BMW 7 Series review

Driving position

Being a chauffeur-driven car, you’d expect it all to be about the rear seats (which it is), but the front seats are far from neglected, and that’s good news if you’re picking up a used BMW 7 Series for yourself.

First thing’s first, the 7 Series feels much bigger than any other BMW on the road – even many SUVs – so you won’t quite have the low and sporty feel of something like the 3 Series.

Instead, you have a slightly elevated position to give you a commanding view to match the high status of the 7 Series.

The dashboard layout is familiar, though, with twin displays and a wraparound-type cockpit, albeit on a much bigger scale.

The full-width ‘Interaction Bar’ is a handy addition – it’s an illuminated piece of trim that spans the width of the dashboard beneath the infotainment display, and goes on into the doors for a 3D feel.

It flashes red when your hazards are on, but it has more useful features like a visual warning if you’re about to open your door into oncoming traffic.

Naturally, the front seats have all the adjustability you’d want and some. The core controls for the seats are on the door panels, but you can press a shortcut button to pull up more granular adjustments on the touchscreen, right from lateral bolstering to how reclined the top of the backrest is compared with the bottom of the backrest.

Heating, cooling, massaging – it’s all there. Even the armrests are heated, and that’s really exciting. Not just for 7 Series buyers, but because tech found in this type of car eventually trickles down to everyday cars, too.

Tech and features

Most of the car’s systems are seen or controlled either through the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster or the 14.9-inch infotainment system, which uses the latest version of BMW’s iDrive system which handily lays out the apps à la smartphone.

There are some touch-sensitive shortcuts near the gear selector, but they do little more than bring up a control display on the main screen.

It’s a complex, multifunction system that’s packed full of features – once you get the hang of it, it’s simple to use, but it’s worth taking the time to explore it in detail when you get your 7 Series.

Starting with the options, we think the BMW Theatre Screen might be the most out-there for a car.

It’s a huge 31.3-inch, 8K ultra-wide display for the rear passengers that folds down from the headlining, paired with the powerful Bowers & Wilkins Diamond surround sound system.

For cooled and massaging front seats, you’ll need the Front Comfort Pack (£2,625). It’s standard on Excellence Pro and M Sport Pro trims as well as the top-spec i7 M70, but we think kit like this should really be standard across the entire range.

A separate Rear Comfort Pack at twice the price (£5,250) adds cooling and massaging for the rear seats, side window sunblinds and electric adjustment for the rear seats.

We had the Technology Plus Pack (£5,775) on our 750e M Sport test car, which includes that beefy Bowers & Wilkins Diamond sound system, an upgraded driving assistant and a parking assistant with self-parking.

The £1,485 automatic doors option was also ticked, which is a real show-stopper. You can open and close all four passenger doors automatically from either a button next to the exterior handles, a separate button on the interior, or the touchscreen display.

They come with built-in sensors to avoid opening into obstacles, and the driver’s door will even close automatically once you press the brake.

Being a BMW, the 7 Series’ options list is longer than the car itself (nearly 5.4 metres). It’s nice to have the option to add advanced tech to this flagship model, but a lot should really be standard on all models.

The saving grace is that you still get plenty of equipment on the ‘bog standard’ 7 Series, including adaptive LED headlights, keyless entry, a panoramic glass sunroof, soft-close doors, BMW’s Iconic Glow kidney grille and air suspension.

Inside, you get four-zone climate control, a head-up display, a still-impressive ‘standard’ Bowers & Wilkins sound system and heating for the front and rear seats.

Rear passengers can also control things like seat heating, radio or media playback, and the panoramic roof’s shade from smartphone-sized screens in the doors.

Electric motors and power

Plain petrol and diesel power has now gone from the 7 Series, and only one plug-in hybrid remains unless you’re prepared to go all-electric and pick up one of three i7 variants.

We had the hybrid – the BMW 750e xDrive, which has no less than 489hp on tap from a 313hp 3.0-litre, six-cylinder petrol engine and a 197hp electric motor (they don’t both add up to 489hp because they don’t provide peak power at the same time).

The 197hp electric motor is plenty quick enough to keep the car going on its own right up to – and beyond – UK motorway speed limits. Perfect for those German Autobahn stints.

When the petrol engine kicks in – either when the battery’s dead or you need even more power – it’s silky smooth. You’ll barely notice the 750e switching between the two power sources.

Together, they can get the car from a standstill to 62mph in 4.8 seconds.

You can get an M model – the M760e – that does the sprint in 4.3 seconds thanks to a more powerful petrol engine and a 571hp system output, but we don’t think the gain in performance is worth the pricey upgrade.

