The 2009 BMW 750i is a great car to drive fast, so responsive and eager even compared to its rivals from Audi and Mercedes-Benz. If you're a big car guy, this is the big car to drive.
But it's a nightmare to pedal to work through commute traffic, so unspeakably bad that it makes even the clunkiest hybrid seem like a paragon of smooth sophistication.
Just as we've said before, the throttle tip-in is a mess, a combination of heavy effort, sluggish engagement and an over-aggressive follow through. If you're in bumper-to-bumper traffic and trying to use light throttle loads, you're always surging forward erratically while the throttle and the transmission try to figure out what's going on. We've all become accustomed to the car acting as if it wants to tag whatever happens to be in front of us.
The brake pedal adds to the confusion, because BMW builds a lot of brake rise in its pad material, so braking effect increases dramatically as the pads warm up. This is what you want if you're making a stop from high speed, because the pads compensate for the inevitable fade from overheating. But it is not what you want while in the commuter-hour accordion at 19 mph (the average speed on Los Angeles freeways during peak traffic congestion).
This is what happens when you can program the way the controls work. If there's money and budget to program for all the variations that you can encounter, things are fine. But if the BMW engineers never made it to Los Angeles or Chicago or New York, then things are very, very bad, because there's no way to allow the human computer to adapt to changing conditions with its own unique control solution.
It's true that the BMW 750i is always thinking. But when you're driving to work, you just want to make it stop.
Michael Jordan, Executive Editor @ 16,800 miles
opfreakx says:
01:19 PM, 09/23/09
all those idrive functions and no function for traffic?
comeone bmw, some of you m models require 20 steps before you can get full power.
clarkma5 says:
01:49 PM, 09/23/09
That does sound totally unacceptable in a $90k luxury car...or even a $20k economy car.
bodyblue says:
02:42 PM, 09/23/09
But, but ...its the Ultimate Driving Machine.....How dare you say something negative about it! BMW may not loan you another.
co_05si says:
03:53 PM, 09/23/09
Has anyone tried to just start/stop drive this thing manually stuck in 2nd (or the next higher gear)? Seems like at that point you could just mash on the gas with no worry of hitting the person in front of you. Worth a try since it has no shortage of power.
hondacura4 says:
04:09 PM, 09/23/09
Too bad about the shortcoming of this big daddy Bimmer, however.....
I love the interior of this car. Its, sporty, simple and luxurious without being decorated, garish or blingy.
It also has a level of warmth that is so absent in the 3, 5 and 6 Series.
ahightower says:
06:03 PM, 09/23/09
Just set the Distronic cruise control and you won't have to use the pedals ;)
redliner says:
06:30 PM, 09/23/09
Am I wrong to assume that deep within the iDrive computer, there is an adjustment for throttle sensitivity?
hybris says:
10:05 PM, 09/23/09
Sounds like this car was designed for the midwestern states, Montana, and most of the southwestern states. Mostly loose traffic and more distance between desirable destinations.
bimmerjay says:
11:19 PM, 09/23/09
"Just set the Distronic cruise control and you won't have to use the pedals ;)"
Distronic with Stop and Go is a Mercedes feature, blasphemy! The BMW's is Active Cruise Control, which I don't believe the Edmunds LT car has.
DLu says:
08:24 AM, 09/24/09
I am so glad I moved out of Boston... How do people put up with traffic that doubles (or more!) your commute time?
I test-drove a 328i xDrive auto. all autos i've driven up to that point will start to scoot if you take your foot off the brake when, say, the light turns green. then the acceleration builds. the 328 actually felt like a manual in neutral and took a second to engage into drive. very unnerving feeling when my brain is expecting forward motion a second ago, and THEN the car would suddenly move when the throttle is pushed a little too far... PHOOM! is that at all like in the 750?
bodyblue says:
09:42 AM, 09/24/09
Maybye it is the photo angle but it sure looks like the center console takes up a lot of room....the footwells look narrow for such a big car.
redliner says:
10:05 AM, 09/24/09
90k and no Active Cruise Control, or iPod connection!? I guess thats why people always say that BMW nickel and dimes you to death.
mikeolan says:
10:15 AM, 09/24/09
If you were to peel off those badges I bet you I'd have a tough time distinguishing this POS from a Chinese knockoff.
The word "butt ugly" is thrown around a lot these days...
hondacura4 says:
03:21 PM, 09/24/09
"I guess thats why people always say that BMW nickel and dimes you to death."
BMW nickle and dimes you to death because all their models aren't of the cookie cutter type whereas a luxury company like Acura can provide a sh*t load of features for less money because they produce a lot of the same model of car with the same features.
I believe BMW stated that they build the exact same car about every 9-10 months. Unfortunately, exclusivity costs money.