2004 BMW 745i Individual

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The BMW 7 Series Individual (Photo: William McIntosh, Wheels24)

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Author: John Oxley

Actor Bruce Willis and BMW saved my teenagers from killing each other last weekend.

Or to be more accurate, Bruce Willis on DVD and the new BMW 745i Individual with its superb built-in DVD system that allowed them to watch "Die Hard" while I was able concentrate on my driving and my OWN music.

I must say I had been dreading the journey. Knysna is about four hours or so by car from Cape Town, and it becomes interminable if you have to cope with the constant bickering of two bored teens.

"Dad, how long before we get there?" "Dad, Cameron's taken my Britney Spears CD". "Dad, Catherine's irritating me". "Dad, I'm hungry".

It doesn't stop there. Ice starts to form on the seat next to me as my wife casts sidelong looks that promise doom and despair if I don't do something about it. And I know that ice will quickly melt and turn to steam if she reaches boiling point...

Relaxed

So you can imagine how I felt when all that didn't happen, and instead was able to drive relaxed as the kids watched DVD after DVD, and "she who must be obeyed" immersed herself in the sounds of Sting, Robbie Williams, and Norah Jones.

So what's a BMW 745i Individual?

Essentially, it's a BMW 745i that has been made even more luxurious, thanks to special finishes, and more comfortable thanks to lots of extra features.

Two packages are on offer, the Individual Extended package and the Individual Full package.

The Individual Extended package features BMW Individual Merino leather upholstery on the front and rear seats including the headrests, at the rear of the front seat backrest, and on inserts in the door trim panels.

It is also found on the centre armrest, the centre console side parts, and on an insert in the "B" pillar

Centre console

There's also leather Nasca upholstery on the centre console floor and the "C" pillar trim bottom, as well as leather bindings on the floor mats.

A two-tone steering wheel covered in Walknappa gives a bright and cheerful look to the driver's view.

Other features include Individual interior trim strips, a storage net in front passenger footwell, illuminated BMW Individual entry sills and a roof liner in Knitwear Anthracite. The outside sees new massive 20 inch BMW Individual light alloy wheels in a V?spoke (20-inch), white indicator lights, and a high gloss satin chrome window surrounds.

Additional features on the Individual Full package include leather on the instrument panel as well as Alcantara suede for the roof lining and pillar trim.

That aforementioned DVD system is an optional extra. Two high-resolution 165 mm Liquid Crystal Display Alpine colour monitors are installed in the rear panels of the driver's and front passenger's seats and give superb quality of sound and image in DVD films.

There are two sets of headphones, and the six DVD changer is integrated into the luggage compartment.

Pricing: Extended Package (not available on 760Li) - R100 000; Full Package (available across the 7 Series range) - R140 000; DVD system - R80 000

On the road

The bigger wheels and tyres improve the already super ride quality on this luxurious cruiser, while handling remains at the cutting edge in this segment of the market.

The car feels extremely capable and safe (see BMW 745i road test) and reiterates BMW's commitment to providing driving pleasure.

Summary

Like all good things, the Individual packages come at a high price, but if you're looking for something special and want to stand out from the crowd you could do a lot worse than spend the extra cash on an Individual package.

The DVD player is an expensive option at R80 000, but let me tell you, it's worth all the tea in China if you've got a couple of teenage kids - or even the odd mother-in-law....