• Year: 2004
• Make: BMW
• Model: 745Li
• Trim:
• Body style: 4 Dr Sedan
• Mileage: 47718
• Engine: 8 Cyl. 4.4
• Trans: Automatic with Overdrive
• Exterior Color: WHITE
• Interior Color: Dark Beige/Beige Iii
• Stock: P11567
• VIN: WBAGN63454DS46815

Modulating the brakes is easy, and the 7 Series can stop in a big hurry when necessary. Massive ventilated disc brakes, among the largest and most powerful BMW has ever used, are fitted with aluminum calipers at all four corners. Electronic brake proportioning ensures that the meaty tires are making best use of all available braking traction by transferring braking force to the tires with the best grip. Dynamic Brake Control reinforces the driver's pedal effort in emergency braking to help the car stop in the shortest possible stopping distance, even if the driver mistakenly relaxes pressure on the brake pedal. The Hill Hold feature will automatically hold the car at a stop until the driver presses on the accelerator pedal, and set the parking brake when the car is turned off. Hill Hold can be switched on or off using the iDrive menus.

The 7 Series is so smooth that full days behind the wheel are not taxing. After spending 350 high-speed miles in a BMW 745i, we were ready for 350 more. Heck, we were ready to take it home. It's very comfortable in heavy traffic. Few luxury sedans can keep up with the 7 Series at high speeds, and it's easy to drive this car well. And the interior is sumptuous.

None of the 7 Series models offer all-wheel drive, which is available on both of its most direct competitors: the Mercedes S-Class and Audi A8. Yet this BMW is soaked with cutting-edge automotive technology, and with it all there's a steep learning curve. Owners should prepare themselves for serious reading time with the owner's manuals. You'll need to explain even the most basic operations (like starting) to anyone else who drives their car. The 7 Series may be ahead of its time, or it may simply be beyond the effort many buyers are willing to invest.

Of course, there's always help from the dealership. Have the BMW store set all the gizmos, sit down and drive, and the annoyances will be reduced. If you embrace its styling, any of the three 7 Series models will do. Dynamically, this may be the best car in the class. And that's no small feat, given that the competition includes some of the best cars in the world.

High-quality materials and elegant design make the 7 Series cabin an exceedingly pleasant place to conduct the business of driving. Because the iDrive system eliminates so many switches and knobs, the dash looks particularly clean and elegant. Beautiful, buttery leather trim is used throughout, and a variety of materials create interest, without making the interior look busy. Wood trim is spread tastefully on the dash, center console and elsewhere. BMW offers light- or dark-stained Black Cherry with a matte finish, or light or dark high-gloss Ash. I loved the light Black Cherry for its timeless elegance; I did not care for the optional strip of wood on the back dash.

The two front cup holders are handsome, high-tech, and practical. The sun visors do not appear to live up to the quality of the rest of the interior, though. The standard roof liner in the 745i reminds us of fine suit material, something you might encounter on a woman's business jacket, and BMW says many of the interior materials were inspired by the fashion industry. The 760Li's roof is lined with Suede-like alcantara.

Any of the front seats offered are supportive and comfortable. The standard seats in the 745i adjust 14 ways; the upgrade Comfort Seats, standard on the long-wheelbase models and optional on the 745i, adjust in 20 directions. Moreover, some adjustments are automatic, including the headrests, which change height according to the position of the seat. The wide-shoulder seats included in the sport package have bolstering on par with those in a sports car. The V12 760Li includes Active Seat Ventilation (optional on the V8s), which cools the front and rear seats in the summer by blowing air through micro-perforations in the leather, and adds a vibrating feature. Leather trim elsewhere inside is perforated to complement this option.

All 7 Series sedans feature dual-zone temperature and airflow adjustment for the front passengers; the 760Li adds separate temperature adjustments for each side of the rear seat. For 2004, the 7's climate controls have been improved with an automatic humidity control that maintains relative humidity near an optimal 40 percent. A new misting sensor detects misting on the windshield and automatically wipes it off.

