7 Series 2009 BMW 750i Long-Term Test

[Centurion]

I saw a new 7er last week in sandton south africs.
It was a black and to be honest i found it dull and boring the front is very poor side is the best part off the car and likesd the side.

But overall the car is very weak in my view i expected it too look better in real.BUt i think the car actually looks better in some pics then in real just one car i saw maybe if i see different coloors my view will change..

Sorry no harm meant ...

No harm. Other members on the board have expressed the same opinion after their girst encounter with the F01. Everything on the car looks new except for the front end, which is where the problem lies. It's too E65 derived and deter especially those who aren't fond of the E65 in the first place. Profile is gorgeous tail lights get a thumb up but the out right aweful nose brings forward flashbacks of the E65 and is hard to ignore. The looks too familiar and if BMW would have closed the S65 chapter and given the car a less piggy(angle eyes+oversized nostrils) nose then the car would have turned out a beauty like the E38. BMW took the evolutionary approach for the X5 but nobody objected because the previous X5 was a beautiful car.

 

[EnI]

but the out right aweful nose brings forward flashbacks of the E65 and is hard to ignore. The looks too familiar and if BMW would have closed the S65 chapter and given the car a less piggy(angle eyes+oversized nostrils) nose then the car would have turned out a beauty like the E38.

Wait till other new BMWs are introduced (first X1 & 5er GT, followed by X3, 5er sedan & touring, and then new 6er etc) - then you'll be able to judge F01 (incl the nose) within a proper context. Then F01 nose won't stand out so much anymore.

 

[klier]

It doesn't stand out, the nose right now fits the 7er perfectly. Centurion is one of the few people who don't like it, but that's fine

 

[HighestOfHigh]

I was in Monaco last week, and when I saw the S parked next to the 7er, the S really does look old and fat. Granted it was not the facelift, but still.

Now I like the 7 series and all, but the S-class doesn't look old and fat Lol. They look good together...both bringing something different to the table.

Of course Mercedes is the steak and BMW is the side dish, but you get the picture. Lol just joking....

 

[Centurion]

Wait till other new BMWs are introduced (first X1 & 5er GT, followed by X3, 5er sedan & touring, and then new 6er etc) - then you'll be able to judge F01 (incl the nose) within a proper context. Then F01 nose won't stand out so much anymore.

I sure hope the execution of the shark nose will be better on the new 5er and 6er. The concept is great it's just the execution on the F01 that I find to be poor, looks perfectly fine on the CS Concept.

 

[Deleted member 25]

I think the s class look and its freshness factor is very influenced by how the car is equipped and colored, on you photos HoH it looks perfectly fine du to the black colour and amg package but on these photos it looks indeed very very old compared to the 7er.

 

[ree]

It will be interesting to see the first compare shots with the W221 facelift…will be a huge difference…

 

[klier]

Now I like the 7 series and all, but the S-class doesn't look old and fat Lol. They look good together...both bringing something different to the table.

True. When I saw them side by side it didn't have the AMG package and the color and rims were just wrong. The pic you show is a huge difference, making the S class look much better. The facelift fixes that problem though, and they really do look very good next to eachother.

It will be interesting to see the first compare shots with the W221 facelift…will be a huge difference…

Yep, very good!

 

[braaf]

I've heard lots of comments about the oversized grille on the new 7 and that being the reason for many people not liking it. But lets be fair. Audi and Merc were the first to put huge grilles on their cars. It's just done differently at each stable, and in my opinion BMWs new look grilles or nose, are the best.

 

[coolraoul]

I think the s class look and its freshness factor is very influenced by how the car is equipped and colored, on you photos HoH it looks perfectly fine du to the black colour and amg package but on these photos it looks indeed very very old compared to the 7er.

I'm no fan of the AMG-package for the S, FL or not. Looks perfectly fine without it, provided it has nice colours and wheels.

I never had the occasion to closely study the 7er, so i won't comment.

However BMW needs to get the nose right ASAP: the gap between hood and grille is so huge it lets you have a peak at what is under the hood...
On every single close-pic of the front I am shocked by the gap between hood and bumper/grille.

That is unforgiveable on such a pricey car.

 

[Deleted member 25]

I agree with you raoul, they could have easily avoided that by making the cut line much closer to the grill just like with the E60.

 

[coolraoul]

yeah here it looks natural, and the cutline gets "unnoticed".

That shutline always annoys me on 6er and Z4.

However, it's surprisingly never as huge and shocking as on the 7er. That has to be corrected, by at least reducing the manufacturing tolerances or changing the material of the bumper.

 

[K-A]

^ Right on the buck bro That E38 pic there is sick, btw !

7er is absolutely killer. I was in Monaco last week, and when I saw the S parked next to the 7er, the S really does look old and fat. Granted it was not the facelift, but still.

