[Auto] 2023 BMW 7 Series / i7 COTY Review: Fabulously Bedazzled Flagship

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This review was conducted as part of our 2024 Car of the Year (COTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.

 

When it comes to the seventh-generation 7 Series , it's clearer than the crystalline trim that bedazzles the cabin that BMW went all-in on luxury with its updated flagship sedan. There are several kitchen sinks' worth of high-end touches, technology features, and a jaw-shattering rear seat package that are either standard or available for the new 7 in all its forms.

For 2023, those forms include the six-cylinder turbo powered 740i , the twin-turbo V-8 760i xDrive, and the all-electric i7 xDrive60 capable of close to 300 miles to a charge, with more variants on the way. They're all built on the same production line and can be outfitted with roughly the same equipment. They also come with a buck-toothed grille treatment that most of our judges reviled with an unbridled passion, though the rest of the car's exterior didn't receive the same savagery.

 

 

But once you step into the 7 Series, press on the brake pedal and the automatic driver door whirs shut, you're treated to a sensory overload of fabulousness that makes you forget all about its face. Trimmed out like a high-end VIP lounge, with super comfortable seating, stylized, backlit crystal-look trim, geometric metal speaker covers, and high-res digital screens with a dumfounding array of customization, the 7 impresses as much as it overwhelms. There's a lot going on here, aka "more stuff than you could ever figure out what to do with" opined deputy editor Alexander Stoklosa, and that's before you even climb into the back seat.

BMW's optional rear entertainment and comfort packages rival any brand this side of Rolls-Royce (and given BMW owns Rolls, it's likely learned a thing or two). The showstopper in back is a 31.3-inch, fold down 8K screen with Amazon Fire TV integration, augmented by two 5.5-inch screens in each door panel, the requisite pillow-clad headrests, a rear-window shade, and more. It's the stuff of champagne wishes and caviar dreams, or "wretched excess" if you prefer, as guest judge Chris Theodore so eloquently put it.

 

 

When you're riding in the back seat of the 2023 7 Series with that screen on, you're not going to have to turn up the volume, as most judges reported the cabin to be as quiet and isolated as you'd expect from a sedan of this nature. Same goes for the ride over the rough stuff, which gobbled up and spit out nasty bumps and bruises. The judges weren't unanimous in their opinions about the suspension tune, but most felt it to be a comfortable Bavarian land yacht.

As for how well the 7 Series hustles around a circuit, there's certainly some ultimate driving character infused into these hefty haute haulers (the i7 is three-plus tons of fun), with more than one editor reporting some (you guessed it) body roll, but in a controlled way. The 740i was deemed the most playful, the 760 the wildest, and the i7, well, the heaviest.

So yes, we like the new 7 a lot. Most judges called it arguably the best flagship luxury sedan on the market.

 

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2024-bmw-7-series-i7-coty-review/