Rear seats are roomy and comfortable. The long-wheelbase L models provide as much rear legroom as you'll find this side of a stretch limo. Waterfall LED atmosphere lighting inside the C-pillars adds to the elegance of the rear seats. The 760Li includes power sunshades for the rear and rear side windows, as well as rear Comfort Seats (optional on the 745Li). These include electric heating and 14-way power adjustments, with a control that allows rear seat passengers to move the front passenger seat forward. Having a skilled professional drive you around while you luxuriate in back is not the worst way to travel.

Under power, the 7 Series cabin remains whisper quiet. The only sound we could hear while driving the 745i over San Antonio's busy freeways was the tires whacking over expansion joints or humming across grooved concrete. Ambient noise is wonderfully deadened inside, making conversation easy and pleasant.

The quiet cabin provides a perfect environment for a superb stereo that delivers crisp highs, sharp bass, and clear mid-range tones. BMW's optional Premium Sound Package ($1800), developed by Harman Kardon's Lexicon, is truly sensational. Unless you have a state-of-the-art stereo at home, you'll hear things in your favorite songs you've barely noticed before. The premium package delivers seven channels of surround sound through 13 speakers, including a pair of subwoofers ingeniously integrated into the chassis itself, and includes a CD changer. The optional Sirius receiver, new for 2004, opens the 7 Series to the joy of satellite radio. The subscription fee includes 60 commercial-free channels of music and 40 of news, sports and talk. It's great for tuning into FoxNews or CNN or a myriad of sports channels and you need never switch from your favorite music channel when driving across the country.

The 7 Series provides more interior storage space than some of its competitors, but storage isn't one of its strengths. The center console lid is split down the middle to create a pair of leather-covered access doors. Our console was filled with CD storage, a cellular telephone and the owner's manual, and we decided that it would be preferable to eliminate the CD storage and put the owner's manual someplace else. Likewise, much of the space in the elegantly designed glove box was taken by the CD changer. We'd prefer putting the CD changer in the trunk, or eliminating it altogether in favor of the single in-dash CD, to gain easily accessible storage.

BMW's voice-activation system works reasonably well for people willing to take the time to learn how to program and use it. We'd likely use it for a few key features, like calling home, checking voice mail, or switching among two or three favorite radio stations. It'll do much more for those willing to invest some time in it, however. To use it, press the SVS button and give it a command. A command to remember is ''Options,'' because that will prompt the system to call out a list of recognized commands you can use. ''Radio on'' turns the radio on. Saying ''106.7'' switches the station to FM 106.7. You can also tell it to play CD track number five. You can really impress friends (and kids) if you set up only a couple of functions.

Technology is everywhere inside the 7 Series, and this embrace of technology separates it from other cars. We thought the Mercedes-Benz S-Class was loaded with stuff until we tried this one. Working the systems inside the 7 comes closer to operating a computer than any mainstream production car we've seen. There's a downside to all this technology, to be sure. It requires familiarization (and effort) to begin to master it, and many will find the learning curve steep. Even simple, intuitive operations that we learned the first time we drove a car no longer apply in the 7 Series. You'll have to relearn old techniques just to start this sedan, release its parking brake and back it out of the driveway.

To start the car you insert the key, except that it's an electronic device rather then a traditional key. Then you press the start button next to the key slot. Press another button to release the electronically controlled parking brake. To shift into reverse, pull a small lever on the dash toward you. Snick the lever down into drive to go forward. The ''shifter'' feels more like a switch or an electronic stalk than a mechanical shifter because it is, indeed, an electronic switch. There is no mechanical link between the selector and the transmission. It's controlled ''by wire,'' and takes some practice to use as quickly as a traditional gear selector. This immediately became clear while trying to make a quick Y-turn on a street in downtown San Antonio, a move that was not performed as quickly and elegantly as we had intended. However, once mastered, the 7 Series shifter may end up being quicker and less troublesome than a traditional automatic shifter, most of which require that the driver look down to ensure the proper gear is selected, troublesome when in a hurry.

