2002 BMW 745i

The E65 7-Series well and truly brought BMW’s flagship into the 21st century. For starters, there were suddenly more luxury features and more cabin comfort to tackle Mercedes’ high-tech heavyweight, the S-Class. While the big Merc had shed weight, the Seven bulked up, especially in a visual sense, with American designer Chris Bangle responsible for a perennially polarising design. But the fewer you see on the road, the more appealing are certain aspects of the distinctive styling.

The V8-engined 745i was no evolutionary update but an emphatic move upmarket and prices naturally reflected the big BMW’s class-leading aspirations. Good NZ-new examples are now thin on the ground and many of the Asian imports are off the road as used buyers’ enthusiasm ran out of steam. In other words, prodigious servicing costs soon exhausted the budgets of most bargain hunters.

That makes this high-spec Titanium Silver example a fairly rare find with two keepers from new and a full workshop history. And with the odometer yet to crack six figures, we’d wager that it delivers the same levels of comfort and performance as it did when new.

Driven one? Own one? Share your E65 BMW experience: keepers@kiwigarage.co.nz