2009 BMW 750i: Feels Good at 120 MPH

Scott, what's the white dot in the fuel gauge/bar for?

Well, that's what it was built for, and part of what you are paying a premium for. That feature usually goes unappreciated without an Autobahn though.

"Too bad 99.9% of the people that buy a 7 Series won't ever drive it faster than 75 mph."
They would if they drove through West Texas where the speed limit is 80MPH. ;-)

Good question, aspman26-what is that gauge? It's not the fuel gauge, is it an mpg gauge? or what? and what is the 0-20-40 gauge on the bottom of the tach?

The one below the speedo is the "distance to empty" readout. The one below the tach. is the instant mpg gauge typically seen in BMW's with an analog gauge. I'm not sure what the white dot is yet.

And yes, that instrument panel on the 7 series with black panel technology is absolutely beautiful in person as well. It is so minimalist, very understated luxury.

^^thanks...17 mpg at 120 mph!

Again echoing my affinity for this IP. Best ever. And such a big improvement over the previous 7's fussy over-styled gauges.

"I really dont want to be killed by a moron going 120-140 MPH on a public road."

Here in the U.S. it's probably not a good idea, especially with our atrocious road quality. They are not made for those speeds. In Germany, however, traffic on unlimited autobahns often flows at around 90-110 mph, and 120-130 mph is perfectly comfortable and easy. 140+ is pretty darn fast any way you look at it. The roads there are designed for it and impeccably maintained. And speed limits change frequently so you're never traveling that fast when there are obstructions, congestion, etc ahead.

+1 blue. People doing 75 in a 45 is scary enough.

I think a comparsion test of all the Long-term vehicles doing 120mph is required.
I would like to see how well the little cars handle at such high speeds.
(Most likely speed-limited way below 120mph)

The vague mention of a 'professional driver on a closed course' seems pretty fishy, otherwise you'd say the track where it occurred and give a bit more specifity on who the driver was.

It makes me think of when someone says on a call-in medical show to say "I have this *friend* who has this funny rash".

I'd lay even money it was Oldham on a public road. Just hoping it wasn't with any other cars around.

Aaawwwww!?! Yeah, I here it's pretty good at 150, too!!! In the end that is kind of pointless here in 'merica. The land of crappy roads, worse drivers and necessarily low speed limits. Yes, sadly, I said necessarily low! I can barely stand sharing the roads with most people at, or near the speed limit. Could you imagine the morons out there trying to do 120?

it looks like the driver was snapping a pic of the speedo at 120 mph, which would be almost as smart as texting at that speed.

Prob is this post is so redundant, so darn obvious, so old news, its a waste.

If a mitsubishi lancer GTS feels stable at 120mph (they posted it here as well), what else would u expect from a bavarian machine like a 7 series with a mighty twin turbo V8? Do u really have to write a post about that? Come on, u can do better than that.

It really is too bad that the revenue generators of this country can't see fit to place reasonable limits in areas where it would be sensible to do so. I can understand the limits in town or in residential areas, but when you're out on the open highway, 55 is just to low.

I can also understand that you need to set the limit low for road that are incapable of handling a higher limit such as a curvy mountain road. The way people drive in this country, you would have some moron try and take a mountain road at 80 MPH and then run off the cliff and kill himself and then his family would try and sue because the limit was set at such and so it's the county's fault he was going that fast...

It does say Field road on the Instrument Display, so there might be some truth to it being a closed course. And I must say, that's a damn good quality shot at 120 MPH.

Wrong! I constantly bring it up over 100. Damn tickets! I can start my own ticket collection and would probably had my license taken away if they were all from the same state.

Was this professional driver happen to be wearing a white racing suit with matching helmet? LOL.

I can agree that due to road conditions speed limits are necessary but some common sense should be used like for example their is a street in my neighborhood that has several large hills and they want you to go only 25mph, going up hill its bad as most of the cars I have either driven or ridden in tend to sit in 2nd gear almost 3rd engines reving high killing mileage.

Down hill hearing stories of peoples brakes failing due to overheating trying to avoid going over and getting caught in a speed trap at the bottom of the hill is sadly very common.

So yes for the most part speed limits are necessary but it wouldn't hurt to go up 5-10 mph in town and maybe 10-15 on highways heck even 20 on some places.

Do you know how to remove the speed limiter without doing any major work on the car (without doing all that level 1,2,3 upgrades)? I am seriously annoyed by it. Is there something I can pull out? Or is there sceret button combo that will allow me to test the full power of the engine?

