All-new, with brilliant twin-turbo V8, new suspension.

by courtesy New Car Test Drive

The 2009 BMW 7 Series is a complete redesign, marking the beginning of the fifth generation of this legendary marque’s flagship sedan. The 2009 7 Series comes in 750i and 750Li versions. The BMW 750Li has a longer wheelbase, extended by 5.5 inches over the 750i, offering a ride that’s even more luxurious, hard as that might be to fathom.

The 2009 BMW 750Li and 750i feature a new generation of V8 engine, with direct injection and twin turbocharging. This 4.4-liter V8 makes 400 horsepower

Herb Chambers BMW of Boston

BMW of Sudbury

and 450 pound-feet of torque, awesome numbers for an engine that small, thanks to the turbos. It comes with a six-speed automatic transmission with a manual mode. Weight-efficient construction and innovative chassis technology contribute to superior driving dynamics that have come to be expected from a BMW, especially the high end models like the 7 Series. However, despite the use of lighter chassis materials, the 750Li gains 86 pounds, on account of more equipment, such as driver assistance systems and comfort related features.

Both the exterior and interior have been redesigned for 2009. The 750Li has its own roofline, and the silhouette is sleeker than ever. The body has no transparently gratuitous scoops or scallops, and the car’s size and lines clearly say eighty thousand dollars (roughly the base price), if not one hundred and ten, the total price of our 750Li test model. The interior is as classy and luxurious as you should expect.

Herb Chambers BMW of Boston

BMW of Sudbury

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Model Lineup

The 2009 BMW 7 Series comes in BMW 750i ($80,300) and long-wheelbase BMW 750Li ($84,200) models.

Standard equipment includes Nappa leather and wood grain interior trim, navigation system, HD radio, dynamic cruise control, halogen fog lights, xenon adaptive headlights with auto leveling and cornering movement, adaptive brake lights.

Options include Active Roll Stabilization ($1800); alloy wheels with performance tires ($1300); instrument panel with leather trim ($1200); power rear sunshade and manual rear door sunshades ($1000); ceramic controls ($650); active cruise control ($2400); head-up display $1300); and night vision with pedestrian detection ($2600). Option packages include Convenience ($1700); Cold Weather ($800); Camera ($750); Driver Assistance ($1350); Luxury Seating ($2500); Premium Sound ($2000); Rear Entertainment ($2200); and Sport ($4900).

Safety equipment includes an integrated ABS with Dynamic Stability Control including Brake Fade Compensation, Start-off Assistant, Brake Drying, and Brake Stand-by features, with Dynamic Traction Control and Dynamic Brake Control. There is also BMW’s Advanced Safety System with front airbags, front seat side-impact airbags, and front and rear Head Protection System; and finally a tire pressure monitor. Active Blind Spot Detection and Lane Departure Warning is part of the optional Driver Assistance Package.

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Walkaround

Redesigned for 2009, the BMW 7 Series cars look sleek and expensive. The 750Li has its own roofline, giving it a different profile from that of the shorter 750i.

The roofline of the 750Li travels sensuously along with the rest of the car in order to keep it from looking like a stretched 750i with a long tail. The result is a beautiful roofline. The 750Li roofline is longer to provide room in the rear passenger compartment. The 750Li offers more headroom than the 750i.

Another thing that’s beautiful are the 14-spoke alloy wheels. Curiously, frustratingly, many lovely cars don’t have wheels that meet the aesthetic standard of the rest of the design. BMW pays attention.

The 750Li looks best from the side or three-quarters view. The hood is long but front overhang is short; that long wheelbase does that. The sheetmetal contours, blending concave and convex surfaces, are still there, but they’re more subtle than they’ve been on BMWs of recent years, and they don’t shout, now. The contours have the maturity and sophistication appropriate to a car like this. The fenders are chiseled upward, nicely.

From the rear, there’s little to say that this is a remarkable luxury car; it looks like any other car on the highway with its horizontal chrome strip and big taillights. A small lip on the trunk lid only adds accent to the car’s lines when viewed from the side.

In front, the vertical bars on the kidney grille are spaced wider than those on other BMWs, for distinction, but that doesn’t really work. It doesn’t make a car look more stylish by increasing the gap between its teeth. But from the driver’s compartment, you don’t see that. What you see is a really nice power bulge on the hood, subtle and sweet.

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Interior Features

Comfort, whether in the front seat or rear seat, is superb in the 750Li. The 750i is comfortable in the front seats, but only offers 38.4 inches of rear legroom, compared to 44.3 inches in the 750Li. The 7 Series has a massive trunk, measuring 17.7 cubic inches for both models.

Great interior lighting. World’s best backup video camera, including sideview camera. Luxurious leather and woodgrain trim: three choices of interior wood trim, and four Nappa leather colors. The doors open way wide, for easy entry and exit. The dash is low, thin and lovely in black woodgrain, with a great instrument panel having a clean speedometer, tach, temp and gas gauges. The screen with navigation and all its menus is very readable, at 10.2 inches versus 8.8 inches before. Perfect leather-wrapped steering wheel, but it ought to be, as part of the $4900 Sport Package on our 750Li.

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Driving Impressions

BMW, in the 7 Series at least, seems to suffer from a problem of ambition. The engine is brilliant, incredible. All that horsepower, torque and smoothness, and we got 19.0 miles per gallon overall. Can’t say enough good things about the engine. It is flawless. Not just the 400 horsepower, but 450 pound-feet of torque at 1800 rpm.

The suspension is nearly as flawless as the engine, whether cruising in a straight line on a rough road, or tossing the big Beemer through curves. BMWs are known for that. The front suspension is all new for 2009, the first double-wishbone suspension ever in a BMW passenger car, believe it or not. The rear multi-link suspension is redesigned for 2009, with an innovated vertical link that BMW calls the Integral System. The 750Li comes standard with electronically self-leveling air springs.

The Sport Package offers four suspension modes: Comfort, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus. The only problem is all those decisions. Using the Driving Dynamics Control selector (located near the iDrive controller and E-shift lever), the car will change its performance characteristics, in the areas of shock absorber firmness, throttle response, transmission shift characteristics, power steering assist level, and Dynamic Stability control points. The Sport Package also included the gorgeous 19-inch alloy wheels with performance tires, and Active Steering to tighten the aggressive cornering.

The six-speed automatic transmission insists on doing many things for the driver, in Normal mode and with the DDC in Normal.

The xenon headlights may be the best in the world, adding greatly to safe nighttime driving.

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Herb Chambers BMW of Boston

BMW of Sudbury

Summary

The BMW 750Li may be the ultimate luxury car. The 750i has a shorter wheelbase. The 2009 7 Series is a redesign, the fifth generation, featuring a brilliant new twin-turbocharged V8 engine that makes 400 horsepower yet is still EPA rated at 14 to 22 mpg (we got 19). The ride and handling are flawless, featuring a double-wishbone front suspension, and the comfort is superior.