BMW 740d loses a litre but gains a whole lotta ground

FOR this recipe, take BMW’s most powerful diesel engine, pop it into the company’s biggest saloon, sprinkle generously with toys, and serve. The end result is the 740d M Sport, an executive express that will take you and your fellow board members to the other side of Europe in a day.

But the other side of Europe is a long way from Edinburgh and we’re far too busy putting the Scotsman Motors supplement together to take the day off, so we’ll just have to settle for a quick dash to another country. And when we say “another country”, we mean two miles into England, for a friend’s book launch in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Despite the badge on its bum, the 740d doesn’t have a four-litre engine under the bonnet. The old 740d did, and it was a V8, but downsizing and efficiency is the name of the game now, so the latest car gets BMW’s lauded three-litre, straight-six lump, as seen in the 530d, the 535d, the 730d, the 735d... well, you get the idea.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Two turbochargers – a little one to boost power at low revs and a big one to shove the car along once the speed picks up – give the 740d bragging rights over its lesser siblings. Grunt is 302bhp, which translates to a 0-62mph time of 6.3 seconds and top speed of 155mph, all of which is achieved in near silence. With all this power comes responsibility. Driven gently, 40mpg is possible and CO2 emissions are a tax-friendly 181g/km.

At 16 feet long and tipping the scales at nearly two tonnes, this fifth-generation 7-Series, like its ancestors, is a big fella, and the 20-inch alloys fitted as part of the M Sport extras package give an already imposing car even more presence. You wouldn’t want to spill our car’s pint.

Its dark red leather interior strayed perilously close to the bounds of good taste, but there were no complaints about comfort or legroom. For £460, you can even spec doors that close themselves, just what you need if your arms are weary from pointing to a screen during a three-hour Powerpoint presentation to the chairman.

Much of the credit for the car’s comfort goes to its suspension, which features conversation stoppers such as “adaptive dampers” and “active anti-roll bars”. All of these can be tweaked from the driver’s seat and, for once, we recommend leaving the dial in Sport setting. You’ll appreciate the sharper throttle response and the slightly firmer ride. With four aboard, we found the Comfort setting a bit wallowy, even on the A1’s smooth new dual-carriageway bits in East Lothian.

The A crystal-clear heads-up display puts key information right in the driver’s line of sight. Of these, current speed is the most important: the car barely breaks sweat at 70mph and it’s easy to creep over the limit without realising. And if you’re still not paying attention, the car will even read the speed limit signs on your behalf and scold you if it detects you’re being naughty. Other driving aids include a Lane Departure System that shoogles the steering wheel if you stray across the white line

On arrival in Berwick, we found parking the big Bimmer was a breeze, thanks to a movie studio’s-worth of cameras dotted around its perimeter and rear wheels which pivot by as much as three degrees. Flick a switch to see what’s behind, in front or to the sides.

Then flick it again to see a virtual view of your car from 20 feet overhead, while your passengers crane their necks to look for the radio-controlled helicopter you’ve told them is beaming shots back to the car. Those front-mounted cameras, by the way, also look sideways, which is handy when you’re trying to poke the 7-Series’ long snout out of a blind T-junction.

To sum up, then, the 740d is big, but nimble with it, and the fuel economy is astonishing for a car of this size. So if the thought of driving something with less than eight cylinders under the bonnet gives you the shivers, then take our word for it – six into a 7 does go.