BMW 745i v Lexus LS430 v Mercedes-Benz S430 2002 Comparison

The future is here already, and you can drive it. As the BMW 7 Series, that is. Know, however, that by boldly going where no driver has gone before, this warped experience radiates controversial forcefields from its contrary styling and often unorthodox control systems.

Given that the 7 Series isn't everyone's vision of what tomorrow-tech should look and be like, the big question hanging over BMW's new super cruiser is how well the whole package works, as a car. For a real-world perspective, we've put the 745i through the wringer, in company with present-day rivals Lexus LS430 and Mercedes S-Class S430.

See, where the BMW confronts familiar, comfortable conventions with provocative envelope-stretching futurism and arguable styling, the S430 is more recognisably contemporary in form and functions, while the LS430 echoes the still-valid recent past in its comparatively simple push-button faculties and matronly shape.

Whether you can afford the ante or not, it isn't unreasonable to suggest that the BMW 745i, Lexus LS430 and Mercedes S430 are about as far up the new-car ladder as one can go without being seen to be wantonly indulgent. Some doubters may even argue whether any sedan costing around $200,000 isn't having a bit of a tug at buyers' minds and wallets. Seriously, can a 7 Series, an LS, and an S-class be so much better than the very excellent, yet significantly cheaper, 5 Series, GS300, and E-class stablemates?

In a word ... damn right they are.

Don't be misled by perceptions that the biggies' main claims to fame are that they're just bigger, heavier, more fully featured, and certainly costlier than aspirational upper-middle models. They're all those, of course, and then some. They are status symbols because their lofty credentials are brimming with qualities yet unmatched at lower price levels.

Engineering excellence and painstaking refinement don't come cheap, because each incremental improvement is won at ever increasing development costs. But the bottom line is that while these cars' worth may be partly in the mind, the greater part, I'm glad to say, is demonstrably self-evident on the road - from behind the wheel especially.

It's a brave new world in the 745i. Elsewhere, learned colleague Gliddon elaborates on the controls' nuances and nuisances, but, for me, I found the basics much less daunting than perhaps led to believe. Ignoring the plethora of possible minor manipulations and some contradictions, the 745i is still steered with a wheel, slowed with a brake pedal, and propelled by just another accelerator pedal. But there's nothing remotely ordinary about what happens when you wind the Beemer's wheel or bury the binders, let alone when you floor the power pedal and let this animal engine slip its leash. The 745i's lift from the launch pad is enough to catch your breath and pop your eyeballs. No hysterics; just growl, grip, and go. Awesome.

Beemer's four-four V8 puts real firepower at your disposal thanks to an armoury full of high-tech innovations that, among other things, vary the intake tract length, alter inlet and exhaust valve timing, and regulate the inlet valves' lift. The result is a superbly free-revving lump that classily over-powers and out-torques its only slightly smaller rivals. Anytime you get behind an engine giving more than 55kW per litre and rating higher than 120kW/tonne, you just know you're in for some real ballsy times. Like no-sweat seven seconds from the off to 100 kays, then knocking on 15 neat for the 400m. And even as the relentless thrust demonstrates the 745i's punch and pedigree, its gloriously infectious metallic wail ruffles your nape hairs and raises goosebumps.

Impressively capable and comparably technical as the spirited Merc and Lexus V8s are, they can't compete with the Beemer for mumbo and music. Less effective, less evocative. Although they run impressively high, hard and smooth when given the gun, both 430s settle for less than 50kW/litre and less than 115kW/tonne. That's pretty good by any measure, but well short of the BMW's cracking pace. The Lexus comes closest by undercutting mid-7s to 100 kays and likewise mid-15s for the 400m sprint. It also emits an encouraging howl when you get its dander up and shows real mettle in urgent overtakings - as evidenced by blistering 80-120km/h kickdown response that beats the Beemer by the shortest of snouts.

In normal driving you'll hardly suspect the S430 of being a few suds short of frothy, since the engine feels meaty and willing, even if its tone is always more industrial than inspirational. The accelerator's initial reaction is as doughy as Mercs of old, despite the drive-by-wire throttle. Stretchy wire, feels like. Add a comparatively tall first gear with a tranny that doesn't hook up quite as quickly or rev out quite as fully as its rivals, and you have a recipe for the bronze-medal performance. Not that the Merc lacks urgency when spurred, but its charge from standing start runs about as far behind the Lexus as the Lexus trails the BMW.