That's one of my beefs with the W221, it tends to look fat at some angles, which is against the classic nature of M-B, as their cars, no matter how big, have always carried a more "lean" look than most bloated cars on the road.

I saw one parked next to a clean W220 with full AMG package the other day, albeit having them side by side showed off many of the W221's pluses over it, one negative was how fat the ass of the 221 looked, and how sleek and sweeping the 220 looked from the same angle.

I'm no fan of the AMG-package for the S, FL or not. Looks perfectly fine without it, provided it has nice colours and wheels.

I never had the occasion to closely study the 7er, so i won't comment.

However BMW needs to get the nose right ASAP: the gap between hood and grille is so huge it lets you have a peak at what is under the hood...
On every single close-pic of the front I am shocked by the gap between hood and bumper/grille.

That is unforgiveable on such a pricey car.

Wow, I never noticed that.... That looks BAD, it would drive me crazy if I had the car. BMW's have never been good about panel gaps, I've seen countless models have misaligned boot-lids (even brand spanking new).

 

[Sunny]

BMW hoods (at least E36) has a two step latch thingy, even if you put it down slowly, it latches,but does not fully close. You have to press down on the hood for it to really close and you have to do that on both sides. Many a times I forget to press down to really close it and drive around like that - it is possible that is what is happening here.

 

[Potential]

BMW hoods (at least E36) has a two step latch thingy, even if you put it down slowly, it latches,but does not fully close. You have to press down on the hood for it to really close and you have to do that on both sides. Many a times I forget to press down to really close it and drive around like that - it is possible that is what is happening here.

Just tested this on my 335i and he speaks the complete truth. I didn't even know this until now. A normal push down will get it to latch into the first lock but a second push down on the hood is required for the hood to completely lock into position...

 

[coolraoul]

This double-closing system is mandatory on every car with the hood opening from the rear. So that even if one lock fails, the other is still there to prevent the hood from opening and blocking the view through the windshield.

You see here that the hood is perfectly aligned with the grille on the middle section. The hood is properly closed, because it does not sit too high at all.

It's only that the gap is too big on the extremities of the grille, it gets wider when you reach the end of the grille. (the gap is not as wide at the middle of the grille).

This is probably because of pedestrian protection (the fixation is slightly loose), or because of the material of the bumper itself (plastic and metal have different reactions to temperature, and maybe this plastic is especially sensitive and needs a big gap).

You will notice that the shutline of the Merc is not particularly tiny either, but is cleverly hidden because it is lost in the middle of the front section, inline with one of the grille's louvres (side) and with the grille.

Also, on the Merc, you have a cross-section of the hood and bumper, therefore the shutline is not appaearing black because there is painted plastic underneath it, here again disguising it.

On the Beemer, the hood stops, there's a black gap, and then the bumper starts.

 

[K-A]

That gap does look huge and very disconcerting.

I will say though, judging by those two pictures.... The front of the 7 is kind of its weak point (I didn't really notice that until now), and as per usual I like the Mercs face better. But looking at those profile pics in the distance of both cars, the 7 looks SO MUCH better, that rear-middle profile is just sharp sharp. One thing some of the newer M-B's have missed out on IMO is a clean design flow from every angle, this 7 with its smoother and more coherent lines looks good and clean from every angle.

Since the pre-Bangle days, I haven't actually wanted to own any BMW.... Until now.

 

[bmer]

As I've said before, that new hood shutline is one of the few details that I find annoying in new BMWs. I hope they had found a better way to execute it and still fulfill the EU pedestrian safety requirements.

 

[braaf]

Come on guys be realistic. If the gap is made any smaller you would have a metal on plastic collision everytime you closed the hood, resulting in some paint chips.

The reason why you notice it is cos of the positioning of the line wich happens to be on top exposing whats underneath a bit. I don't see a problem as it was meant to be that way as thats how it was designed.

If it really bothered me then I'd say that they could have put a rubber strip between the gap to conceal the exposed bits.

 

[bmer]

Come on guys be realistic. If the gap is made any smaller you would have a metal on plastic collision everytime you closed the hood, resulting in some paint chips.

The reason why you notice it is cos of the positioning of the line wich happens to be on top exposing whats underneath a bit. I don't see a problem as it was meant to be that way as thats how it was designed.

If it really bothered me then I'd say that they could have put a rubber strip between the gap to conceal the exposed bits.

I'm not sure if you were also referring to my post but let me specify it anyway.

Personally I'm not so irritated about the gap but the actual location of the shutline. It breaks the integrity between the hood and the car's front end / kidneys.

The shutline should go below the kidneys or horizonally on the same level with the upper frame of the kidneys like in the E60 5er.