Test drive in new BMW 745i

[jjrodger]

I had the new BMW 745i on extended test drive last night. These are my thoughts...

The car has enormous road presence. In fact, it's just enormous. Other cars get out of the way when they see it coming up behind. It is about as big as you'd want to go on UK roads. The tail-end treatment grows on you; it's an interesting looking car.

The car is very fast, but you wouldn't know it. The engine is almost inaudible--even under hard work--from the cabin. It is difficult to tell what gear the car is in; and in manual gearbox mode, it is difficult to telll without looking at the rev counter where you are in the engine's range.

It is so fast that you find yourself doing 30-40mph more than you think. It is also so fast that I kept up with a 600cc sports bike between my house and the pub. This is a 3.5 mile stretch of UK backroad that has no long straights, and six 90-degree bends in close succession. Around the bends I had to back off lest I knock the motorcyclist off his mount (and he was definitely trying). On the straighter sections the motorcyclist could pull away, but not very much. So as a real world fast car this BMW is good.

The traction control/DSC is quite intrusive.

The steering lacks the feel we expect from a BMW. In fact it was one of the most disappointing aspects of the car. The suspension offers a fantastic blend of ride and handling: during hard cornering the body stays level, yet it is not at all harsh on undulating roads. The only problem with the suspension is that the 19" wheel size involves tyres with too low a profile for UK roads: on our broken tarmac I could feel and hear (very loudly) the wheels crashing around.

The i-Drive system is OK if you take 20mins to learn it. I would imagine that any owner who took a couple of hours to read the instructions (or watch them on DVD) and then drove the car for a week or two would be very comfortable with the system.

Some of the so-called "innovations" are a case of "one step forward, two steps back". The keyless starter, for instance, is ergonomically more of a faff than a key: you have to insert the "key" in a hole and then press a separate button. The indicators are very unfamiliar in their operation. The brakes (handbrake in particular) work differently: there is no need to hold the car on the brakes, and the handbrake is applied automatically. The seat controls are completely stupid in their operation.

The interior quality is not great. Some of the plastics are not very impressive (some are). There are few sharp edges. And there are a lot of places where dirt and dust will be hard to clean.

Finally, it is hard to see where you are reversing (although not very necessary since it has radar parking with a little picture in the i-Drive screen).

I couldn't help but like the car. But I would take a W220 any day. The BMW was too big and too complicated and the driver was left out too much.

[Holson Adi]

Yes I have seen a couple and honestly it doesn't look bad... it just doesn't loook good that's all..

I too noticed the very sharp edges on some of the plastics on the door.

Sure, it looks a bit ugly, but I bet the driving experience is as visceral as one will get in the full-dress luxury sedan category. Well, who knows how the S55 AMG does, it's probably pretty competent, but it does cost a good deal more than the 745i.

I'd really want one if it followed more in the mold of previous 7-series, with a more BMW-ish interior, with a shifter on the console, not on the steering column like a Ford Crown Victoria.

-Sam

[jjrodger]

Originally posted by Holson Adi
I too noticed the very sharp edges on some of the plastics on the door.

That's exactly where I noticed them.