Imagine you've spent your whole life eating Spaghettios from a can. You heat it up and dump it into a bowl and that's your definition of great Italian food. Until one day when a Michelin-rated chef prepares some pasta for you, at which point you suddenly realize how small your horizons have really been all these years. That's rather the experience of going from a regular vehicle to the extraordinary, uber-luxurious BMW 760i xDrive Sedan. Yes, it's got a price tag that'll make your eyes water, but in terms of demonstrating just how quiet, comfortable, and luxurious a vehicle can be, it's hard to equal this top-of-the-line BMW sedan.
That's why when they offered me a chance to drive the $162K BMW 760i xDrive Sedan for a week, I was slightly anxious - what if it got dinged up in a parking lot?! - but mostly very eager to get behind the wheel and find out how the company justified the cost. Turns out that it's one of the few vehicles I've ever driven where I laughed out loud in sheer delight more than once as I learned about its ridiculous features. Like the ability to close any or all vehicle doors by pushing a button on the infotainment system. Or the insane fold-down BMW Theater Screen for the back passengers. The 760i is surprisingly modest from the outside, however:
It's a big, bulky BMW with its two-tone "Adventurin Red Metallic" with "Smoke White Full Merino Leather" interior, but when parked adjacent to other vehicles from Beyerische Motoren Werke, it doesn't really stand out like, say, a supercar in the same price range. That's a deliberate design choice, because genteel and subtle really are the watchwords of the sedan. Once you're inside, it's hard to miss all the luxurious features, but from the outside? It's just a chunky BMW.
Let's swing into the driver's seat...
A significant percentage of 760i owners likely have drivers but regardless of who's driving, you can see that it's a sleek, high-tech dash with the big center console control knob and lots of accent lights. Pay attention to those accent lights because they're purple in some pictures, and blue in others. I couldn't resist changing them and they were just beautiful in the dark. Notice on the left the seat control is a dual crystal control on the door (the massage feature you enable from the sweeping infotainment screen).
The main gauge display is bright and crisp too:
In this case I'll give BMW a pass on displaying a tachometer with an 8-speed sport automatic transmission because it does have paddle shifters and this is one of the few vehicles where a driver might just use them. The displays are also just additional info for the current speed, in both km/h and mp/h. There's also a forward video view mode that I was a bit baffled by: The center can be replaced with the video from the front-facing camera as a live stream. It warns "don't drive just with this video" but my expectation is that there's some sort of low-light night view, though I didn't test it out. Since it has lots of self-driving features (though it's not a full autonomous vehicle) you do have a bit of leeway fiddling with settings while driving. Not that I recommend that, of course. Safety first, that's our mantra here at PlanetDave!
Most of the driver's interaction with the vehicle ends up being through the center console:
You can switch gears as needed, pull up the 360ยบ camera view, and interact with the infotainment system, all intuitively with your right hand while your left is safely on the steering wheel. The eye-popping electronics are for the rear passengers, however, who are most assuredly not second-class citizens as they are in so many more mundane vehicles.
Remember earlier when I talked about the accent lighting? Here's how that looks when you view the passenger side of the dashboard at night:
The lighting is really beautiful and you can choose from about 20 different colors to dial in just what you prefer, from Barbie pink to chill purple. You can also adjust the brightness of the accent lighting - of course! - and even disable it if you prefer a darker cabin. Worried about bothering the rear passenger? Not exactly a worry.
First off, there's the comfy legroom:
But look closely at the door. Yes, that's a screen on the door handle!
BMW has a partnership with Amazon that adds Alexa to the vehicle and FireTV to the rear passenger BMW Theater Screen. Which is something amazing to behold:
Yes, that's almost the entire width of the vehicle. It's a bit daunting when sitting in the back seat, but I surmise many BMW 760i passengers are watching Bloomberg or a similar investment news stream. Flip down the screen and window privacy screens automatically pull up on both rear passenger windows and the back window, creating a dark and private space to watch whatever you desire while your driver zips down the interstate. Kids would have a field day with this and I'm sure it renders Playstation-5 video content quite nicely.
Got too excited about queueing up your video content to close your door? Not a problem. BMW has thoughtfully included an interface that lets you open or close any or all doors on the vehicle:
I want one of these controls for my own car now! The driver's door automatically closed when you pushed on the brake pedal too (configurable) which meant you'd get in the car with your door left open, then push on the brake and the start button to get ready to roll, with the door smoothly closing all by itself.
There's lots of trunk space, but really, isn't that something for your driver to worry about anyway?
Overall, the 2023 BMW 760i xDrive Sedan was an amazing and delightful experience with plenty of surprises as I explored all of its features. There's even a built-in Bundesliga app for people who are obsessed with German soccer, and real carpet on the floor, not the tight-weave "auto carpet" or mats. Powered by a hefty 4.4L TwinPower Turbo V8, it also had so much power that at one point I was on the Interstate and was surprised to realize I was going about 90mph. More than the power, what really impresses is the extraordinary acoustic experience. This is the quietest vehicle I've ever driven. Even at 90mph, you could have a whispered conversation with someone in the backseat while you're weaving through traffic.
If you can afford a car with a price tag well north of $150,000 then you're in a fairly rarified circle and can buy just about any sedan in the market. If the philosophy of discrete, genteel luxury and performance matches your worldview, then you really owe it to yourself and your family to check out the gorgeous 2023 BMW 760i. I enjoyed the heck out of it and was a bit sad to return it to the company at the end of my evaluation period.
2023 BMW 760i xDrive Sedan, powered by a 4.4L BMW TwinTurbo V-8 32-valve engine, 48V mild hybrid tech, and an 8-speed Sport Automatic transmission. BASE PRICE: $113,600.00. Options: Autobahn Package, Driving Assistance Pro Package, BMW Individual Composition, Luxury Rear Seating Package, M Sport Professional Package, Parking Assistance Package, Executive Package, Rear Executive Lounge Seating, M Sport Package Pro, 21" M Aerodynamic wheels, Two-Tone Black Sapphire, Climate Control Laminated Glass, Bowers & Wilkins Sound System. AS DRIVEN: $162,045.00.
Disclosure: BMW loaned me the 760i for a week in return for this candid review. And my life was sweeter because of it! :-)
This article originally appeared on PlanetDave.com with the title 2023 BMW 760i xDrive Sedan: Genteel Luxury.
