BMW 730Li With Navigation System
If you are looking for a luxury saloon with lots of legroom, you should take a closer look at the BMW 7-Series 730 Li. It is now available with an extended wheelbase, and along with it comes a Navigation system. We took one BMW 730Li, courtesy of BMW Malaysia, and had spent a few days appreciating and enjoying it.
The latest of the 7-Series had a minor facelift in year 2005, and there has been no change to it since, except for the navigation system. Since a navigation system is already available in European models, there appears to be no visible extra parts required, and the display utilises the original I-Drive display located in the centre of the dashboard.
The navigation system is operated using the much-improved I-Drive system, and all you need is a little instruction on how to use it. As a new user, it did take me quite a while to learn, but by the time I had to return the car three days later, I was quite familiar with the system. The maps are quite clear, and the lady with the very nice voice that tells me to where to go is the very same one they use in Europe. All the main highways are mapped, but some of the smaller ‘B’ roads are not there yet.
The 730 Li comes with a 2,996 c.c. 258 horsepower straight six engine; maximum torque is 300Nm, available from 2,500 to 4,000 rpm. Connected to a six-speed automatic gearbox, this is enough to give you a claimed zero to 100 km/h time of 7.9 seconds. Of course in Malaysia, we drive with our air conditioners on, and our actual test runs yielded a consistent 8.8 seconds. Top speed is 244 km/h, and we achieved that. The 7-Series is not built for jack-rabbit starts, being all of 1.9 tons, but once it starts going, the revs build up quite quickly, and the characteristic growl of the six cylinder makes you want to drag it to the redline all the time. Surprisingly, the 730 Li is very nimble on the road, and one tends to forget its huge size.
When you are in a car so plush and luxurious, you do tend to want to just sit back and enjoy it to the full. Most of the time that we had the car, we did just that. It feels so good that you don’t mind getting stuck in a traffic jam, or in a slow crawl. You sit in the lap of luxury, and enjoy the excellent sound system, cool, and isolated from the outside noise and bustle, like in a world of your own.
On the highways, you don’t feel the speed, and what appears to be a high speed to a person outside of the car, say at 160 km/h, feels like 100 km/h to you. The sensation of speed is played down by the smooth ride, and the lack of wind noise and vibrations. Of course, if you want to drive it in a more aggressive manner, the 730 Li delivers. There is enough power to still have fun, and the handling is impressive for its bulk. Looking underneath the car, you will note the heavy use of aluminium parts to keep weight down, and much of the suspension, including the strut housings are made of aluminium to keep un-sprung weight to a minimum.
The DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) system that comes with the car also comes with a front-end set-up that promotes a little gentle understeer, but with a little bit of weight transfer to the front by touching the brakes just before the turning point turns the 730 Li into a very ‘chuck-able’ car, and it will give a good account of itself when push gets to shove. Driving the car, you will feel how the design engineers have tuned the ride characteristics to give the 730 Li a ride that is on the comfortable side of firm, with just enough ‘give’ to be easy on your backsides, yet firm enough to give you a sense of fun if you so choose to drive it instead of your driver. Driving feel is very stable and positive, although it is not exactly the same its smaller brothers. Anyway, if you really a re a handling freak, you can go buy yourself one of the lighter more sporty models in the BMW range. With the 730 Li, you are supposed to sit back and enjoy its ‘limousine’ attributes.
The BMW 7 Series is the flagship series of the BMW range, and the ‘L’ part, which indicates a long wheelbase, is something that you will enjoy, as all the additional space created is used to coddle the rear passengers. You can sit with your feet fully outstretched; as an added convenience, the rear seats can be reclined, and the seat bottom can slide forwards. The upholstery is soft and luxurious leather, and I quite liked the light grey colour leather tint that they used. Tasteful use of wood trim also helped to promote the feeling of luxury.
We had quite a few friends other than the test team who took a ride in the 730Li, and all, without exception, gave it top ranking in terms of ride quality, interior fittings, and overall class. On the road, without insurance, the BMW 730Li costs RM618K.