And do you know why the red line goes up and down and what influences it? Is it the engine temp?

Hm... in dash navigation says Field Rd.... there are six Field Roads in California. A buck forty on a rough road?

Figure that out.

"The professional driver that drove our long-term 2009 BMW 750i at this speed safely on a closed course told me that the car was completely unfazed by the velocity. "
Scott, are your pants on fire yet?

@super_ongoy get a tuner for your make and model of car and it should be able to adjust or remove the limiter for you.

Cost about 250-350 from what I have seen.

@super_ongoy: the rev limiter and redline rpm is determined by engine temp and oil temperature.

Do you really have a 7 Series?

Any chance this professional driver also has a thing for listening to the Playboy channel......?

somebody reminds me of a hyper kissel ....

"Hm... in dash navigation says Field Rd.... there are six Field Roads in California. A buck forty on a rough road?"

The car is not ON Field Road... it is instructing him to turn left on Field Road in 5 miles.

@bimmerjay - I didn't realize I said the vehicle was on Field Road, but I encourage you to Google Map Field Rd. in California, look at a maps a little and things become pretty clear.

Food for thought. Who sets a GPS destination on a closed course?

I guess the only reason he wrote the whole closed course thing was to avoid the public backlash he got after posting the video of the smart car doing 90+ on the freeway probably just trying to keep up with some truck in the carpool lane. lol

So it was done on a public road - who cares? Field Rd on the GPS suggests this was in a deserted area with no other traffic arround. This is way safer than some douche cutting through traffic in their oh so cool subcompact.

Who cares?? I for one do. Your "right" to drive 120 does not trump my right to my life. I dont think it is cute or funny to pretend to be on a closed course......it is just immature and dangerous. Dont get me wrong, I love fast cars and used to drive like a maniac when I was younger, but no more. I am so lucky to even be here. 75 is fast enough for the freeway. Want to drive faster in a safe enviroment......do it in Germany. The US is not the place....we really dont have the roads or the drivers for it.

I drove my European Delivery in Germany at 151 MPH for over 30 seconds. That was fun! Just got it back in the states and its hard to keep it under 95!

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=393550

@hayden - I just got back from European Delivery as well. The BMW Welt was awesome! Did you sign the Bimmerfest guestbook in the Premium Lounge? Anyway, I had 'er flat on the limiter at 152 mph indicated. I won't get my car back in the US until December, unfortunately.

@bodyblue

I think that the legal limit is enough on the freeway as well. Thats why I said I don't care about anyone doing it on some lonely stretch of road, say out in the Mojave, where you can see for miles and the only person you endanger is yourself. I very well do care about people speeding especially in urban areas where they trade safety for no time benefit at all.

The whole European drivers and roads thing is totally overrated, though. Europe has lots of drivers that have no clue, being inattentive etc., too. Add to that manual transmissions operated by people without a clue, not just enthusiasts like in the US. Roads are not perfect, either. US Traffic flow is way smoother, too.

@hybris: That's manageable if it only costs a couple hundred bucks. I checked out some tuners before and I think the level 1 upgrade was almost 2000 bucks if I remember correctly.

@acneyard: Yeah i have a bimmer and I read through the manual when I first got it but I don't memorize them. I just saw the red line move up and down the other day when I was in the parking lot.

$2000! Maybe to have your computer re-flashed but 2k for something that plugs into your diagnostics port? I didn't think even a BMW would go that high.

Just found out that it will cost me 500 bucks from Dinan.

http://www.dinancars.com/store/product.php?productid=4193&cat=445&page=1

also found Hamann's tuned 7.
http://www.bmwtuningmag.com/the-new-hamann-bmw-7-series/

Can you guy at insideline spend some to see how well these cars tune?

are there any $90k cars that arent solid at 120mph?

i wonder if the speedometer is off like our e90. 5mph off at 70 (65 actual), per gps, and a common complaint on the forums.

Just to echo the above questions: What does the white dot on the Distance to Empty meter represent? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks.

Nice very clear easy to read gauges. Simple white on black always works. Hint hint Mazda. At night does it switch to the traditional BMW red lighting?

im just going to take guess at the white dot in the fuel bar: its probably how much gas you will need to reach your destination. if you set the gps it probably calculates how far the destination is and how much gas you will need so the white dot is how much you will have left once you reach your destination. makes sense?

so where is field road? i cant find it ;)