The highlight of the BMW 7, has to be the larger than life front kidney grille, but we are not going to start from there, in fact we are going to start from behind. 

At the back, we have this chrome running strip which is neatly integrated within the all LED taillights. The taillights get pronounced 3D element, the extremely minimalist badging. The uber cool shethjis love their chromes as that ups the luxury quotient, thus you do find use of chrome towards the lower lip of the bumper extending from all across the bumper and covering dual exhaust notes, which glaring are real. In this world of fakes, we are glad BMW gave real exhausts.

Moving to the sides, The 7 comes as long wheel base version, so it is very very very very long. In fact, in between the wheel base which sits at 3210 mm, one can fit a mid sized hatchback. The Hofmeister kink, may not be as sharp as say the 8 or the 6 or the 5, but this design does suit the personality of the car. What elevates premium feel is a dash of chrome strip running on the floor board on the sides and the 18 inch multi spoke alloys.       

The front has redesigned bumpers, huge front active grille and now the headlights sport Laser Lights. Question many always had, why such a big grille, the answer to that is very simple. The biggest market for The 7 is China, and the Chinese love dash of chrome and bigger grilles.

Alright, turning attention away from the grille, the bonnet has pronounced lines which aid in aerodynamics and then give lot of meat to the way the car looks upfront.

Overall, The 7 does not radically depart from the BMW's known design language and it is a good thing in our opinion.

Moving on the insides, let us see if the BMW 7 excites as much as it costs.   

Step inside and you are welcomed by the similar interiors which you are used to seeing on the other BMW's. The doors open wide aiding for better ingress and egress. The dashboard, just as any other BMW is driver centric, it gets a 10.25 inch centre screen, which is absolutely intuitive to use, comes with satellite navigation and BMW's much famed gesture control. The ID-7 derived driver instrument console is all digital which has hate it to love it kind of look. The display changes basis the mode that you choose to be in and the different menus can be toggled on the right hand side of the display. Everything that you touch is either wrapped in leather or soft touch material of an extremely high quality. Even the roof comes finished in Alcantara leather 

The front seats are all new BMW Comfort Seats, which debuted in the X7, and now they find their way in The 7. The bolstering is spot on, the cushioning is soft, and the thigh extenders work perfectly well to give you additional comfort on those long drives.  

This is the Ultimate 7. The pinnacle of luxury in the BMW line-up. To add to that it is a true BMW. So, one obviously has a different level of expectation from a car of this stature and this price. To say that the seats cocoon you, would be an understatement. With a separate set of adjustments just for the back and side-bolstering, the seats of the Ultimate 7 can literally wrap around you or let you sink into them, if you please. 

The sheer number of various adjustments possible in the driver's seat is mind-boggling. Apart from the standard front-back of the squab, height, and reclining position of the backrest. There is a separate set of functions and positions for the head rest, the lumbar support, the side bolstering AND the extendable under thigh support. This is just movements. Then there are 3 levels of massage, cooling and heating. 

Now imagine the number of buttons for each of these adjustments. Some of them are capacitive touch, some are proper switch or press buttons. The total combination of buttons for one seat might be more than the number of buttons present in the room you are currently seated while reading this.

Confusing? Yes. Maybe. BMW thought so too - which is why they have introduced these two features which we absolutely love.

- The capacitive touch. As soon as your finger gently rests on any of the buttons for the drivers seat adjustment, the centre screen shows the possible movements and functions of that button. VERY Cool. (Pun intended given that some of these buttons are also used for the cooling feature)

- Touch screen interface. ALL seats, yes, each and every seat of the car can be adjusted in all possible directions from any of the four screens. Including the detachable Samsung tablet from the rear arm rest.

We could spend all day writing about this, because imagine being seated in the rear seat of the ultimate BMW 7 'comfortably' with all these adjustments giving you the perfect position to relax, and work away on your laptop or iPad Pro (with the Apple Magic Keyboard attached, of course).

Once you are done with 'work' you can actually, at a press on a button enter boss mode. This is only possible if you are the left rear passenger. The front passenger seat on the left hand side glides ahead and tumbles down, adjusts the screen, and brings out the foot rest for you to rest in an almost supine position. All of this can be while the rear seat continues to massage and cool your body. 

One warning here - BMW has not configured the left rear passenger seat to detect the presence of a person, like Volvo does. This gives the rear passenger the opportunity to make the front passenger very uncomfortable. When we tried, activating boss mode from the rear seat, the front seat started gliding and folding even with a passenger seated. Scary!

