New here and new 740i owner

[ratchild]

Hello fellow members.
I'm new here and am a new owner of a 2023 BMW 740i. I picked it up last week after trading in my Porsche Panamera e-hybrid 4. I was looking at all the usual competitors: Mercedes-Benz S Class, Audi A8, and even the Genesis G90. After sitting in the 740i and then driving it, it was the obvious choice for me.

I think the front looks very intimidating. I'm thinking about tinting the windows to give it more of a menacing look.

I'm very excited!

Exterior: Brooklyn Gray
Interior: Black

[rollingtaser]

looks great! yes, tinting would make it even more evil


interesting to read that you compared it with the S.

why did you chose it over the S? and what was the decision to trade it against the panamera?

[It's Good]

Congrats and I hope you enjoy it!It would be interesting to know how it compares to the Panamera in terms of comfort,ride ,handling,driving characteristics,and quietness.The Panamera compares in size to the 850 Gran Coupe,of which I had a 2020 version.Great car but was very firm,with smaller seats, and a little noisy coming out of an S-Class.But,got it out of my system!What were you looking for-just a change or a bit more room and comfort?Also,Porsches are very expensive,whereas the 7 could be considered a pretty good value.Thanks for any info.

[ratchild]

Originally Posted by rollingtaser

looks great! yes, tinting would make it even more evil


interesting to read that you compared it with the S.

why did you chose it over the S? and what was the decision to trade it against the panamera?

To answer your first question - why the 740i over the S Class? For one - the looks. I find the S Class to be too understated. It blends in with other Merc sedans too much for my taste. Also, the 740i was more comfortable and the tech was better, in my opinion. I've had a few Mercedes over the years and I never kept them longer than 18 months. For some reason, I never bonded with them. They were boring (for lack of a better word).

Comparing the 740i to the Panamera is a little more complicated. The Panamera was certainly more sporty and more of a driver's car. The tech was solid (slightly dated in my 2020). However, the car was not comfortable - the seat became more and more uncomfortable over the years of ownership and I couldn't quite find a position or setting that made it better. That was the biggest reason for looking for a new ride.

Why go full luxury? Mostly because I've driven sport sedans (and a few exotics) over the past few years and I wanted to try something different, with a focus on tech and comfort. I was getting a little reckless with the speed of these sport cars and figured I had better quit while I was ahead. And when I test drove the 740i, I was (and still am) completely blown away by what BMW has done in this generation/model. Truly a leap forward.

[ratchild]

Originally Posted by It's Good

Congrats and I hope you enjoy it!It would be interesting to know how it compares to the Panamera in terms of comfort,ride ,handling,driving characteristics,and quietness.The Panamera compares in size to the 850 Gran Coupe,of which I had a 2020 version.Great car but was very firm,with smaller seats, and a little noisy coming out of an S-Class.But,got it out of my system!What were you looking for-just a change or a bit more room and comfort?Also,Porsches are very expensive,whereas the 7 could be considered a pretty good value.Thanks for any info.

Comparing the 2020 Porsche Panamera e-hybrid 4 to this 740i:

Ride: BMW eats up the bumps better; Porsche is more engaging with better feedback through my butt and the steering wheel. I could drive the BMW for hours without any discomfort where I was maxing out in a Panamera after just 90 minutes with some back/leg/butt pain.

Quietness: BMW is the clear winner. The Pana would be silent if I drove it in the EV mode only (for 30 miles). Otherwise, I could get the exhaust to bark and burble in Sport and Sport Plus (which was fun). But quiet in the new LOUD in my opinion, and the 740i is great here. I can hold a conversation slightly above a whisper while in the cabin of the BMW.

Great questions! Hope my answers were helpful.

For reference, I just turned 50. The Panamera was great in my mid-to-late 40s but now I'm trying to embrace the luxury lifestyle. Haha.


Handling: Porsche is the clear winner. BMW seems very "digital" in the handling - no real feedback in comfort mode, but smooth. The Panamera gave me confidence to take corners way too fast (it was also AWD whereas the 740i is RWD). I find that I need to telegraph my moves more in the 740i which is new and challenging but I feel I need to add this skill to my driving toolkit.


