BMW’s 730i is surprisingly sprightly

SINGAPORE — Here’s a car that made me scratch my head. BMW sells six versions of its 7 Series flagship, and the newly-introduced 730i is the cheapest of the lot. It costs S$408,800 with COE, so it is not exactly meant for people whose piggy banks are filled with more air than coins.

Here’s the confusing part: The long wheelbase 730Li, which has an extra 14cm of space for rear passengers, costs just S$9,000 more.

Anyone who can afford to spend that much money on a car can probably afford to feed S$9,000 to moths for amusement, so it is hard to see why anyone would choose a 730i over a 730Li. That would be like buying a queen-sized bed when you have the space and money for a king-sized one instead.

MAKING SENSE OF THIS SEVEN

According to a BMW representative, the 730i is for customers who either want an easier car to handle than the long-wheelbase model, or something that’s more sporty.

Neither of those reasons makes much sense. If you can handle a car that is nearly 5.1m long, an extra 14cm isn’t going to make much difference. Besides, the 7 Series is a supremely manoeuvrable car for something the size of a studio apartment, so if you cannot handle one you should not be driving at all.

It also has parking sensors everywhere, and more cameras than a Russian spy, so you would have to drive it with your eyes closed to ding it against a kerb or car park wall. It even steers itself into parking spots.

As for a 730i being sporty, that simply did not compute. Lift the car’s bonnet and you’ll see plenty of fresh air in there. That’s because the 730i is powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine, which seems a bit uncharacteristic, to put things charitably.

In many ways the 7 Series is about glorious excess, after all. For instance, you can operate the infotainment system in at least five ways: The touchscreen, the iDrive control knob, the steering wheel buttons, voice control, and with mid-air hand gestures.

That last one is wholly unnecessary, but using it is fun, like convincing your wife to change channels for you even though the TV remote is closer to you.

SPORTY SEVEN

Yet, the first time I got a bit of clear traffic and put my foot down, the 730i took off extremely rapidly. The BMW may have a small engine, but it has got muscles like a bodybuilder. Sometimes there’s a tiny delay before the turbo spools up, but when the 730i gets going, it goes hard.

It is an agile car as well, thanks to all kinds of weight-saving measures. The chassis is heavily reinforced with carbon fibre, so less metal is used. BMW encased the engine in sound insulation to kill noise at its source, and saved weight by using less insulation elsewhere.

The suspension soaks up bumps extremely well, so the result is a car whose mix of poise, agility and comfort is unmatched.

That said, no 7 Series has had a four-cylinder engine till now and you will understand why when you drive the 730i. Its engine simply isn’t as smooth as a six-cylinder, and though its voice is very well muted, what you do hear is pretty uncultured.

What you really miss out on are the fancier rear seats that are available in the pricier 7 Series models. The 730i (and the 730Li) has plain-vanilla seats at the back that do not recline or massage your back.

That does help to clarify who this version of the 7 Series is for, though. If you don’t intend to spend any time in the back at all, why waste a penny on the extra real estate?

And less isn’t always less, as the 730i’s engine shows. After all, you can have as much fun on a queen-sized bed as a king-sized one, you know.

BMW 730i

Engine: 1,998cc, turbocharged in-line four, 258hp, 400Nm

Performance: 250kmh, 0-100kmh: 6.2s, 6.3L/100km, 145g/km CO2

Price: S$408,800 with COE

On Sale: Now

Pros: Brilliant handling, surprisingly sprightly performance, silky ride

Cons: Uncultured voice, detectable vibes from the engine