BMW
Year 1987. The USSR stopped jamming the BBC radio station, and 19-year-old German Matthias Rust, who landed on Red Square, immediately took advantage of the “free air”. The metro was opened in Kuibyshev, the “nine” was launched at the VAZ, and in Germany, sales of the 750th started, one of which now flaunts in front of me. In the traditional pastoral of the Munich suburbs, only a modest BMW Classic sticker on the front wing gives out her age. “Have you stole this Mona Lisa from the Louvre?” In response to my joke, BMW classic expert Florian Moser smiles slyly: “The last time we started it two years ago, but it’s fine.”
Despite the considerable age of the model, the E32 has no noticeable ergonomic flaws and rushing on it is not at all tiring
Despite the considerable age of the model, the E32 has no noticeable ergonomic flaws and rushing on it is not at all tiring. Despite the considerable age of the model, the E32 has no noticeable ergonomic flaws and rushing on it is not at all tiring.
It is difficult to convey the feelings that flare up in the cabin of the second BMW Seven with an E32 body. The car, of course, is old … but it is new! On the odometer less than 30, 000 km - nothing for a car of this level and quality of service and maintenance. Tough and creaky skin without signs of wear, the evenly combed pile of carpets did not smell the autumn slush, and the ashtray - tobacco.
In 1987 there was nothing to dream of a TV set in a car - cross your legs and read the newspaper
In 1987 there was nothing to dream about the TV in the car - cross your legs and read the newspaper! In 1987 there was nothing to dream about the TV in the car - cross your legs and read the newspaper!
Driving overtakes a new emotion - admiring naivety. A huge steering wheel with a modestly embossed emblem, a selector knob a la professorship cane, buzzing like a blender, electric steering wheel and rear curtain, 16-button trip computer with a tiny monochrome display, a brick phone on the armrest … It touches almost to tears. Why be surprised? In 1987, IBM introduced the latest storage medium - a 3.5-inch floppy disk - remember this?
A four-speed automatic with a sports mode is good even by today's standards
A four-speed automatic with a sports mode is good even by today's standards. A four-speed automatic with a sports mode is good even by today's standards.
However, the desire to cry disappears, you just have to turn the ignition key. The sedan winces with his whole body under the unusual chatter of a starter, but calms down as soon as gasoline ignites in a five-liter volume. God only knows how much effort the engineers put on this miracle of technology.
In the mid-1980s, this engine made a coup: two independent control computers (for each cylinder block), an aluminum crankcase, power 300 hp and a torque of 450 N.m - this is not what the competitors dreamed of.
More recently, the cost of such a phone was estimated at thousands of brands
More recently, the cost of such a phone was estimated at thousands of brands. More recently, the cost of such a phone was estimated at thousands of brands.
So I don’t understand whether I dream that I am rushing along empty paths on a masterpiece of engineering. The car surprises on the move no less than in statics: on the one hand, an excessively light steering wheel, making almost four turns from lock to lock under the hiss of the power steering pump, on the other hand, an absolutely adequate and soft four-speed automatic and a live gas pedal, without unnecessary environmental complexes fuel draining into cylinders. It sounds corny, but I fell in love with the voice of this sedan. It is always good - and in low gas modes, and, of course, under a fully open throttle. Confident, defiant. The motor drowns in aerodynamic noise only when it reaches 150 km / h, and on the autobahn the sedan shoots from 200 km / h, breaking the mark “260” - in those years, electronics had not yet choked motors at the turn of 250 km / h. Damn, I nevertheless slipped the right turn, because in the old way I’m going according to legend, that is, a paper map.
Surprisingly, the 1994 750i didn’t seem like a radical jump on the progress ladder in terms of driving experience. The working volume of the engine here is more than 400 cubes, the power was increased by 26 hp, and the emphasis is on reducing fuel consumption. Overgrown with fatty security systems and electronics, the car has become heavier by at least 250 kg. In corners, the E38 is very similar to the car of 1987: the same "loose" steering wheel and similar responses to the gas pedal.
Salon 760i in the back of the F01: to understand the multimedia capabilities and settings, you will have to read the instructions. Fortunately, it is stored in the memory of the machine
Salon 760i in the back of the F01: to understand the multimedia capabilities and settings, you will have to read the instructions. Fortunately, it is stored in the memory of the machine. Salon 760i in the back of the F01: to understand the multimedia capabilities and settings, you will have to read the instructions. Fortunately, it is stored in the memory of the machine.
