Months in Fleet: Three
Mileage to Date: 13,542
All good things must come to an end, it seems, and that includes our 2009 BMW 750Li's impressive average of 5000 miles per month. Our BMW traveled a mere 2680 miles since our last update, which is still impressive. If we can maintain the pace of our first three months with the car, this 7-series could see 54,000 miles during its year in the Automobile Magazine Four Seasons fleet.
Copy editor Rusty Blackwell signed out the 750Li to transport newlyweds from the church to the reception. Blackwell reports ample "dressroom" impressed the couple as well as the "steep $103K price." If you don't want to rent a limousine for your wedding, borrowing a 7-series is certainly a stylish way to go, especially when it comes with a chauffeur.
Web producer Evan McCausland finally managed to get behind the wheel of our 7-series and immediately loved the heads up display: "This car is quite smooth, and the speedometer's markings are quite vague, making the digital readout in the display a must-have." The big BMW made quite an impression on McCausland, who dubbed it "as close to a four-wheeled Gulfstream as one can get."
Though the BMW is our most in-demand vehicle in the fleet, we still have a few complaints. The throttle tip-in certainly takes some getting used to; production editor Jennifer Misaros says that "it's hard to modulate and it becomes an all or nothing situation." Unfortunately, Misaros also had to contend with wet conditions: "As I was turning from a stop this wet morning, the rear tires sprayed loose gravel all over the car behind me. Oops. I bet they didn't expect that from the luxo-barge in front of them."
Inside, we enjoy the cooled seats, but the fans that provide the cooling are surprisingly loud, given the 750Li's otherwise quiet interior. One editor is so turned off by the racket coming from the seats he has given up on the feature - at least until the temperature is hovering past the 90-degree mark. More troubling is the 4.4-liter V-8's insatiable thirst for oil. We've now added two full quarts of synthetic 5w30.
Interestingly enough, the 750Li has not required any service. Slightly alarmed by the fact that the car has racked up more than 13,500 miles in the past three months, road test coordinator Mike Ofiara asked a BMW technician about the service interval for the car. The tech confirmed that there is no set service interval for the new 7-series. The car has a sophisticated network of sensors that gauge the amount of life left in everything from oil to brake components and alert the driver when service is required. Our 7 indicates we have nearly 5000 miles to drive before service is due.
The unofficial start of the summer travel season kicks off this weekend with Memorial Day, so it's possible the big BMW will log some serious miles before the next update. Check back with Automobilemag.com next month to see what the 2009 BMW 750Li and all of our other Four Seasons test cars have been doing. ...next page >>