The 2009 BMW 7-series, regardless of what BMW says, is not actually an all-new model. It is an updated and facelifted version of the model that has been around from 2003. That’s not to say the updates aren’t significant though.

New engines, a whole bunch of new tech features, and a heavily facelifted appearance make for an interesting entry in the large luxury car segment. This particular category in the automobile world is extremely competitive, with BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Audi and Infiniti constantly trying to one-up each other.

Each of the players has some tech feature innovation under its belt, like automatic parking from Lexus, lane departure warning from Infiniti and night vision from Mercedes. However, 2009’s cars all have these features, and more.

It’s expected that a car in this segment will have gobs of power and acceleration times previously reserved for purebred sports cars, and even the lower of the two 7-series for 2009, the 750i can go 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. Handling has always set BMW apart, as with their other cars, they’re able to marry ride and handling like no other brand, but unfortunately, their lead in this segment is not by all that much.

The 750i’s engine is a twin-turbo V8, which BMW uses purportedly for fuel economy purposes. In real-life driving, we did actually notice a difference, getting almost 19 mpg combined, vs. 16-17 for the previous naturally-aspirated engine. It’s definitely not wanting for power, especially in this type of vehicle, but I’m a little disappointed at BMW’s engine sounds post-2003. They’ve switched up the technology a little, and while the engines are smooth and powerful, they don’t sound as good as older BMW engines.

BMW has shifted its focus away a little, as they used to focus on simply well-engineered great-driving vehicles. Steering feel and engine sound used to be more important to them than it is today, but today, BMW’s sales have really grown and BMW has to compete with the likes of Lexus, Audi and Infiniti.

Considering everything, the BMW is still the most fun-to-drive sedan of the group it competes in, and for that, it definitely is attractive. Interior design is also excellent, and it doesn’t give up anything to the Japanese in technology either, although reliability/longevity is another thing. Still, it does a whole lot of things very well and is a solid choice – do check it out if you’re looking in the segment.