Repair-It

Sure, the body armor and thick glass add weight and raise the 740's center of gravity, which sometimes makes it tip alarmingly when entering bends. But the thing steers nicely, and its roadholding-at 0.79 g on the skidpad-is good enough to give you a fighting chance in a car chase.

With loads of aramid armor and heavy glass added to the 7-series structure, you'd expect even greater body rigidity than usual. But that's not what you get. The extra weight carried by the car's super-structure produces occasional quivering and shuddering when the car hits rough surfaces. Vibrations course through the steering column, too, in a way they don't in a standard soft-skin 7-series.

The thick glass and door panels attenuate noise even better than in a stock 740iL, with sound levels at idle down to 40 decibels and with 70-mph cruise readings as low as 61 decibels.

The front windows are still power-operated, with a one-touch, express-down feature.

This is my favorite full size car. I've never driven anything that so well combines the full size luxury with the adrenaline pumping feel of a smaller, sprightlier car.

The best part is these aren't terribly expensive machines to keep rolling. There are a few weak points, but if you find yourself a good independent german mechanic, operating costs for a 7er and FWD N* Cadillac wouldn't be all that disparate.

Its pretty much the ideal driver's limo, and its only gone downhill from there. Maybe Jaguar's new XJ comes close, but it doesn't have the look.

The license plate frame on the 740iL we drove late this spring said: "The Ultimate Driving Machine." That phrase was also plastered on the window sticker in large bold letters and written on every piece of paper that contained information about the BMW. Wow. Talk about an ego, I thought. After we took it for its first spin, though, we were all saying the same thing. Maybe it was a not-so-subliminal message, but it was a truthful one, by God. The Ultimate Driving Machine may even be an understatement in this case. There's absolutely nothing negative we can say about this car without making up lies, so we'll just tell you why we liked it so much.

First of all, it is fast. With a 4.4-liter DOHC 32-valve V8 engine making 282 horsepower coupled with a smooth-as-silk five-speed automatic transmission, the ride was both elegant and fun-an experience you didn't want to end. One editor said it handled like a sports car and he felt completely in control, even at high speeds. The steering was responsive and effortless, even while running slow-paced errands around town.

Making 322 horsepower at 5000 rpm and 361 pound-feet of torque at 3900 rpm, the 750iL’s 5.4-liter SOHC V-12 packs a solid performance punch. Paired with the mandatory ZF five-speed automatic transmission, it propels this 4553-pound luxo-sport tourer from zero to 60 mph in a mere 6.4 seconds and through the quarter mile in 14.7 ticks at 98.3 mph-fast enough to soundly smoke that obnoxious Mustang GT-driving teen in the next lane.

That total package allowed our over-two-ton 750iL to pull a stout 0.84 g on the skidpad and slip through the slalom at a respectable 62.3 mph, figures well supported by its exemplary real-world road manners

7:37 am on December 10 2011, Steve said:

I’ve owned 3 versions of the E38 750il. I still have two of them. The first is my 1996 750il V-12 with 239,000miles and the second is the 2001 E38 750il Sport Package with 89,000miles on it. They are both amazing cars and I’ve never really had any maintenence issues with either one. My first 750 was a 1989 which we gave to my nephew when he turned 16. He loved the car but was hit by another driver and it was totaled. I don’t have to tell you that he walked away completely unscathed.

These cars are an amazing buy right now and if you can get an 01 with the sport package, even better. As the author mentioned, once you drive it, you are hooked. They feel faster than they are but for a Titanic Size Car (Limo Size) it is fast. I am 6’3″ tall and the legroom in the rear is better than the front which is also huge. I’ve been asked to drive brides to their reception in these cars because the room in the rear is cavernous.

They are an “Orgy of Leather and Wood” and I have nothing but praise for the cars. Turn on the seat massage and head out across the USA. The highway mileage is always about 20 and you simply won’t find a better riding car. I’m just getting ready to sell the older 750 and will be sad to part with it.

Maintenence at a dealer will be expensive but there are a ton of Bimmer Shops or Merc Shops that work on the car at reasonable prices. Other than self inflicted damage, we’ve really never had issues with the v 12 BMW’s. They are just great cars and once you drive one, everything else will be compared to the 750il.