Test drive BMW 7 E65 E66 2001 - 2005 sedan

Stall, second row

Someone will prefer to rest on the wall of the orchestral pit and observe the bald heads of the musicians. A genuine connoisseur will choose a box or second row, that in some halls the same thing. For example, in BMW 745LI.
However, not all theaters are being decided in the good sense of the word. On the tight streets of the BMW homeland, only every tenth seven with a powerful engine has an elongated wheelbase. Another thing is the USA, as well as oil producing countries like Bahrain or Russia. Old-timers will tell you how it was almost impossible to buy 740i or 750i in one of the mentioned countries-first of all, long-backed limousines with IL index were certified. The same country was one of the first to test BMW 7L on its roads - a seven stretching for a whole quarter meter.
Just a few months after the premiere of the new, seventh BMW series, its long -border version appeared on the market. Six -liter V12 with a capacity of 408 hp It will appear under her hood only in the fall of this year, therefore, so far the maximum of what you have to be content is - this is an engine with a volume of 4.5 liters, familiar to us according to the 745i model. The dynamic characteristics of 745LI are no different from the characteristics of the short version. The essence of the change is the back of the cabin and its filling increased by 14 cm. Therefore, we immediately sit in the back and, stretching the legs forward, hoisting the feet on special stands-the interior part, clearly spied on Rolls-Royce.
Everything is behind. Five -seat this car can be called conditionally: from behind, like the front - the third extra. We strongly push the central headrest of the sofa down and lower the dividing armrest. The latter is not only one of the components of comfort. At it, the owner of the maximum of pre -equipment will primarily find the IDRive controller - the same as in the armrest between the central seats. And even if the rear passengers have a fewer functions than the driver, they hardly feel deprived - except that the most pedantic owner 745LI would occur to make sure of the degree of wear of the brake pads or to set up shock absorbers.
But from here you can call the phone, control an audio system, a TV or a DVD player - a 6.5 -inch liquid -crystal display with a diagonal of 6.5 inch is leaning on an average console. Curious observation: by tradition, a pathos is considered to be on the right, therefore, the owner will have to either change this rule or become left -handed. However, the safest, according to the statistics of an accident, is the place behind the driver.
On the same armrest - two headphone outputs with independent volume control and rear seats position regulators. The latter should be said especially. In addition to the mass of settings that can be remembered, the seats have the functions of active ventilation of the pillow and back, as well as the function of rapid heating. Plus, the attribute of any limousine where the sino is the second row - the button, by pressing which, can drive the seat of the front passenger almost under the torpedo.
Mirror for the hero. The Autonomous Climate Control system of the rear of the cabin, which is available exclusively to owners of long-drawn seeds, will complement the body of the body. The refrigerator in the trunk recirculates the air taken from the cabin and returns it through the holes in the ceiling. This system, as well as a small refrigerator hidden behind the armrest, continue to operate a quarter of an hour after the engine stop, which is very convenient, for example, when refueling.
To see your face, happy from the possession of the benefits above, it is enough to look at the cosmetic mirror with backlight, which leans right between the blizzards on the ceiling. And so that others do not see you, it is enough to separate from the outside world with electric drives rising from the rear doors. If you need to protect yourself not only from the gaze, the BMW will offer you windows of two layers of glass with a layer of polycarbonate in a reinforcing film that can withstand the ax of the ax, if the name of which is life, suddenly evil shockses will appear on the stage of the theater.
By the way, the wood used in the interior decoration is the matte surface of the cherry or polished ash. Soft yalus skin is extravagant with a double seam ... It is appropriate to put an end to this. After all, even notebooks can be, for example, ski lovers and choose a SKI BAG as an additional option. A prestigious long -backed limousine is always a custom -made car, and the future owner of the BMW 745LI still has time to think over everything.
What is luxury. Potential owners can not only think tightly, but also compare the Bavarian novelty with that long -drawn transport that has already mastered the axial lines of our roads. With the Mercedes S500L, with which, it seems, everything is clear. With Audi A8 L, which has all -wheel drive. Or with the Jaguar XJ8 Longwheelbase, which, as befits a predator, pressed himself to the asphalt that passengers in it are more likely to sit.
 
Although it is better not to do this. For the luxury is still not a consumer category measured by centimeters, horsepower or euros. This is something given to us at the level of feelings. No wonder BMW arranged a presentation of an elongated seven on the shore of the Gulf of Siam, where the paradise landscapes were in perfect harmony with the interior of the 745LI salon. And further. On BMW they like to repeat that the consumer buys not only the product, but also its history. That is why the event was consecrated by his presence by his royal Highness Prince Leopold Bavarian. The representative of the dynasty, who ruled in Southern Germany for eight centuries, devoted his whole life to the car racing and today is the ambassador of the BMW brand. The metaphor offered to us by the company's strategists is obvious: if in many ways thanks to BMW an aristocrat becomes an athlete, then the reverse metamorphosis is also possible - the company will tell the energetic conqueror of life what a real luxury is. Curtain. Applause.
Text Dmitry Gronsky, photo of the author and BMW AG
Model/Modification BMW 745LI
Manufacturer/country AG/Germany Bayerische Motoren Werke
BODY
Type sedan
Number of doors/places 4/5
ENGINE
Type gasoline, multi -point injection
Front location, longitudinally
Working volume (cubic cub) 4398
Number/location of cylinders 8/V-shaped
Power, kW (L.S.) at about./Min. 245 (333) at 6100
Moment (nm at about./Min.) 450 at 3600
TRANSMISSION
The rear drive
Gearbox automatic, 6-speed
SUSPENSION
Two -shaped front with traction stretch marks, reptile stabilizer
The back multi -link, integral IV generation, with pneumo regulation of the road clearance
STEERING
Type of rack, with an amplifier operating depending on the revolutions, with the Servotronic function
Min. The diameter of the turn (m) 12.6
Brakes
Front/rear circular ventilated
Complex systems of dynamic stabilization DSC (VKL. ABS, CBC, DBC, ASC), Dynamic Drive, EDC-K
Dimensions/volumes/weight
Length/width/height (mm) 5169/1902/1492
Wheel base (mm) 3130
Equipped mass (kg) 1985
Tires 245/55R17 102W
Discs 8JX17LBS
Dynamic characteristics
Maximum speed (km/h) 250
Acceleration to 100 km/h (sec.) 6.3
Economy
Average fuel consumption (l/100 km) 11.2
The price in Moscow from $ 110 thousand.
 

Source: "Autopilot"