2011 BMW 740i user reviews

Pros Extremely comfortable, feels smaller when driving, a luxury car that you can own even when you're in your 30's, wide array of gadgets even in standard trim, every option makes it even more special

Cons Lack of the diesel engines in 7 series in U.S. market

Summary First and foremost, I can't understand everyones fascination of ultra powerful V8 or V12's in U.S. market with such rediculous speed limits. Yes, 750, 760 and -my favourite- B7 are great cars to drive on the autobahn but even the 730d has more than enough umph to get you in trouble for speeding in the states. Please keep in mind that these cars -even 740i- are limited to 150mph in their factory setting and that's amost triple of the most speed limits.

So why 740i? Well, if you don't have real issues with the size of your, umm, feet; this engine is perfect for everyday use, even on highways. The only logical reason that I can think of a need for a V8 on 7 series is the X drive system, which is -let's face it- a must for most of the northern states during winter.

Once you pass this size complex that has already been explained by Dr. Freud around a century ago, you start to see this beast in it's best suit - comfort cruising. This is a cruiser, not a sports car or a collectors item. The seats are ten times more comfortable than any of the furniture you might have back at your home and they're flexible enough to adjust themselves in a million combinations which make even the gold medal winning gymnist turn green with envy. Standard leather upholstry deserves five stars and opting for more is really unnecessary -though I'd do so just to be sure that I spend all the money that's been saved from ordering a smaller engine. And this car is about that, order a smaller engine and with that money, BMW offers you a great toy store in order to take the same amount from you anyways.

With that extra, I'd definately go for the premium sound system, drive assist systems and connectivity options. But the most important one would be the night vision system with pedestrian detection. Whether you're driving at night on unlit country roads or cruising in the city, that's a great safety feature you should have. And especially for the city, a couple of thousand is not that much when you think of the settlement fee that you'll pay for running on a pedestrian in the city with a 7 series!

Backseats are -as they should be- works of art as well but I guess buying a car this good and using it with a driver is like marrying a supermodel and watch her with other guys each and everynight while claiming "it looks better from that angle and you don't have to do that much work". This is -although it's not a V8 or V12- still a great driver's car.

The only better option against 740 would be a 730d with X drive, afterall, I'm not the one who put 60mph speed limits and expect people to drive for hours between cities -don't blame me!

Pros This car is pretty quick (especially in sport mode) and you can feel the power the moment you put your foot on the gas. Weaving in-and-out of lanes and accelerating is effortless. There is absolutely no need for a bigger engine given that this gets you

Cons I have three issues with this car (all of which are more than compensated by how well this car drives). First, for a large car there is no storage space (i.e., center console and glove box) and trunk to speak. The center console has an iPhone cradle and

Summary At this segment, you can't really go wrong with whichever car you choose (this is also what may make it a difficult choice) and what you end up with will be based mostly on your personal preference. After I got this car, I went back to look at the Porsche Panamera and Mercedes S-Class again, and even after that I was still convinced I made the right choice.

Pros Excellent handling for a large car as this, drives almost like a three.
great interior, lots of space.
19" sport rims
Excellent big Nav and bluetooth integration
sport 20 way seats
Great Gas mileage

Cons I-drive interface could be better, quirky in some cases, like selecting music from HD.
some features such as softclose doors and self close trunk should be standard in this price range.
but none really of any great significance.

Summary Great Car - Looks, drive and comfort + sport. Absolute blast to drive in sport or sport+ mode.

Pros It's beautiful. Well-designed. Comfortable. Drives extremely well.

Cons None (if we're not counting the arbitrary notion of price)

Summary I've driven this car because a friend of mine works on the corporate level at BMW.
The car is frankly amazing and beautiful. It handles well and everything in the passenger's vantage is so meticulously designed to be both convenient and helpful to the driver. It is one of the most pleasant driving experiences (to sort-of steal their corporate slogan) I've had in a long time.

What I don't really understand is when people are overly critical of the car because it's expensive.

It's BMW's flagship car. It's a top of the line commercial luxury car.

It's not about value.

If we were to pick cars on value we'd all be driving a honda fit (which is a really good car).
This is about well-designed luxury vehicle targeted to people who can afford it comfortably (and probably not so comfortably). It's not an automotive indictment on exorbitant western materialism.
It's a nice car for people who can afford nice things.

If you don't like the price, too bad. It doesn't diminish the engineering and thought behind the car. Admit it, the car is bad-ass. The criticisms are so misdirected. They seem to reflect the insecurities and self perceived "economic" short-comings of the reviewers. The vitriol against the car can be translated as 'your price make me feel bad about myself, you must suck.'

Trust me, there's lots of stuff that's over-priced that drives me crazy. But a luxury car (ideally) is going to have more value because of engineering, and thought to substantiate the price otherwise it's a meaningless delusion of status (think of early iterations of lexus vs. regular toyota). If said improvements are present than what can be argued next is what is the value of that premium. That's a number for the manufacturers and their "target" market to negotiate.

This isn't. This car is super nice. Whether it's worth 70gs... Meh, who knows. But it is still a very valuable car to own. Trust me if this car was $30,000 everyone would purchase two but premium value costs a lot more.

Updated on Feb 9, 2011

@ wcunning.

Your point is totally valid. A 1 series that starts at 30g something can rocket toward 50g with additional features. BMW is king of the add-on features. I'm just sick of inarticulate haters who try to compare a stock BMW to a Chrysler 300 or Buick Regal.