BMW 760Li (E65) review: astonishing engineering, terrifying ownership economics
motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy a 760Li only if you have already priced a major N73 V12 repair and are comfortable that the bill could exceed the car's resale value — because on a high-mileage example, it eventually will. The engineering, cabin and long-wheelbase comfort are genuinely extraordinary, but this is a car to own with your eyes open, not one to trust the way you would trust a 730i or 740i.
Pros
- 445 hp naturally aspirated V12 with genuinely extraordinary refinement
- Long-wheelbase 760Li rear cabin comfort rivals the era's best chauffeur cars
- Active Steering and full luxury specification even by today's standards
- Steepest depreciation in the range means the lowest entry price of any 7 Series V12
Cons
- N73 V12's complexity makes major repairs specialist-only and very expensive in Bahrain
- Timing chain guide wear on high-mileage cars regularly costs more than the car is worth
- Only a handful of workshops locally are properly equipped to service it
- Fuel consumption near 15 L/100 km is a genuine V12 running cost
The 760i, and especially the long-wheelbase 760Li favoured in the GCC, was BMW's answer to Mercedes' S600 — a 6.0-litre naturally aspirated V12 making 445 hp, Active Steering, and a rear cabin that felt like a private jet's first-class cabin on wheels. Nothing this side of a Rolls-Royce from the same era matched its refinement, and none of that has stopped being true with age.
Why it is the range's biggest gamble
The N73 V12 runs two separate engine control units, full Valvetronic on twelve cylinders, and a level of mechanical complexity that turns a routine repair into a specialist-only job in Bahrain — there are very few workshops here equipped and experienced enough to work on it properly. Timing chain guide wear on higher-mileage examples is the item that most often produces the largest bills, and by the time symptoms appear the repair frequently costs more than the car is worth on the local market.
This is the fundamental economics of the 760: depreciation has been so severe that a car costing well into six figures new can trade for a fraction of that today, while its complexity means repair costs have not fallen anywhere near as fast.
Who should actually buy one
Buy a 760Li if you love the engineering for its own sake, have a trusted V12 specialist already identified, and treat the purchase price as a down payment on ownership rather than the whole cost. Buy a 750i instead if you want 90 percent of the presence for a fraction of the risk — most buyers should.