of revenge, knowing that there wouldn’t be enough time to change it? Probably not. Even without going round the back you can see where the slabby trend for today’s Seven (and, increasingly, other BMWs) started.
The E65 was bigger in every dimension than its more conventionally elegant E38 predecessor but there was very little between them on weight. Our shed has the M54 3.0 inline-six, which was replaced in 2004 by the N52. Shed is going to let you argue amongst yourselves as to which of those was the best/most reliable/most troublesome/most characterful of the two. Here’s a PH thread to get you started. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=72&t=1826345
History indicates that E65s are nicely resistant to rust. Cynics say that’s because most of them were scrapped before they had a chance to oxidise, and it’s true that they do have a bit of a reputation for (ironically) electrical ailments that were uneconomic to repair. The E65 was one of the first cars to put so many of its functions into a central infotainment screen, controlled by a knob on the console and, sometimes, in the driver’s seat. Sadly, the early iDrive system was far from perfect.
Adjusting things that used to be simple like radio or ventilation settings suddenly became five-step operations. The electric seat adjustment controls on the side of the central console were overly complicated. This car doesn’t seem to have the heated/cooled memory seats that range-topping models like the 760 had, which you might see as a positive point reliability-wise.
To start the E65 you had to shove your keyfob lozenge thing into the slot and then press a separate Start button. Poking the rectangular lump sticking out of the dash to the side of the CD slot revealed a phone keypad which replaced the old curly-wire ‘business phone’ that posh cars had had up to that point. Look closely and you’ll see little tabs built into the front of the actual wheel rim. You could use these to downshift the world’s first six-speed automatic gearbox (Shed thinks) when you were in Manual mode. Obviously, you also had upshift buttons. These were hidden on the back side of the wheel.
Some of the ‘advances’ in the E65 did look a bit like BMW trying to show you how clever it was, but 20 years after this example came off the line you might be the clever one if you decide to sink two large into it, especially if you’ve been thinking of putting a small crew together for Le Mans this year. The MOT is due next month, but last year’s report contained nothing scarier than a couple of deteriorating rear brake hoses and a non-excessive oil leak. Large amounts of moo in the Sport spec will deliver a touring-friendly environment, and the cruising fuel consumption isn’t bad either at a whisker under 36mpg (27mpg combined).
A 0-62mph time of 8.1sec means it’s more Serene than Sport but you’ll be comfy enough humming along at 135mph with 12mph left in reserve. You might find the ride a bit nobbly on those 19-inch wheels. It wouldn’t bother the postmistress, who is an enthusiastic driver. She has always said to Shed that on long, straight sections in particular hard is better than soft.
Proper blast from the past seeing a full-size German saloon in SOTW again. When even was the last one? Feels like years and years.
Shed’s comment about knob in the driving seat made me chuckle…
Comfy though and in many ways isn't this peak shed? People I've known with them really enjoyed them from the inside.
(but yes, at least you could moan about these designs - what is happening now is on another scale)
Who would have thought that we would be at the point where even the simple things like adjusting the heating, the radio and opening the windows required multi stage operations via a touchscreen.
However, it was really ugly then and remains so now. I never really got on with the looks of the Bangle 7 and time hasn’t changed that view either. The E38 was the last good looking one as far as I’m concerned.
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