Somewhere over the rainbow

By Guilherme Marques

Where troubles melt like lemon drops, high above the chimney tops, that’s where you’ll find … the new BMW 750d.

Over the Rainbow is one of the most recognisable songs in the world. It is ranked first in the American Film Institute’s greatest film songs of all time and it was considered the song of the century by the Recording Industry Association of America. What does it have to do with the latest car the Algarve Resident has just tested?

Well, it is very simple: the 750d is out of this world; it lives in a place where there is no crisis, unemployment or sovereign debt. That place must definitely be over the rainbow, because below it we have plenty of that.

I spent four whole days behind the 750d’s wheel and I was gobsmacked. Let me tell you why. When I first began doing this job, four-and-a-half years ago, the BMW 7-Series, code number F01, was the first car I had ever tested. Of course I had driven dozens of cars before, but this was the first one I had to write about, so I approached it with a critical eye.

I had always read in the press that the Mercedes S-Class was the best top of the line luxury sedan, so I was going to find out what was wrong with the equivalent Beemer. Except I never did – I loved it too much, it was the best car I had ever driven and I started playing the Euromillions in order to buy one, despite the fact that my wife kept telling me that that was not a car for someone my age (I was only 24).

Since then I have not driven another 7-Series – nor won the Euromillions. I did, however, drive a different car almost every week, so I always wondered if my infatuation with the big BMW was a simple case of inexperience. After all, it was the big daddy of Munich models and I was a beginner, to say the least.

So, come the day when I knew I would drive the now face-lifted 7-Series, I was actually a bit nervous – would my hero disappoint me or would it definitely prove to be everything I remembered?

I have to be honest and say that the 7-Series is not at all like I remembered and yes, I was too much of a novice driver and writer back then to understand what this car was. I like to think I know what I am doing now, so I will write these next six words very carefully: the 7-Series is absolutely fantastic. Much better than I remembered in every possible way: comfort, refinement, build quality, gadgets, speed, performance, dynamics and that x-factor that makes us love a car and bond with it.

This 750d version is actually called 750d xDrive, because it has permanent four-wheel drive, in order to cope with the 381 horse power produced by the triple-turbo 3 litre engine.

This is a diesel car that weighs two tonnes but sprints to 100km/h in 4.9 seconds and averages just 10.5 litres/100km. This is not the official consumption, it is what I got after driving it for 700km like I was insane, because I was having too much fun to even look at the traffic signs saying the limit is 120 km/h. 120?

This car does not feel like it is actually moving until you see 180km/h on the speedo. It goes and corners like hell, while inside you sit in the most comfortable seats I have ever sat in – home couch included – and play with all the gadgets available, including a TV screen with better picture quality than the one I have in my living room. I can see now that I should put more money in the house.

Apparently, I am now old enough to drive a 7-Series, so my wife told me to double my usual Euromillions bet this week. I guess she liked the big Beemer too. I am not hoping for the first prize – all I need is €167,841, the exact amount a 750d xDrive with all the goodies the press car had sells for.

If I win, the family is going on a very long road trip, somewhere over the rainbow, to a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.