Test drive BMW 7 E65 E66 2001 - 2005 sedan

BMW: double 12

Bavarian limousine received its 6 liters for the hood
 
A talkative businessman from Germany, engaged in oil and gas, and languishing with us in anticipation of the delayed Aeroflot flight of Dubai - Moscow, exclaimed: how, did you live at the Burdzh Al -Arab Hotel?! But it is insanely expensive! And, having learned that we were guests of the BMW concern, who organized the presentation in the Emirates and the first test drive of his flagship model with the new V12 engine, only said: well, then you can still understand ... prudent Germans, it seems to me, everything was done correctly And in the best way: super-models and is to be presented in the appropriate interior. The accompanying impressions received by car journalists ultimately work on the image of the brand. And there were many impressions.
 
The first and most importantly, of course, from the BMW 760LI version, the acquaintance with which we started at night, after a long flight and languid expectation of entry visas. And they started as passengers. How nice it was to fall apart in the back leather seat, stretching out legs (those 14 centimeters, on which the limousine was longer than the usual seven, now seemed completely unnecessary). Dip the back to the limit, set your microclimate, and lazily to observe luxury music under lunar light, small oases, and, finally, skyscrapers. And here is a sail of concrete and glass - a hotel.
 
As soon as we entered the hall, the fatigue almost disappeared - the extraordinary luxury, it turns out, is able to charge with energy. This cannot be called a hotel, even adding the words seven stars. This is a palace where, if something looks like gold, it is gold. So say Arabs. However, describing the hotel chic is not my task. I can only say that the two-level 170-meter number upset one: it should be left, although not forever, exactly three and a half hours later.
 
Behind the wheel
 
Nalf, oddly enough, had no consequences, and therefore I started this long day at the wheel of 760LI. The driver who adjusted the limousine to the front door willingly gave me a place, and the colleague, who, by misunderstanding, left the driver’s license in Moscow, and spent all the time in the back seat. About what, he admitted in the evening, did not regret at all.
 
Car news has already been told about the seven of the new generation, and about its elongated version. Therefore, I will dwell mainly on the engine. In many ways, this is a unique power unit. Firstly, this is the first 12-cylinder engine with a direct fuel injection system. Secondly, each cylinder has four valves. Thirdly, it is equipped with a proprietary system for changing the Valvetronic gas distribution phases. All this taken together gives him truly outstanding characteristics. Without any boost, this six -liter monster produces 445 horsepower and develops a torque of 600 nm at 3950 revolutions per minute. But it is especially important that most of the moment - 500 nm - is available in the speed range from 1,500 to 6000. This means excellent painfulness and good pickup at any time. At the same time, the dynamics is very impressive, and the level of fuel consumption is amazingly low.
 
Leaving the hotel, I thought that the Bavarians in vain specifically tuned the sound of the motor - it was still not heard. In the cabin with closed windows and hatch, you can generally talk in a whisper, unless, of course, turn off an excellent audio system, of course, with a CD changer. However, very soon, having left for a wide and with an excellent coating, the vehicle and muffled the music, I still paid tribute to the engineers: the engine sounds and really no worse than a clockwork rock and roll. I was so carried away by his melody that I did not notice how the speedometer arrow exceeded 200 km/h. On the BMW 760, the speed is practically not felt. Here, a full -time driver, who acted on this day the functions of the navigator and assistant, was forced to notice that a radar was ahead (good, they can be seen from afar in the emirates). Well, they checked the brakes - they are quite consistent with the potential of the machine.
 
The highway was followed by a mountain site. Here it was possible to experiment with plenty. At first, I was amused by manually switching the gears, which can be done without tearing off the hands from the steering wheel, noting that the settings are very good and are familiar with other Bavarian models. Then he moved to Sport mode, asking the assistant using the well -known IDRive system to configure the suspensions accordingly. Great: a huge limousine practically stopped rolling in turns. Having attached a hand on the heart, let's say that it was created not at all for serpentine races, although it can. In a word, I personally did not dare to say that the seven even in the appearance of the limousine lost sports genes that are originally inherent in BMW cars.
 
Camel trophy, oil and hydrogen
 
The organizers of the test drive came up with a really interesting program, in which there was a place for a walk on a yacht and for acquaintance - the next day, before departure - with a school of Arab horses, and to examine artificial islands built in the sea. But perhaps the most vivid impressions remained from the evening of the first day.
 
We spent it in the desert, where we first got on the same limousines, then on the BMW X5. When we were landed on some velvet, where there was a table with champagne, and there was nothing more, and the cars turned around and left, the heart smelled unkind. A cool foaming drink in the sand is, of course, cool. But why does the drummer lead camels here?! So it turned out: we are invited to climb on these one -humped, that is, dromaders, since in a different way of delivery to the place of dinner was denied. We sat in fun, with jokes. After all, no one yet knew that the path was not close in general, it was very curious, especially for the first time, but I decided to myself that the second would not be. Because, sliding from a pack animal, I could not walk exactly about fifteen minutes. Not because of champagne, of course.
 
After that, settled in the eastern manner near the low tables in the pose of amenis, saturated and watching the cool belly dance, we talked with Wolfgang Schlimme, General Director of BMW Rusland Trading. Not about the advantages of a limousine and a dancer - everything is clear with this, but about how Arabs will live in this country when either the demand for oil will fall, or it will simply end. And it was very interesting for me to know that the Arabs, unlike, I think, from our oil producers, have been worried about this for a long time, although they will have enough gold (and yellow, however) for thirty years. In particular, the emirates are very tightly cooperating with the Bavarian automotive concern in the field of hydrogen technology. The main idea is that the country becomes perhaps the main supplier of hydrogen for future cars using this type of fuel. The BMW of the 7th series already has modifications that use hydrogen in addition to traditional gasoline. True, the principles of its use are fundamentally different from those that applies, for example, General Motors. But this should be devoted to separate material.

 
Now, completing the conversation about 760LI, I will say that the interval interval is from 30 to 40 thousand kilometers. Moreover, the creators of the car claim that replacements from time to time require only oil that cools liquid and filters. Well, rubber, of course. Everything else should serve exactly as much as the car can drive.
 
Brief technical characteristics BMW 760
Engine volume, cubic meter. See: 5972
The number of valves for the cylinder: 4
Power, l. With. at rpm: 445/6000
Max. Torque, NM at rpm: 600/5300
Acceleration to 100 km/h, with: 5.5 (5.6)
Maximum speed, km/h: 250*
Average fuel consumption l/100 km.: 13.4 (13.6)
Fuel tank volume, l: 88
Dimensions, mm: 5029x1902x1492 (5169x1902x1492)
 
The queens are given for version 760LI
* Maximum speed is limited by electronics
 

A source: "Automobile Izvestia"