Overall, the interiors of the 7 do excite you, but still with all these gizmos in place, they feel dated compared to the more modern S Class, and less techie as compared to say an A8L 

The car is entertaining enough to look at, yet once seated inside, just like the climate control with 4 different zones, it has enough screens to keep each member entertained in a different way. We cannot talk about entertainment without mentioning the two screens present for the rear passengers. Each screen mounted to the backside of the corresponding front row seats. The clarity is decent and brightness levels are acceptable. There are no Bluetooth headsets or earphones bundled with the rear seat entertainment system. 

The Samsung tablet in the centre of the rear armrest is for controlling the fictions of the car and not for media consumption. 

Screen mirroring is an option available in both the rear screens and this makes your choices unlimited.

The audio duties are taken care by the Harmon-Kardon setup which engrosses you with sound which is so superlative, that you tend to forget the world outside while on the move. 

The 7 Series is offered in various engine options both in Diesel as well as Petrol. However what we had for the review was the 730LD, which came with BMWs tried and tested 3.0 Straight Six Diesel, which churns out 265 HP/620NM of torque. 

The Inline-6 diesel motor is mated to an 8-speed Gearbox from ZF. As with the gearbox, the shifts are lightning fast. The gearbox knows what exactly you want and executes your command without any drama. The ZF8 gearbox, is the same one which you get in the 5 Series or the 6 Series.  

With this kind of lethal combination, is the car lightning fast, well, the 0-100 sprint comes around 5 seconds, which is astonishing for the car this size, and what helps here is the Carbon Core, body structure which makes the 7 lighter and rigid at the same time.

But will you end up doing sprints at all the times, we doubt. And that is where the 7 is more tuned towards linear acceleration rather that speed bursts, if you know what we mean. 

While we had the 730 Ld for our review, if you are looking for a petrol powered variant BMW launched the BMW 740 Li MSport edition for the enthusiasts.

Want to know more about the BMW 740 Li MSport edition?

Click here to read about the BMW 740 Li MSport edition.

So, in the Ultimate BMW 7 series - either be the driver or the rear passenger. 

The seats are so comfortable that it is difficult to ascertain the ride quality. Riding on 19 inch tyres, the car manages to glide over potholes. Very faint muted thuds will make it in to the cabin. Every other noise, be it road noise or wind noise - is completely blocked out. The undulations of the road will not be felt but big potholes will be noticed by the rear passenger. Ideally, such potholes should be easily noticed by the driver when driving this car. It offers a direct view of the bonnet and the driver can also activate the front camera with parking sensors to gauge the road ahead, at the touch of a button.

If you are late for a meeting, you might ask your chauffer to push the car. Or if you are out on a holiday with the family you might feel like indulging your heavy right foot. Fret not, that is the reason one owns a BMW 7 series. The car can accelerate and lug its massive heft at a moments notice. It might actually take you by surprise, the sudden surge of power that the 3L Straight 6 engine is capable of dishing out. When pushed hard, the engine sounds gruff and is heard in the cabin. Otherwise, the cabin can be eerily silent. 

While the length of the BMW 7 series might be a deterrent in the city for parking and tight spot U-turns, this length works to its advantage on open roads and twisty mountain ways. The car remains composed around tight turns and there is very little lateral movement felt by the passengers - especially the rear passengers. Straight line manners are commendable and while it may not have the pull of a 530d, it can hold its own and give the S-class some serious competition in driving dynamics and acceleration. 

There are 7 modes to choose from for ride quality and driving dynamics. There is the Eco and Eco Pro Mode (Individual settings). Then there is Comfort and Comfort Plus mode. We found a noticeable difference in the plus mode. The ride was plush and very refined. Without doubt there is the Sport mode which doesn't do justice to the character of this car. There is an 'adaptive' mode which we found to be quite confused and not the right balance for the drive. All these modes are available at the touch of a button on the centre console. 

Overall, whether you are at the rear seat or the front seat, this BMW 7 keeps you entertained. 

This is that part of the review now, which is going to be difficult. Well, generationally, the 7 is the oldest car here and the S is the newest and the freshest kid out of the block who is out there to make some kind of a statement. But that statement, does come at a steep price. While, we get this review out, we will also have the updated prices of the S with us, as the S now is also going CKD route, that allows the brand to reduce the prices a bit. 

But having said that, generationally, the 7 was known to be the only car in this segment which still is tuned for the driver in you. 

So, if you are someone, who loves to be behind the wheel occasionally, say on weekends as on weekdays you are busy cracking those multi million dollar deals, then the 7 will not disappoint you and this is the car, that you should be gunning for as the new 7 is still a year away.