2009 BMW 7 Series: Redesigned with Luxury Ride!

Summary

The 2009 BMW 7 Series is a complete redesign, marking the beginning of the fifth generation of this legendary marquee's flagship sedan. The 2009 7 Series comes in 750i and 750Li versions. The BMW 750Li has a longer wheelbase, extended by 5.5 inches over the 750i, offering a ride that's even more luxurious, hard as that might be to fathom.

2009 Full Review

The 2009 BMW 750Li and 750i feature a new generation of V8 engine, with direct injection and twin turbocharging. This 4.4-liter V8 makes 400 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque, awesome numbers for an engine that small, thanks to the turbos. It comes with a six-speed automatic transmission with a manual mode. The 750Li has its own roofline, and the silhouette is sleeker than ever. The body has no transparently gratuitous scoops or scallops, and the car's size and lines clearly say eighty thousand dollars (roughly the base price), if not one hundred and ten, the total price of our 750Li test model.

Trims and Model Styling 

The 2009 BMW 7 Series comes in BMW 750i ($80,300) and long-wheelbase BMW 750Li ($84,200) models.

Standard equipment includes Nappa leather and wood grain interior trim, navigation system, HD radio, dynamic cruise control, halogen fog lights, xenon adaptive headlights with auto leveling and cornering movement, adaptive brake lights.

Available Options

Options include Active Roll Stabilization ($1800); alloy wheels with performance tires ($1300); instrument panel with leather trim ($1200); power rear sunshade and manual rear door sunshades ($1000); ceramic controls ($650); active cruise control ($2400); head-up display $1300); and night vision with pedestrian detection ($2600). Option packages include Convenience ($1700); Cold Weather ($800); Camera ($750); Driver Assistance ($1350); Luxury Seating ($2500); Premium Sound ($2000); Rear Entertainment ($2200); and Sport ($4900).

Safety Features Abound

Safety equipment includes an integrated ABS with Dynamic Stability Control including Brake Fade Compensation, Start-off Assistant, Brake Drying, and Brake Stand-by features, with Dynamic Traction Control and Dynamic Brake Control. There is also BMW's Advanced Safety System with front airbags, front seat side-impact airbags, and front and rear Head Protection System; and finally a tire pressure monitor. Active Blind Spot Detection and Lane Departure Warning is part of the optional Driver Assistance Package.

Redesigned for 2009, the BMW 7 Series cars look sleek and expensive. The result is a beautiful roofline. The 750Li roofline is longer to provide room in the rear passenger compartment. The 750Li offers more headroom than the 750i.

Curiously, frustratingly, many lovely cars don't have wheels that meet the aesthetic standard of the rest of the design. BMW pays attention.

The hood is long but front overhang is short; that long wheelbase does that. The contours have the maturity and sophistication appropriate to a car like this. From the rear, there's little to say that this is a remarkable luxury car; it looks like any other car on the highway with its horizontal chrome strip and big taillights. A small lip on the trunk lid only adds accent to the car's lines when viewed from the side.

2009 Interior Styling and Features 

Comfort, whether in the front seat or rear seat, is superb in the 750Li. The 750i is comfortable in the front seats, but only offers 38.4 inches of rear legroom, compared to 44.3 inches in the 750Li. The 7 Series has a massive trunk, measuring 17.7 cubic inches for both models.

Great interior lighting. World's best backup video camera, including sideview camera. Luxurious leather and woodgrain trim: three choices of interior wood trim, and four Nappa leather colors. The doors open way wide, for easy entry and exit. The dash is low, thin and lovely in black woodgrain, with a great instrument panel having a clean speedometer, tach, temp and gas gauges. The screen with navigation and all its menus is very readable, at 10.2 inches versus 8.8 inches before. Perfect leather-wrapped steering wheel, but it ought to be, as part of the $4900 Sport Package on our 750Li.

Steering wheel audio controls, but no mute button. The standard climate control offers four zones, but we drove the 750Li during a heat wave, and the air conditioning on max couldn't make the cabin cool enough; furthermore, it reset itself at 70 degrees each time the engine was shut off.

BMW has re-invented the position of Park with its transmission control on the center console, putting it where Reverse is on other cars. BMW boasts repeatedly in its press kit that it's clear and intuitive.

First Drive 2009

The front suspension is all new for 2009, the first double-wishbone suspension ever in a BMW passenger car, believe it or not. The rear multi-link suspension is redesigned for 2009, with an innovated vertical link that BMW calls the Integral System. The 750Li comes standard with electronically self-leveling air springs.

The engine is brilliant, incredible. Not just the 400 horsepower, but 450 pound-feet of torque at 1800 rpm.

The Sport Package offers four suspension modes: Comfort, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus. Using the Driving Dynamics Control selector (located near the iDrive controller and E-shift lever), the car will change its performance characteristics, in the areas of shock absorber firmness, throttle response, transmission shift characteristics, power steering assist level, and Dynamic Stability control points. The Sport Package also included the gorgeous 19-inch alloy wheels with performance tires, and Active Steering to tighten the aggressive cornering.

We're not talking about our usual frequent complaint, that the manual mode isn't very manual; we're talking about a relentless number of downshifts. Basically, the transmission won't let the car glide. It's like the 7 Series is a pickup truck with its transmission in perpetual tow/haul mode.

Going up our less steep hill, one-half mile at 25 mph, it downshifted three times and upshifted twice. All in the name of keeping the car in the optimum gear. Lurch is the word that popped up in our tape recorder, three times.

It seemed better with Driving Dynamics Control in Comfort mode, so we suggest staying there, and avoiding Normal altogether. Normal seems like an inappropriate word to apply to this very special car anyhow.

2009 Conclusions

The BMW 750Li may be the ultimate luxury car. The 750i has a shorter wheelbase. "For those seeking flagship Bimmer luxury and technology, the company has revamped its top-dog BMW 7 Series for 2009. The fifth-generation 750i, as well as the 750Li version with its longer wheelbase, boast more electronic advancements-not to mention outright luxury-than any BMW ever." says Popular Mechanics The 2009 7 Series is a redesign, the fifth generation, featuring a brilliant new twin-turbocharged V8 engine that makes 400 horsepower yet is still EPA rated at 14 to 22 mpg (we got 19)."Yes, the new 7 is faster, nimbler and more fun than any plus-size sedan has a right to be. But with all due respect to the Bavarian engineering on display, that's almost an easy birdie on the BMW course. More surprisingly, the big BMW has ditched its misanthropic ways to embrace anyone in its rich presence." says New York Times The ride and handling are flawless, featuring a double-wishbone front suspension, and the comfort is superior.