SECOND-HAND SENSEThere was a time when owners of big luxury cars had a tendency to look down their noses at the BMW 7-Series.
It was judged to be a less elegant option and not as pleasing to the eye car as others in the class . . . a general lack of cachet. Now, with BMW sales running at record levels, the tide has turned and BMW's investment in engineering, technology and styling has paid off in customer recognition.
But, because of the later recognition of the 7-Series, there are quite a few out there which make for very good second-hand buys indeed. A caveat to begin with, however: fuel consumption and running costs are not for the faint of heart. The 7 is a big and heavy car and, even with the smaller 720 engine option, is expensive to run. The ideal compromise between the 720 and the 4-litre 740 is the 730 diesel, which is still not the most economical but it delivers much better mileage. The 2.8 petrol will only give you an average of about 19mpg whereas the diesel will return into the 30s on a long journey.
Around since 1996, the 7 has proven itself a good and reliable car. Big advantages are interior space and comfort and good ride and handling for a car of this size and weight. Older models, however, have a tendency to wallow a bit because of their suspension set-up. The 7 gives all competitors a run for their money on overall comfort (those with short memories should try to remember when big Jaguars seemed to have been built exclusively for smaller people).
Expect good levels of basic equipment on a used 7, which adds to the attraction of a second-hand bargain. Leather seats, air conditioning, lots of airbags, automatic gearbox and lots of gizmos are all worth paying a little extra for even if the car is a little older than you might expect. The car that the new 7-Series replaced had a controversial iDrive system which involved a lot of pushing and twisting of a centre pod to work everything from radio to engineering. Many people are not the manual reading type and the system drive them crazy.
There are, oddly, no EuroNCAP crash test results for the 7 - perhaps they were too expensive to write off. However, it's a very strong car and BMW has invested hugely in safety engineering.
There have been 7-Series recalls for various problems but not always involving large numbers of cars. There have been problems with engine cooling fans, hardware faults with digital engine management and overloading with the cooling system.
There are not that many examples on the second-hand market due in the main to the high cost of initial purchase, so prices can be hard to gauge. You can pick up a 1996 720 with 84,000 on the clock and all the bells and whistles for about €10,000. A two-year-old 730 diesel with 39,000 on the clock and the same equipment levels is at €69,000 at one garage. A 7-Series should be good for well over 200,000 miles.
FOR: Excellent refinement and spacious interior
AGAINST: Expensive to buy and run