The E38 was equipped with a faster five-speed automatic, and as a result, the third generation in the person of 750i brings the predecessor 0.8 s. But noticeably improved sound insulation conceals the sensations! And I spend much more time on auxiliary functions: on the console, next to the cassette player, a color monitor and - for the first time! - navigation system. I jab my finger at the monitor, trying to enter the target. Oh yes, excuse me, the time for touchscreens has not come yet …
Here it is, the moment of truth. That rare chance to confirm or refute the thought tormenting many: earlier the grass was greener, and cars were better. I jump over a generation and land in the F60 760i driver's seat. Ironically, there is once again an occasion to recall Red Square - it was on it that on July 8, 2008, the world premiere of the last “Seven” took place. Another country, another automotive era.
Expensive cars are quickly losing value. But not this “seven” with the 32nd body from the BMW Classic press park
Expensive cars are quickly losing value. But not this “seven” with the 32nd body from the BMW Classic press park. Expensive cars are quickly losing value. But not this “seven” with the 32nd body from the BMW Classic press park.
The comfort in the 2008 model car is phenomenal. It seems that stuffed up ears - so quiet sedan. Which even more dissolves the sense of reality. And it is this: V12 version N74 is 6 liters of volume. Power at 544 HP carries a car weighing 2105 kg to the first hundred in just 4.6 s.
The modern "seven" is a democracy with all its pluses and minuses. Do what you want, but in a strictly defined framework. You are free to choose the settings of the chassis, but after a second you get a completely different car: instead of the assembled spring with an elastic steering wheel - a boat swaying on the waves with sluggish reactions. And you have to get used to this metamorphosis.
The sedan does not want to move off with the driver's door open and blurs me with a melodic trill. Active cruise control allows you to forget about the pedals and perhaps not admire the scenery, but twitches the wheel, urging you not to cross the markings. And it is worth braking more actively, pretensioning seat belts. The night vision system allows you to drive almost blindly, but the projection of speed limits (including those read from temporary signs) and the navigation system's instructions on the glass, right in front of your eyes, do not let you forget about the rules. Do not get lost, do not break, do not crash … I feel protected and invulnerable, but not free at the same time. And sometimes you really want to leave your house and not take your phone with you - you live without mobile phones in the eighties!
Customers' interest in V12 is consistently high: every sixth BMW “seven” rolls off the assembly line with such a motor
Customers' interest in V12 is consistently high: every sixth BMW “seven” rolls off the assembly line with such a motor. Customers' interest in V12 is consistently high: every sixth BMW “seven” rolls off the assembly line with such a motor.
Saying goodbye to Florian Moser, he could not resist the tricky question:
- In the light of the hybridization of everything moving - how many more will live twelve BMW cylinders?
- In the next generation, such a motor will definitely be. And you know, I’m sure of more. When the oil on the planet comes to an end, the last drops of gasoline squeezed out of it will burn in V12. Are you betting?
V12 FROM A HISTORY
9
Having published the inline six in 1971, BMW began in early 1972 to develop a 12-cylinder engine, code-named M33. Two years later, a 5-liter 300-horsepower prototype equipped with fuel injection was ready. But all its advantages were crossed out by a weight of 315 kg. Therefore, the second V12, with the M66 index, was built on the basis of a new, lighter “six”, moreover, in two versions - with a volume of 3.6 and 4.5 liters. The second option during testing, which took place in 1977, developed 275 forces. It was 40 kg lighter than the M33. It is a pity that the fuel crisis that burst out buried this unit as well. They returned to the project only in 1982, and they refused to cross two six-cylinder blocks in favor of developing from scratch. Thus, a 240-kilogram motor was born, which became the first production V12 of the post-war era.
ten
The next after the M70 was a modification of the M73 of the 1994 model, which stood under the hood of the E38. Despite the increase to 326 hp power, gas consumption fell by an average of 13%. This is achieved by reducing friction losses and increasing the compression ratio from 8.8: 1 to 10: 1.
eleven
The new generation motor was modernized by 2002 - for the third generation of the seventh E65 series. With a power of 445 hp This engine was also the first V12 with direct fuel injection. Among the technical features - four valves per cylinder and Valvetronic gas distribution system.
