2007 BMW 7 Series 750li 4.8l V8 from North America

Summary:

I never want to drive anything else again!

Faults:

Driver's seat cushion compressed, $210 from BMW included shipping from Germany.

Driver's front window motor quit working, $80-210, refurb or new buy parts from Amazon and save big.

Cabin air filters needed replacing (general maintenance), $50.

A/C needed refilling, $100.

The car does not start well when very cold, below -25C (no block heater option. I will install an oil heater for next winter). $125 fix

Amp crackle (common problem), only affects rear seats and subs; $1400 replacement or $325 repair at the correct place (see Bimmerfest forums).

I budgeted $2000 for repairs when I bought it, so I'm in good standing.

General Comments:

Amazing car, I never want to drive anything else again. Drives opposite from my Marauder, in that the gas/accelerator pedal has play and the brake pedal is instant. The Marauder has instant gas pedal and play/travel on the brakes.

Amazing cornering, adaptive ride that is track car firm when going very slow, but Town Car smooth when going fast.

Head lights turn night into day. High beams add on to that, and night vision rounds it all out. Night vision doesn't work on its own and is only useful to add to the range of the lights. It is best when others drive towards you with their high beam lights on, as you can look away at the nav screen, and still see where you are going. Night vision doesn't show lights, nor does it show lane markings. It just shows heat. For most cars it shows tires and exhaust as white. The night vision is monochromatic, so the rest of cars are shades of grey. Shows people really well in summer, but not well when cold in winter. Winter jackets / clothes keep heat in so it is hard to see. The lights are adaptive to inclines and declines, and turn with the steering wheel. They are also self leveling. Mine are Xenon with the angel halo. High and low beams. Parking distance controls, bat vision, work with a diagram of colour fields around the car, front beeps distinctive from rear beeps; green 36 inches away, yellow about 24 inches, and red 8 inches. Works great. Passenger door mirror has auto dip option. Too many features to describe.

Xenon lights, adaptive.

Night vision.

Radar cruise with auto braking.

Parking sensors.

Power everything.

Power door close.

Comfort access key in pocket.

Heated seats, all four.

Vented seats, all four.

4 zone HVAC.

22 way adjustable front seats.

14 way adjustable rear seats.

DVD screen centre console.

Heated or cooled front and rear consoles.

Fridge in the trunk pass thru area.

Column shift, plus buttons on the steering wheel front and rear (4) for manual shift sport mode.

Power trunk.

Single CD.

6 disc dash CD changer.

Rear trunk 6 disc DVD changer.

Rear trunk DVD nav.

Dual iDrive front and rear, dual navigation.

Front sunroof.

Heated wiper fluid for windshield head light washers and night vision FLIR sensor.

Brake cooling drying vents.

Independent suspension, adaptive speed sensitive, and comfort or sport settings.

DSC or DTS, EBD, ABS, and ESP.

Driver's seat massage lower seat cushion only.

Bluetooth phone.

Heated steering wheel.

Fog lights.

TPMS, including full size spare.

AGM battery vented, in trunk.

Voice command and voice record if stopped and you need five minutes to prove who said what.

This is a very smooth riding car with ultra high luxury leather and vault like doors, unlike the new 7 series, real wood trim not lacquered plastic stuff.

The fifth middle rear seat is the only in emergency seat. There if you need it, not if you don't. Rear seat is amazing, front seat is better.

Four mirrors plus rear view and side mirrors.

Roof air vents. Floor air vents, door pillar air vents front and back etc... rear and dual rear side, 5 total powered sun/privacy shades.

Console mounted seat controls where they are supposed to be.

Auto / manual parking brake with push button release activation.

Two stage doors, two stage signals, two stage power buttons, two stage most everything.

Auto wipers. 4 levers around the steering wheel. Radar cruise has up to six presets and adjusts automatically with four range levels. The driver can be the fourth passenger or can turn things off, take control and drive.

150 mph + top speed.

0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds if you want.

Slight accelerator travel to power lag, but then the power just flows ever more; want more, it has more.

30-35 US MPG averaging 62 mph highway.

23 US MPG city averaging 25 mph in comfort mode.

Studded winter tires make ice and snow disappear. Nokian Hakka 8s.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th August, 2015

8th Feb 2016, 01:39

A couple other things have cropped up, the most annoying is the comfort access or whatever it is called stopped working (auto unlock or lock when pushing a handle). Need to use the keyfob now. I wonder if it might be a fuse?

One of the angel halo light bulbs is out. Simple replacement, but one needs to remove a bunch of stuff to get at it. I never use my parking lights so I don't really care. Eventually I'll do it.

Cold start hasn't been a problem this year. Still averaging 23 city, 35 highway. What a great car.

29th Feb 2016, 15:02

Turns out the comfort access works occasionally. Sometimes my alarm works and sometimes it doesn't. I think it might be a bad or dying battery. I only drive once or twice a week for 30 glorious minutes, which might have something to do with it. I'll unlock the dash battery gauge and see what volts I'm getting. Then I'll swap batteries.

2007 BMW 7 Series 730d 3.0 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Junk quality

Faults:

Satellite navigation unit broke. E1500 for a new one

Alarm system failed. E1000 for a new one.

Turbo failed when 3 years old. E2500 for a new one.

General Comments:

Very fast and refined. Standard seats are not comfortable. Difficult to park due to poor rear window visibility.

Bought for E106000 new, do not expect turbo failure so soon.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 14th December, 2010