On test, the only area the S430 gets close to the 745i is in fuel consumption. The BMW generally takes a bit more juice at each refill, but the Merc asks for almost as much, unlike the clearly more economical Lexus. But cruising consumptions are impressively moderate for such big, heavy models, and the capacious tanks assure far-reaching range.

Part of the reason these endearing engines drive so specially is that they're backed by sweet automatics - with five speeds in the Lexus and Mercedes, six in the 7. BMW exploits the extra cog for a fuller spread of ratios, beginning with a lower first gear (reinforcing the Tyson-like punch off the line), and finishing with a taller top. While you won't find fault with the quick, slick shift qualities of either German, the Lexus is even better, and often defies you to pick the shift points.

Besides adaptive computings that change the shift strategies for prevailing driving conditions, the LS430 and S430 transmissions offer switchable Sport and Winter/Snow modes. For a degree of direct control, nudging the Merc's lever sideways from D brings sequential downshifts and upshifts, spoiled only by unrequested upchanges whenever the tacho needle nears redline. But the Lexus doesn't chicken. Wriggle its stick along the dog-legged slot and the LS430 can be floored to the cut-out without negating your selection. The BMW makes the same auto-shift mistake as the Mercedes when you're manually minded, but otherwise puts traditional stickshift levers on notice that they're headed for antiquity. For normal automation, the BMW column's stubby selector stalk works like a charm, complemented by the wheel's shift buttons for manual occasions. In that vein, I wouldn't bet against some other makers reviving the ahead-of-its-time key-pad selector (featured in late-'50s and early-'60s Chrysler models) when they realise that updating is overdue.

While the 7's push-button parking brake and switchable brake-hold function attract curiosity and debate, no issue can be taken with the wheels' brakes and their effectiveness. Each model here has stupendous stoppers, as they should. The binders respond with almighty hand-of-God retardation when you lay into the pedal while giving the big buggers a good strop. The Lexus may have slightly smaller, thinner rotors (315/310mm f/r) than the others, but you'd never guess that from its consistently strong slowing. The Benz brakes are a bit larger up front, slightly smaller but wider at the rear (331/300mm f/r), and the front discs are cross-drilled in addition to the usual radial ventilation channels. In deference to its extra weight, the BMW differs not just in massively rotund rotors (348/345mm f/r), but also in using single-piston swing calipers where the others have four-piston front units and two-piston rears.

BMW Australia shrewdly specified the Euro-optional 19-inch alloys as standard for the local 745i (and 18s for the 735i) rather than the regular 17s. Shod with fat rubber of different sizes front and rear, the whopping wheels tower over the LS430's standard 17s and the S430's wimpy 16s (optional 18s on the test car), adding immeasurably to the BMW's visual presence while diverting some attention from the car's contentious nose and tail.

To make the most of the 745i's formidable tyre, wheel, and brake package while complementing the standard EDC-C (Electronic Damper Control), BMW included the $5900 Dynamic Drive option with sophisticated active roll-control.

DD divides the front and rear anti-roll bars in two. The halves are operated by axially rotating hydraulic units according to information from an array of suspension, steering, and body sensors. When the car's travelling straight, the roll-bar halves rise and fall freely, so add nothing to the spring rate, nor body control. When cornering, though, the bar halves are turned opposingly to keep the body almost consistently level regardless of the cornering force.

Don't know how well the 745i gets through bends without DD, but with the system aboard and doing its thing, the big Beemer carves fast, open twists and turns with more confidence, balance, and roadholding than you'll first believe. The chassis has a lightness, a liveliness, and responsive agility that belies the car's large size and very hefty mass. But while the handling impresses at every opportunity, the ride does not. Although the suspension soaks up highway/byway bumps and undulations with disciplined absorbency, it's often a shade firm and patchy, a touch arrogant even, when dealing with urban low-speed, small-bump irritations. That's partly because BMW's on-screen damper variability isn't as readily accessible as Mercedes' solution.

