BMW in seventh heaven

Nov 17 2008 Chris Russon

THE company chief who demands all is being offered a car which does almost that from BMW.

With a night vision system, a head up display, cameras facing in all directions and a mapping system almost as good as Google Earth, the latest BMW 7 Series is a tour-de-force.

It is also likely to become the first car in Britain to be able to deliver full Internet connectivity on the road.

In a nutshell, BMW has created a high tech executive express with performance akin to a supercar.

Boardroom prices apply but for £54,160 a BMW 730 diesel can be had with 0 to 60 acceleration of around seven seconds, a top speed of 153mph and average fuel economy of almost 40mpg with emissions of 192g/km.

In terms of performance and economy it knocks luxury diesels from Mercedes, Audi and Jaguar into a cocked hat.

The 730d features a new three-litre, six cylinder engine developing 245bhp - and for a large car it handles as well as a sports saloon.

Go the whole hog and for £69,400 the range topping twin turbo 750 V8 comes on stream with credentials almost as good as a Ferrari. This one can accelerate 0 to 60 in just 5.2 seconds while averaging a claimed 24.8 miles per gallon.

It's as quick as the previous BMW M3 muscle machine.

The new 7 Series is more squat and striking in appearance than its predecessor. A pronounced grille, bigger lamps and LED indicators emphasize its characteristics.

At the rear the 750 has two rectangular exhaust nacelles either side while the diesel is distinguished by a pair of tailpipes set nearside. Beyond that you would never know the difference between the two.

In the back seats hwere the boss will sit it's spacious and comfortable and long wheelbase versions are just what you would expect for a director's steed.

From the driving seat it is a delight. The gearshift has been moved back to the middle of the car, as opposed to the column mounted lever of the previous 7.

It falls naturally to hand and while six speed automatic transmission is the order of the day, it's a multi-mode system with the option of manual changes.

The facia is focused towards the driver creating a cockpit feel while so-called active steering delivers great manoeuvrability at low speeds while automatically adjusting to less input at higher speed.

Three drive settings are available altering the suspension, steering rate, gear settings and acceleration characteristics.

Yet that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Optional equipment includes a head up display for £915 which deliver speed and navigation information. It makes use of a forward facing camera which recognises speed limit signs and displays the image to the left of the screen.

Tiny side facing cameras are mounted in the front wheel arches to scan the road at junctions and while parking while a rear view camera can also be fitted.

For the first time BMW is fitting lane departure warnings which vibrate the steering wheel to warn of drifting while a night vision system which can sense pedestrians up to 1,000ft away is also available.

The navigation system uses a 10.2-inch wide angle screen and can be configured to show maps in relief aspect or 3D - almost as good as a photo image.

BMW's iDrive information and entertainment system has been simplified in its latest models and is now much more user-friendly. It uses an 80-gig hard drive with 12-gig devoted to music storage.

Two rear screens can be fitted in the back of the headrests and can be operated individually accessing any of the information.

DVDs can be played in the back while full Internet connectivity is on the way once licence agreements have been signed.

For all the extras you can expect to pay well over £10,000 above the starting price - but in business class there's never something for nothing.