BMW's iDrive system takes automotive operation closer to computer interface than we've come before. iDrive relies on a big, round aluminum knob on the center console to operate most everything in the cabin, including climate controls, automotive functions, entertainment, communications and navigation. Capt. Kirk never had it so good.

T

Controversial design, amazing performance.

BMW stepped out of the box and produced a revolutionary blueprint for its 7 Series sedans. Design objectives included styling with more presence and greater curb appeal. Indeed, the current 7 Series look more agile and muscular than the previous-generation models, which were relatively bland. Though the trademark twin-kidney grille and long hood make it clear that this is a BMW, the 2004 7 Series is a dramatic departure from BMWs past in nearly every respect.

The 7's styling has not pleased everyone, however. The overall design, and particularly the rear half, have created controversy among design critics and the automotive media alike. BMW claims its buyers love it. With time in the car and a detailed explanation from BMW as to why it looks like it does, we can tell you that the 7 Series styling is based on rational objectives. We're warming up to it , or maybe we're getting used to it.

Underneath the styling sit several important parameters: This 7 Series is substantially taller than its predecessor (2.2 inches taller), giving its occupants more head room, more rear-seat roominess and a larger trunk. The greatest increase in height is along the outer edges of the roof, increasing head room and improving safety for occupants. The 7 Series is also slightly longer (1.8 inches) and wider (1.6 inches), and its wheelbase is significantly longer (2.3 inches) than before. With these dimensional changes, BMW had to re-work the proportions and redesign the surface details. In other words, the styling had to be changed.

To maintain good proportions, the 7 Series was given a fast greenhouse with a very fast C-pillar (All of the roof pillars are much thicker for enhanced safety in the event of a rollover). Bigger wheels were fitted on all models. While front-wheel-drive Chryslers use a cab-forward design, the rear-wheel-drive BMW 7 Series uses a long hood and a swept rear glass, intended to create a sporty, coupe look.

The rear end has been the focus of the controversy. Much of its design can be traced back to an attempt to handle the substantially raised rear deck height. Because the roof was raised dramatically, the rear deck needed to be raised to help the 7 Series achieve its excellent aerodynamics, which is crucial in reducing wind noise, improving fuel efficiency and increasing the top speed. And because the tail needed to be raised so high, a sculptured appearance was used to maintain the lines of the car.

The back end does not look like previous BMWs, and that's a big reason people have been talking about it. The L-shaped taillights are a departure, extending across the trunk lid: They're intended to draw the eye across the back, making the car look wider. The lights themselves are a technological marvel, employing a feature BMW calls adaptive brake lighting. Under normal braking, the outboard and third brake lights illuminate as usual. Under hard braking or when ABS is activated, the taillights join the brake lights for a significant increase in visibility of the brake lights. The distinction is supposed to signal drivers in vehicles following the 7 Series that the BMW is stopping very quickly. If that isn't impressive enough for you, a monitoring system will indicate that a bulb is burned out. And while you're waiting for an opportunity to have it replaced, the system will commandeer other bulbs in the taillamps to use as brake lights.

In front, the outer edges of the 7 Series headlamp clusters sweep up, instead of down as they've traditionally done on BMWs. (All of the latest BMWs are adapting this styling cue.) Set relatively low, the headlamps are trimmed by turn signals above them, looking like the eyebrows of a hawk. High-intensity discharge headlamps are used for both low and high beams on the outboard lamps; the inboard lamps are conventional halogen high beams. For 2004, the Adaptive Headlight option allows the outboard lights to turn with the car, focusing their beams into a curve, rather than off the edge of the road.

The effort to optimize the details of the 7 Series cars has produced another improvement this year. The exterior mirrors can now be retracted inward with the touch of a button, reducing the 7's parking width more than a foot. It's a great convenience for drivers with narrow garage entrances or when parking in a crowded city garage.

BMW's quest for optimal balance has an impact on the 7 Series design as well. Its hood and front fenders are made of aluminum, allowing near perfect 50/50 weight distribution over the front and rear wheels, and contributing to the 7's outstanding handling.

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