BMW 7-Series more efficient

...boasting fuel consumption more in line with small four-cylinder cars than its traditional luxo-rivals.

"This is a car that really redefines how efficient a large luxury car can be," BMW Australia's Toni Andreevski says.

The new 730d has an official fuel consumption rating of 7.2L/100km, just 0.2 of a litre above the limit set by the government for cars to benefit from the green car exemption from luxury tax.

"It is just outside that level at the moment but with almost daily improvements in our efficient dynamics technology I am hopeful that it won't be too long before that level is reached," Andreevski says.

In the interim BMW will just have to be satisfied that the 730d is the first car in the upper luxury sedan segment that emits less than 200 grams of CO2 per kilometre, putting out 192 g/km.

That measure puts it ahead of the Lexus LS600hL hybrid and diesel competitors in the segment and on a par with a clutch of other four-cylinder cars on the Australian market, such as the manual 1.8-litre Holden Astra CD, the manual 1.6-litre Skoda Roomster and the automatic 1.8-litre Honda Civic VTi.

"It's not often a luxurious five-seater saloon is compared with smaller four-cylinder cars, but in terms of fuel consumption the 730d demonstrates the remarkable achievement of BMW’s EfficientDynamics programme," says BMW Australia's general manager of marketing, Tom Noble.

The 730d's Euro 5 compliant turbocharged all-alloy straight six-cylinder engine produces 180kW and 540Nm, giving the car a 0-100km/h sprint of 7.2 seconds.

The 3.0-litre diesel features a third generation common rail direct injection system with piezo injectors and a maximum injection pressure of 1800 bar, variable turbo geometry, diesel particle filter and oxidation catalyst.

Standard equipment levels on the 730d are the same as the recently released 740i, including heads-up display, rear view camera, metallic paint, 18-inch light-alloy wheels, Dynamic Driving Control, Brake Energy Regeneration, adaptive headlights, heated and ventilated front seats, sunroof, soft close on all doors, television tuner and voice recognition.