The Merc simply asks that you stab a dashboard switch to change the damping from soft to medium to firm as required. With the damping at its least invasive, the S430's suspension has the pliancy to dismiss minor disturbances with more wink than nod. When the road roughens and your pace rises, the medium setting increases body control and stiffens the ride enough to notice, while the firmest setting helps optimise the high-speed handling by bringing some serious discipline to the proceedings. The S430 is able to keep the hardly heeling Beemer honest through demanding corners, albeit without the ultimate levels of crispness and authority to its handling.

The big Lexus brings its own, different, attitude to the eternal ride/handling nexus. Instead of trying, like BMW, for almost aggressive sportiness in the chassis dynamics, or attempting, like Mercedes, to be all ride/handling things to all people and all roads, Lexus plies a softer line. Aside from now ubiquitous traction and stability controls, the LS430's suspension is unfettered by any variable spring-damping control. So, although the LS430 handles proficiently in normal to lightly demanding driving, the suspension's commitment to ride comfort means its handling hasn't the same poise and integrity as its rivals when the going gets gamey.

You get a good feel for the LS430's intentions from its steering. Weighted just a shade lighter than the others, the Lexus wheel generally seems a bit remote from the road, except when sharp, mid-corner bumps give it mild jitters. The Lexus steering is also noticeably slower than the others - not just in its mechanical ratio, but in the veiled rubberiness owed to its baggier tyres, and again in taking a moment longer to respond when steered into corners that it attacks with invariably pushier understeer than its rivals. Sensitive hands may detect some inconsistency of weighting and response in the S430's steering, depending how far and fast you're plunging into corners, but there's no delay when changing direction. And the DD 745i? Well, it steers so decisively that it might almost be the world's biggest slot car. Or most stately sports sedan.

Goes without saying that the offside front seat is the best place to catch the action. Again, three cars and three subtly yet tangibly different driving accommodations. All-electric adjustability is standard throughout, with the BMW offering most permutations, if you want - or can find - them. Arranged to your liking, the BMW seat is the most securely supportive for hard cornering, and nothing less than supremely comfortable for cruising. However, the Lexus front seats are the most inviting for sheer relax-and-enjoy occupation, if not for cornering support. The Mercedes seats put you noticably farther from the floor and can't be lowered quite as much as tall drivers may wish.

Handbrake turns are history for these cars, but their minor controls pose no problems once familiar. Mercedes manages with two column stalks (including the excellent cruise/speed control), to Lexus's three and BMW's four. Biggest gripe: the LS430's turn indicator is impossibly quiet. So's the rest of the car, but there it's a plus and the subdued turn-ticker isn't. On smooth roads the S430 and 745i can be almost eerily discreet, too, but Lexus's lead in the quiet-achiever contest must give the German engineers fits.

All three cockpits have scads more features and frills to surprise and delight explorative occupants; way too many to cover here. And besides, I wouldn't want to spoil your fun. Which can continue in the rear, where lush benches have high comfort quotients for the outer passengers at least. However, each 'third' position rates poorly because the multi-function centre armrest has priority. Besides sculpted backrest and welcoming cushion, outer occupants get basketballer-scale leg room. Ample boot-scootin' footspace in the Germans, too, where the Lexus is a just a mite tighter.

Taking a peek at the richly trimmed luggage caverns, the Germans each claim 500-litres capacity, where the oriental opposition cites 573. All very impressive. A look at the lids, however, is a reminder that while Lexus remains industry leader for quality of fit and finish, and BMW isn't far behind, only Mercedes continues taking the paint-gloss coat inside the boot and bonnet.

So at test's end, the clearest conclusion is that for all their closeness in size, specifications, and purpose, these three are very different cars. On the fulfilment-of-intended-function scale, they're inseparable. At one pole, the LS430 is more about deep quality, suave luxury, and refinement of relatively mature technologies, rather than advancements in performance, chassis dynamics, and sheer driver satisfaction. All of which, at the opposite pole, are core values to BMW, explaining why the 745i is what it is and does what it does. It's a great machine, a brilliant drive, and a benchmark achievement. But the 7 is flawed to some eyes in its looks and, to some minds, in its too-clever, too-clunky, more-PC-than-Mac control systems. That leaves the S430 with its paws firmly planted either side of centre. Not the biggest, quickest, most sensational, nor cheapest of the three, the S430 confidently treads the line between yesterday and tomorrow, between the old way and the bold way. Either way it's an impressively complete and well rounded package. It's class, Jim, just as we know it.