Comfort: BMW 740i hands-down winner. Not a comparison.

[It's Good]

Thank you for a very comprehensive comparison between the Panamera and the 7.You have confirmed first hand that the Porsche is much like the 850 Gran Coupe.Some have said it was a bit more comfortable and compliant than the 8.Again,many thanks and enjoy your new ride.IMHO,the 7 is about as good as it gets short of a Rolls.

[rollingtaser]

thanks a lot for you analysis

i can follow what you say...

at the moment i'm driving a S500 and it lacks power. comfort is great but it's getting old...

yep, the i7 has a far more luxurious feeling when cruising with it (well, i already know i will drive it like a porsche in the round-abouts once i know the car well...).

for me it's REALLY sad what merc did with the ne S - it looks like a C-class, it's not nice to get in and out... a shame! i actually wanted to get the S63e but it's not gonna happen... waiting for the M70 now

[Crisp]

Originally Posted by ratchild

Why go full luxury? Mostly because I've driven sport sedans (and a few exotics) over the past few years and I wanted to try something different, with a focus on tech and comfort. I was getting a little reckless with the speed of these sport cars and figured I had better quit while I was ahead. And when I test drove the 740i, I was (and still am) completely blown away by what BMW has done in this generation/model. Truly a leap forward.

I fully support this comment. Congrats on the car. I just picked up my 760i last night for the same reasons. I went from a Stage 2 X5M Competition to the 760i as my daily. I have a solid 1-1.5hr commute in NYC for 10 miles to get home. If you do the math, that's stop and go all the way home in crappy streets. Full luxury was the way to go.
I have a bunch of other side toys for nice roads, but what you said above was exactly why I went for the 7er.

My assessment is that it's the most boring fun car I've ever owned. Technology is a bit intimidating. Took me a while to find out how to open the glove box, and I work on cars as a hobby / tinker with my own tuning.
The lack of direct controls is a bit of a PITA (rear sun shade, HVAC, etc.) but I guess I'll have to get used to using the BMW Personal Assistant via voice commands.

Have you tried some spirited driving with it? I would not feel comfortable at all on the backroads with this, whereas, I would comfortably oversteer with the X5M and had it doing full blown drifts on the track. Weird to say...

[AlteBMW]

Originally Posted by Crisp

Have you tried some spirited driving with it? I would not feel comfortable at all on the backroads with this, whereas, I would comfortably oversteer with the X5M and had it doing full blown drifts on the track. Weird to say...

Have had mine on twisties in the Hamptons. It handles them with ease. The IAS really makes a difference on the 7's. But drifts on this one . . .no, not for me. Best car I ever had for drifting was a 1972 Alfa GTV.

As for the controls, after a while you get used to where to go to do what you want. Your muscle memory will adjust. I found using the shortcuts on the screen takes care of 90% of what I need to do.

[ratchild]

I haven't done any fun spirited driving yet. I'm waiting for 1300 miles when the engine is fully broken in. I'm looking forward to it acually. I feel the seats hug me when I go into Sport Mode. Like AlteBMW, I suspect I'll have to retrain myself on how to handle this car at speed as opposed to the Porsche or previous cars like my Lotus Evora, but I'm sure it will be possible and enjoyable.

Yes - the tech is staggering. I have a follow-up with my dealer on Monday to go over all the nitty-gritty stuff, even though I feel like I have a solid handle on it now. I'm even using the gesture controls to bring up the parking cameras and drive recorder!

I still haven't figured out the sun shades yet.

For IAS, do all models have this or just the 760i or i7?

[todao]

I have a Brooklyn Grey 760 as well but with Black/Grey interior.

It's pretty interesting how different the Brooklyn Grey color looks in different light. It can go from a light blue'ish to a dark grey depending on how bright or dark the light is.

I've come to like this color a lot.

[patrikr]

I agree with AlteBMW, the shortcuts are key to making iDrive 8 easy to use. I’ve put things like seat massage, Wi-Fi on/off (because the buggy software turns it off randomly and it took me way to long to figure that out) and a few other things