German auto companies are notorious for making way too many versions of their cars, about half of which don't end up in the States. Such is the case with the 7 Series as well.
The flagship sedan offers three different powertrains called "740." These include a regular gasoline 3-liter, a plug-in hybrid, and a twin-turbo diesel. So many choices!
Just like the big numbers on the screen tell you, the 740d is the fastest with a 0 to 100 km/h time of 5.2 seconds while the other two need 5.5 seconds. Guess having 680 Nm of torque matters in a 2-ton sedan!
By comparison, the 740i makes 326 HP and 450 Nm of torque. I know what you're thinking, that it's the one to have because it's a gasoline engine and it sounds better. But the only thing you can hear from behind the wheel of your 7 Series is the sound made by your €5,000 sound system.
Lastly, we have the 740e, which uses a 2.0-liter turbo making 258 HP. There's also an electric motor sandwiched into the gearbox that raises the output to 326 HP. It can power the 7 Series independently for up to 40 km (25 miles).
Is there a difference in performance between these three? We can't really see it, even though higher speeds are supposed to reveal the performance limitations of the heavy hybrid model.
In any case, we appreciate the guys at AutoTopNL for testing so many 7 Series versions and putting these nifty little videos together. If you're interested, there's another one featuring all the diesel engines that are available in this car.
All of them are 6-cylinder 3-liter units, but they have between one and four turbochargers. What did we tell you about BMW giving people too many choices? By comparison, the Lexus LS, which is a direct competition offers only two engines, a regular V6, and a hybrid. There's nothing wrong with that!
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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