Handling and ride comfort

The BMW 7 Series strikes a fine balance between being supremely comfortable for wealthy rear-seat passengers and being engaging to drive – it is a BMW after all.

There’s no hiding its size or weight (2,455kg empty), but it still feels planted in the corners and agile on a twisty B-road.

Around town, even on large alloy wheels, the 7 Series seems to mask most bumps, only being challenged by the most poorly surfaced roads.

For the most part it feels reassuringly normal to drive, but there’s one key feature that takes some getting used to – even if it is for the benefit of the driver.

The optional Integral Active Steering turns the rear wheels by up to 3.5 degrees either in the same direction as the front wheels when at speed for better stability, or in the opposite direction at lower speeds to tighten the turning circle by 0.8 metres (a noticeable amount).

If you’ve ever felt oversteer in a rear-wheel-drive car, be it intentionally on a track or by accident in the snow, then you’ll know what it’s like for the back wheels of the car to be heading in a slightly different direction to the front wheels. Initially, this is how the Integral Active Steering system feels, but it doesn’t take long to get used to it.

Boot space

The BMW 7 Series is hardly a family car – it’s all about rear-seat space, so the boot might be smaller than you’d think.

For plug-in hybrid models, you get 525 litres of space (500 litres in electric i7 versions). In fact, it’s only marginally better than the BMW 5 Series plug-in hybrid’s 520 litres.

Still, that’s a fair amount of space.

BMW’s engineers seem to have carved out as much boot space as they could, which ultimately leads to a more awkward shape that has intrusions from the wheel arches.

We took the 7 Series on a weekend away with several soft bags and a cabin-sized suitcase, and it could’ve swallowed double this.

Rear seats

We’ve already covered the rear-seat luxuries, like in-door touchscreen control panels, seat heating and optional seat cooling and massaging.

Now, for the space.

Previous generations have had regular and long versions available, designated by an ‘L’ in the name. This generation loses that, but for good reason.

The name doesn’t give it away, but it’s exclusively a long-wheelbase model. At 3,215mm, it’s longer than the 5 Series (2,995mm) and on par with the equally luxurious and industry-standard Mercedes S-Class (3,216mm), which translates to stacks of space.

Even the tallest of passengers would never hit their knees on the front seatbacks, and headroom is aplenty too. Especially with the optionally reclining rear seats.

Storage solutions

Again, this is no family car. Don’t be expecting cubbies for everyone and everything, but what you get is what you’d expect.

There are multiple compartments such as a covered storage area in the centre console beneath the split-opening armrest, and a pair of cupholders further forward with sliding covers.

In the back, the fold-down armrest has a slide-out section that exposes two more cupholders, and a fold-up lid with storage for a few bits and a USB-C port.

The door bins are plenty big enough too, and with useful carved out sections to hold up bottles.

Safety

Euro NCAP – the independent safety rating agency – hasn’t tested the 7 Series because it’s not considered mainstream enough.

Still, all modern BMWs are considered very safe with either five- or four-star ratings.

Apart from the usual safety systems, some markets (not the UK) can have hands-free driving at up to 81mph. It might not be so relevant to us, but knowing that BMW is capable of passing the stringent standards required to ship such a product is very reassuring.

There’s even built-in artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor tyre condition and predict wear.

Range and charging

BMW claims a 55-mile range from the 750e’s 18.7kWh battery, which is much more than the predecessor’s 12kWh battery and 36-mile range.

We found that its claim is generally true – 40 to 50 miles of electric range seems to be realistic in most conditions, though town driving brings the best efficiency.

This model also has 7.4kW charging speeds, up from 3.7kW before, which means a full charge from a 7kW home charger should take less than three hours. Quick enough for a full charge within most electricity suppliers’ off-peak windows.

After draining the battery, we tackled a 200-mile motorway trip with power almost exclusively coming from the six-cylinder petrol engine. We averaged 37mpg.

Shorter distances allow you to charge up more frequently, so you could get 100, 200, 300 or more mpg. It depends entirely on your driving and charging habits.

Reliability

Although the new-generation powertrains, including electric technology, are fairly new, BMW has a long history of building electrified models and we have no reason to doubt the 7 Series’ reliability, including the all-electric i7.

BMW also has a solid track record in the luxury space.

Routine servicing and maintenance will, of course, help to ensure the long-term reliability of any car, and this is no different for the 7 Series.

Apart from the three-year car warranty, BMW also has separate cover for the plug-in hybrid batteries. Previously covered for six years/62,000 miles, new-generation electrics get eight years/100,000 miles of cover – the same as the all-electric range.