Whereby Wend the Winds (or Whatever)
In a BMW lineup that often seems at odds with the BMW we know and love (knew and loved?), the 7-series remains a polarizing car. On one hand, it does the best impression of a Rolls-Royce of any car outside of Rolls's own showroom. On the other, though, in no suspension setting does it quite feel like that blue-and-white roundel belongs on the hood. Even with standard adaptive dampers and air springs at all four corners, none of the chassis settings quite feel right. Then again (so, back to that first hand?), the 750i xDrive did manage 0.88 g of lateral grip on the skidpad, and if a 7-series buyer really wants to drive something that handles like an M3, they probably just drive the M3 that day instead. Or whatever else is in the garage alongside the six-figure sedan.
If they do pluck the 7's fob from whatever it is that people who have loads of cars keep their embarrassment of keys in—we assume it's not the same haphazard pile in the junk drawer that we employ—the BMW is a coddling cocoon. There's massive room front and rear, and the Rear Executive Lounge Seating package is so first class that a tray table even folds out of the center console. Drinks, it should be noted, are not complimentary. The big tech updates that accompany this facelift are voice controls for the infotainment system—by default it responds to "Hey BMW," but can be customized to whatever name the owner sees fit—and the industry's latest definitely-not-an-automated-driving-system. The latter is called Extended Traffic Jam Assistant, and it will drive the car indefinitely on divided highways at speeds below 37 mph as long as the camera in the instrument panel can see that the driver's eyes are on the road. And BMW's nonsensical gesture-control system now responds to more commands, but it still won't let you program your own gestures. Soon, child. Soon.
And when can you get your shaky/greasy/silk-gloved hands on a 2020 7-series? Soon. Or now-ish. The 750i xDrive starts at $103,645, while the hybrid starts at $96,545. The lowly 740i is $87,445, and the range-topping V-12–powered M760i costs $158,695.
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