2009 BMW 7 Series

It's fitting in this Olympics year to use an athletic metaphor to describe the all-new 2009 BMW 7 Series, which comes to America next spring in 750i and 750iL trims. After our first drive of the new luxury sedan, in advance of its public debut at this October's Paris auto show, the best comparison we can make to the realm of heated blood and straining muscle is to call the fifth-generation 7 Series a champion pentathlete.

To most Americans an obscure sport (the U.S. has never won a medal since it was added to the Olympics in 1912), the modern pentathlon requires the most varied skills of any competition: shooting an air pistol, wielding an epee, swimming 200 meters freestyle, jumping a horse over a dozen demanding obstacles, and running three grueling cross-country kilometers. This sounds like a day in the life of an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the physical acumen demanded of these performers also reminds us of the all-around excellence required to be counted among the world's most accomplished automobiles.

Including BMW's 7 Series in that distinguished group is nothing new, but this latest, (mostly) all-new version comes to the U.S. in the spring of 2009 as a leading contender for the gold, reflecting the skills of the pentathlete with its unerring velocity, crisp footwork and quick reflexes, command of the elements, muscular elegance, and swift endurance. However, the large and lithe sedan also can do it all without breaking a sweat.

Enveloped in perhaps the quietest car cabin ever devised, our all-day traverse in a long-wheelbase 750iL on narrow, winding roads and unlimited autobahn was a revealing showcase of the car's multilayered virtuosity. Of course, the primary component of any BMW is the engine, and here Munich's engineers have outdone themselves with the 4.4L twin-turbo V-8. First offered in the X6, it will lead the 7's entry into the American market in both the 750i and 5.5-in.-longer 750iL.