Speaking from experience, I agree on the rear legroom, but it sounds more like he needs cargo room for his equipment moreso then legroom for passengers. If the wife didn't steal the X as of late for hauling the kids around, then this thread never would have been created. I just worry about sharp and pointy corners sitting on the rear seats...a Touring would solve that problem.

I focused in on the "family road trip" part more than the "utility" part I guess. I like wagons...for other people, not myself. I couldn't drive one as my primary car, but I get why they are practical for some. I would throw the drums in the backseat and get a roof mounted bike rack if they make one for the seven.

750 iL is lovely but it will lighten the wallet considerably more .

A bike rack...on a 7...slap your hand! This is exactly what SAV and Tourings are made for, c'mon :yikes:

A customer of mine has a 95 750iL with only 70k miles...great power, but great fuel consumption as well. They should have revised the instant MPG needle because short of coasting down a hill, it never goes above 12. It reminds me of my 93 RX7TT where you could literally watch the needle sweep to the left if you're on the throttle.

It is exactly why you don't need an SUV or wagon. :thumbup:

Both the V8 and V12 sevens can suck up some gas. It really isn't a night and day difference between the two that I am aware of anyway. Maybe a few mpg's. Depending on how you drive it, my dad's 750 actually gets decent highway mpg's. The thing is that the V12 engine doesn't even have to put in effort to keep the car at highway cruising speeds and RPM's are rediculously low. It is also way smoother than a V8 could ever dream about being.

8 spark plugs for V8 cost £24
12 spark plugs for V12 cost way upward of £150
oil is way more expensive etc .
the V12 is magnificent though
it is fitted to the McLaren F1 and the Rolls Royce Silver ,Seraph I think .

I'm not sure what you mean, but ok.

He's enlisted currently, but I'm not anymore. We've developed a trust to where he leaves the car with me when he goes away on deployments, so naturally I drive the car around for the sake of difference, not letting it sit around too long, etc. Trust me, the difference in gas mileage is significant...to the point of almost being 1/2 the mileage around town with my driving style. Could it be better for someone else, sure, but that's not the point since I'm speaking relative to my driving style. you're fathers 750iL is the older and lighter E32 with a 5.0 engine, while the one I'm talking about it the bigger and heavier E38 with a 5.4 engine...and he's got double pane windows, even though it's not a security packaged car. Either way, his 750iL consumes far more gas than my 740iL, hands down.

I agree, it is smoother, even quieter revving, but when asked by him and customers who come through as to which I'd rather have...it's still the 740iL all day. I'm easily in the same HP range as his 750iL with my engine mods, but I'll still pull 15mpg in the city. With those low of numbers though, who really cares at that point about mileage when it sucks that bad :thumbup: