As regular readers may know, I love our long-term 2009 BMW 750.
I even prefer it to our long-term M3, but I'll write that post another day.
One thing I don't like about our 750 (besides the engine accessory drive noise, wind noise, and throttle hesitation, then surge) is the outer mirrors. They're tiny.
I suppose this was done in the name of styling, because from the outside those mirrors don't look too small.
This is one car that would benefit from a blind spot detection system.
Turn my head? Yeah, I do that too.
But good mirrors and a proper blind spot detection system can also be helpful.
Albert Austria, Senior Engineer @ 25,400 miles
carguy622 says:
04:30 PM, 02/10/10
I totally understand where you are coming from with that. I went from my '99 Escort ZX2 with these little triangular mirrors to an '04 Accord and the mirrors were huge in comparison. It's something I never thought about until I had the larger mirrors, and it's a nice convenience feature.
jeepsrt says:
04:34 PM, 02/10/10
My parents Mercedes GL450 has tiny mirrors as well,you get used to it but they are way too small.
roadburner says:
05:37 PM, 02/10/10
Don't complain until you've had to use E36 ///M 3 mirrors.
fuhteng says:
08:05 PM, 02/10/10
The G8 had the same issue. Little bitty mirrors on the big car. I think they're bigger than this one, but these little things do look funny in the second shot.
frazier500 says:
08:16 PM, 02/10/10
Mercedes-Benz was doing this on a couple of their models for some reason. The pre-refresh CL/ S-class and the GL-class suffered from tiny mirrors on a huge body.
bimmerjay says:
01:08 AM, 02/11/10
I think my '10 ///M mirrors are actually bigger than those. The F01 7-Series must have been released just prior to BMW upsizing the mirrors on all its new models due to the new European regs.
dougtheeng says:
04:45 AM, 02/11/10
"I suppose this was done in the name of styling"
I hope it wasn't done in the name of styling, because this thing is ugly :(
joefrompa says:
05:34 AM, 02/11/10
Those don't look that small to me? It's just that the car is so huge....
Go look at a year 2000 740i (not 740li). That's the size a proper full size sports sedan should be.
roadburner says:
05:56 AM, 02/11/10
"Go look at a year 2000 740i (not 740li). That's the size a proper full size sports sedan should be."
Exactly- find one with the sport package and you'll have a terrific car that can cruise sedately and attack a twisting two lane. I have one friend who had his 740i fitted with a proper six speed manual. What a car!
audisport says:
06:36 AM, 02/11/10
Does it have anything to do with EU pedestrian safety laws??
bodyblue says:
07:37 AM, 02/11/10
90K and no blind spot system? What a rip.......are power windows and and a/c optional also?
wobbly_ears says:
11:51 AM, 02/11/10
@bodyblue,
Shh....Don't give them any ideas!!
joefrompa says:
12:07 PM, 02/11/10
Roadburner - Your friend swapped in a 6-speed manual? Your friend is a genious :)
Seriously though, aside from some electrical gremlins that is one superb car.
roadburner says:
02:23 PM, 02/11/10
"Roadburner - Your friend swapped in a 6-speed manual?"
No, he had a BMW Master Tech carry out the swap. Back in the early '90s I almost bought an E32 735i equipped with a manual. They were quite rare.
audisport says:
07:39 AM, 02/12/10
I can almost see it...
$90k 7 series with crank windows.
cr_driver says:
08:33 AM, 02/12/10
I cannot.
platf1 says:
11:20 AM, 02/12/10
The nothing-then-surge with the accelerator pedal: isn't that rectified by going from normal or comfort to sport?
lizard2001 says:
07:20 PM, 02/22/10
smallest mirrors: 05 slk55
biggest mirrors 9for the car): 06 is350