BMW 7 Series goes diesel for 2014, making the planet a cleaner place and you feel like a boss

By Nick Jaynes January 26, 2014

Good news, Bimmer fans! Soon, Mercedes-Benz S-Class drivers won’t be the only diesel-burning, big-bodied bosses on the motorway. That’s right. BMW is sending the 740Ld xDrive Sedan to the U.S. this spring.

Starting at $83,425, including $925 destination and handling, the 7 Series diesel is powered by a 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder producing 255 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque mated to an eight-speed automatic.

Now, if you’re saying to yourself, “Say, that doesn’t seem like enough ponies to move a big, heavy, luxury sedan like the 7 Series,” don’t get too ahead of yourself. It’s the torques that move this Teutonic sled. Accordingly, despite being half the size of a Greyhound Bus, the 7 Series diesel will do 0 to 60 in 6.1 seconds while also achieving 25 to 30 percent better fuel economy than a comparably equipped gasoline 7 Series.

I could tell you all about the all-aluminum crankshaft, the hollow camshafts, and the 26,107 PSI direct diesel fuel injectors. But do you really care? No, you just want to feel like a Bavarian boss driving around in your luxury land yacht without paying the price at the pumps.

Oh and if you were wondering; yes, it comes in brown.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Nick Jaynes is the Automotive Editor for Digital Trends. He developed a passion for writing about cars working his way…

Cars

Best electric car charger deals: $100 off home charging stations

The handle of the Grizzl-E EV charger plugged into a vehicle.

While they may not dominate the market just yet, electric vehicles have become pretty massive in the past few years, with many people seeing them as the perfect alternative to traditional combustion engines. Of course, because EVs aren't as widespread, that means that there aren't always a ton of charging stations around, and sometimes those have inoperative or full chargers, leading to quite a few issues down the road. Luckily, you can get some excellent car chargers at home, which is why we've collected our favorite car charger deals for you below to save you trouble.
Seguma 16Amp Level 1/2 EV Charger -- $120, was $160

If you need a more basic charger, this Level one and two charger from Seguma is a solid option and can deliver 16 amps and 3.84kW, which is pretty substantial. It also comes with a NEMA 6-20 plug and a standardized J1772 connector, which should work on most EV vehicles out there except for Tesla, which has its own connector. There are also some intelligent charging features, which include things such as protection against things like under and over voltage, leakage, and lighting, and it has an automatic cut-off when your EV is fully charged.

Cars

Revamped Lucid Air shows this luxury EV’s bandwidth

Front three quarter view of a beige 2024 Lucid Air Touring.

If you’re only going to sell one car, you’d better make it count.

The Lucid Air electric car finally took flight in 2020 after years in financial limbo. While Lucid plans to launch an SUV called the Gravity and a line of smaller, more mainstream models, the Air remains Lucid’s sole product nearly four years after its launch. The Air has evolved in that time, adding multiple configurations that allow this one car to fill several niches.

Cars

With 1,800 horsepower, Bugatti’s Tourbillon brings plug-ins past the Prius

The Bugatti Tourbillon is a plug-in hybrid.

Plug-in hybrid technology has reached the automotive industry’s upper echelon. Bugatti has unveiled the Tourbillon, the long-awaited successor to the Chiron, with a gasoline-electric drivetrain rated at 1,800 horsepower, 3D-printed parts in the suspension, and an unusual sound system that has no speakers.

Bugatti developed the Tourbillon on a blank slate. The big coupe’s proportions are relatively close to the Chiron’s because the two cars need to fulfill a similar mission: cruise safely and comfortably at jaw-dropping speeds. Bugatti hints that hitting 250-plus-mph is well within the Tourbillon’s scope of capabilities. For context, the Chiron set a speed record and became the first car to break the 300-mph barrier when it reached 304 mph in 2019, so the brand knows a thing or two about speed.