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Executive express: 2020 BMW 730Ld

No pussy-footing

Main pics by BMW-presse

Rear seat pic by author

Posted: November 9, 2019

The numbers
Base price with CO2 tax: R1 673 321-50
Total extras: R473 650
As tested: R2 146 971-50
Engine: BMW B57D30, 2993 cc straight six with DOHC, 24 valves and Twinpower turbo with VGI
Power: 195 kW at 4000 rpm
Torque: 620 Nm between 2000 and 2500 rpm
Sprint, top speed and fuel consumption: See text
Tank: 78 litres
Fuel: 5-ppm diesel
Luggage: 515 litres
Ground clearance: 135 mm
Turning circle: 12.8 metres
Maximum braked towing mass: 2100 kg
Warranty: 2 years / unlimited km
Motorplan: 5 years / 100 000 km

The term “executive express” is severely over-used but, just occasionally, right on the button.

That is certainly the case with BMW’s 730Ld (long wheelbase diesel); provided you tick just under           R474 000-worth of options. You could almost buy three small Korean cars for that, but at this stage of your career you deserve a little pampering, denkst du nicht?

These longer versions, code named G12 to differentiate from standard-length G11s, are built on a wheelbase of 3210 mm. That’s 140 mm more and, since a January 2019 facelift, 5268 mm long altogether. That’s 117 mm lengthier than BMW’s own X7, an SUV labelled by at least one magazine with: “Its size can be intimidating.”

Facelift changes include a 40-percent larger kidney grille with active flap control and sleeker, adaptive headlamps with optional laser units. Large deflectors on the outer intakes guide air to the brake ducts and to the air curtains that minimise turbulence around the wheel arches.

The new front end features a more pronounced fascia and a power dome on the bonnet. Around back, LED tail lamps are joined by a central stripe and a new bumper.

Among interior updates are a 12.3-inch instrument cluster and 10.25-inch infotainment system that includes a new voice assistant along with updated graphics and menus. Updated technology includes Extended Traffic Jam Assistant that allows the driver to leave the steering wheel at speeds up to 56 km/h (35 mph) during urban driving. It manages steering, acceleration and braking while cameras ensure that the driver pays attention to the road.

Before thinking of options see what’s standard: run-flat tyres with pressure monitoring; Comfort Access providing keyless opening and locking of doors and tailgate; automatic soft closing of doors; electric roller blinds; ventilated front seats; four-zone automatic air conditioning; high beam assist; parking assist plus; emergency boot release; head-up display and Driving Assist Professional.

This camera- and radar-based driver assistance system consists of active cruise control with Stop&Go, lane departure and lane change warnings with steering assist, speed limit information, crossing traffic warning and rear collision prevention.

There’s more, but those are the highlights.
 
Amongst the extras on our test car was a Bowers and Wilkins Diamond surround sound system priced at R81 600. Its digital 10-channel amplifier puts out 1400 Watts through 16 speakers while Quantum Logic surround sound, with 7-band equaliser and three analogue crossover networks, delivers impeccable sound quality to all seats. Naturally, some journalist who drove the car before us cranked all the tone adjustments up to maximum; to supposedly make it sound better. Philistine
.
Then we had Executive Drive Pro, at R42 600, that offers electro-mechanical active roll stabilisation at the front and rear axles. Driving comfort is further enhanced by a combination of Dynamic Damper Control and additional information from the navigation system, onboard driving style analysis and camera projection data. Cutting through the cackle, that means the car handled like a dream, glided like a Great White in hunting mode and made gentle ripples out of typical speed humps.

There was also BMW Night Vision, with object recognition, at R32 000. Pedestrians and animals beyond the reach of your headlights and unlit cattle trucks, that may or may not be parked with the articulated trailer across your path, make this a worthwhile safety feature. BMW Laserlight, that extends the range of your high-beams as far as 560 metres, is a further good idea at R21 900.

There were others but first prize went to the Executive Lounge package at R167 500, plus R7200 for the optional Mocha colour scheme. Enough to make your chauffeur choke with envy, it provides electrically adjustable rear seats (configured just for two) with ventilation, warming and massage functions. Then there’s rear-seat entertainment with Blu-Ray drive and high resolution, tiltable 10” screens operated by touch or a 7” tablet. Apart from entertainment they allow each executive to individually control HVAC or monitor navigation.

Couple this with acres of legroom, plenty of headspace and doors wide enough to allow graceful entry and egress, for Heads of State or Admirals of Industry who happen to wear skirts, and you have everything an executive express should be but seldom is.
Despite being “only a diesel” the 730Ld does the standard sprint in 6.2 seconds while powering on to its governed top speed of 250 km/h. Does it economically too; real life fuel consumption, without pussy-footing to break records, was 7.8 l/100 km.

The basic car cost just shy of R1.7-million, with extras bringing it up to a touch under         R2 150 000, but at this level who’s counting? There are some things one simply deserves, you know?

Test unit from BMWSA press fleet


What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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