The first thing we noticed about the 745i was its wonderful magic carpet ride. This car smoothes out bumps. It's incredibly comfortable. We were astonished at how well it handled a speed bump.

Yet the driver does not feel completely isolated from the road. And the car senses when being driven hard, retuning the suspension appropriately for optimum handling. BMW's Active Roll Stabilization, computer-controlled active anti-roll bars, stiffens roll resistance in hard cornering keeping the car flat in turns. At the same time, the system maintains enough suspension compliance to keep the tires planted on the road. Bumps in the middle of a high-speed corner do not upset the handling balance one whit. Part of this is due to the low unsprung weight weight, a benefit of lightweight aluminum wheels and brake calipers, the lightweight aluminum suspension components, and the highly rigid chassis that allows precise suspension tuning.

Anti-skid technology makes adjustments to maintain handling balance whenever grip is lost to any one tire. By applying braking force to individual wheels it can bend the laws of physics. Just steer this thing where you want to go and the 7 Series takes you there. I explored this on a fast, greasy corner over a crest that un-weighted the suspension. All four wheels lost grip, but we simply motored around the corner, drifting just slightly wide of the intended line. I never lifted my foot off the accelerator pedal nor made any adjustments in the steering. No special action on my part was needed; the 745i did all of that for me. The anti-skid system is transparent; you can't feel it kick in and out. BMW's system is far less obtrusive and more performance-oriented than similar systems found in Mercedes-Benz and Lexus automobiles.

Steering the 745i is a joy. The rack-and-pinion steering is super sharp and precise. It's very light at low speeds for parking lot work, but firms up at higher speeds for improved driver feel. It also steps up response by 10 percent as the wheel is turned off center. With this new rack-and-pinion steering system, it's easy to drive the 7 Series with extreme precision on winding roads at very high speeds, placing the tires exactly where you want them. When hitting bumps, there's little or no kick back in the steering.

The drive train is absolutely silky when cruising around. The new six-speed automatic transmission is extremely smooth, yet it's the most responsive I have ever experienced. Those are usually mutually exclusive benefits. Hit the accelerator pedal and the transmission drops a gear or two without any of that hesitation found in so many automatics. BMW's new six-speed automatic is smaller and lighter than the previous five-speed automatic. The additional gearing with re-mapped ratios gives it quicker performance off the line with a lower first gear, better response in the mid range with ratios that are closer together, and improved fuel economy with taller top gears. The 745i does offer a feature allowing the driver to downshift manually using a pair of buttons on the steering wheel, but I found that feature to be superfluous. BMW promises it will be executed more fully next year on selected models and will allow the driver to manually shift up and down. But frankly, with a transmission as responsive as this one, manual shifting seems more of a toy than anything else.

The all-new 4.4-liter V8 engine is superb. It's very smooth when cruising. Combine the smooth drive train with the smooth ride and the 745i feels deceptively slow. While rolling out of a jerkwater town in the Hill Country outside of San Antonio, I was preparing to put press the accelerator pedal down to gain speed as we were cruising, but a quick glance at the throttle revealed I was already cruising at 80 mph. This car feels happy cruising around at 80-100 mph all day. I found myself coming into sweeping corners or tight corners carrying more speed than initially realized and having to get on the brakes a little harder than originally planned. It wasn't a scary thing, just more of a whoa, Nellie.

Punch the accelerator pedal (there is no throttle on this car) and the 745i leaps into action. BMW claims the 745i can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.9 seconds, which matches the $115,200 Mercedes-Benz S600. It is rated at 325 horsepower and 330 pounds-feet of torque, a huge increase over the previous BMW V8 and similar in output to the previous BMW V12. Yet the 745i is rated by the EPA for 18/26 mpg City/Highway, a 13-percent improvement over the previous BMW V8. Its sophisticated Valvetronic system has eliminated the throttle completely, eliminating pumping losses for improved efficiency by letting the valves, which benefit from BMW's double VANOS, control the airflow through the engine.

Modulating the brakes is easy and this car can stop in a big hurry when necessary. Massive ventilated disc brakes, among the largest and most powerful BMW has ever used, are used at all four corners along with aluminum calipers. Electronic brake proportioning ensures the meaty tires are making best use of all available braking traction by transferring braking force to the tires with the best grip. Dynamic Brake Control reinforces the driver's pedal effort in emergency braking to help the car stop in the shortest possible stopping distance even if the driver inexplicable relaxes pressure from the brake pedal. As a convenience feature, the brakes will automatically hold the car at a stop until the driver presses on the accelerator pedal; shut the car off in this situation and the system will set the electromechanical parking brake.