BMW 7-Series (2008 - 2015) 730Ld SE (09/12-) 4d Auto Owner Review

How reliable do you find the car?

Only 2 months in to ownership of what must undoubtedly be the highest spec, fully loaded 730LD sold in 2013. My early experience has taught me a lesson. All that spec is a mixed blessing. Sure it adds hugely to the showroom appeal of the car, but beware at 7 years old all that spec, all those features, means you have a lot of things that can go expensively wrong. On arriving home straight from the dealer forecourt it became apparent my immaculate looking car had some faults the dealer should have fixed prior to sale. The warning display greeted me with a worrying message about battery drain when stationary and electrical consumers being switched off. I soon discovered in addition the comfort access feature did not work and neither the TV. And the battery tested weak. A trio to my local BMW dealer diagnosed battery drain from the faulty comfort access needing 4 new door handles and £1500 to fix. They also noted a cracked alloy and dodgy tyre another £1000. The TV required a £150 software update before even further checks. Cut a long story short at time of writing the car is back with selling dealer being fixed.

Does the car do everything you expected it to do?

Despite the significant teething problems, I think in general a used BMW 7 is a magnificent beast and used car bargain. I have a £100k car with 39k miles for £16k. Limousine luxury space and refinement and notwithstanding potential for expensive repairs most other costs are very modest.