BMW has released official photos of both the exterior and interior of the new 2016 7 Series. While we all might be ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the latest luxo-barge to come from Munich, its beauty is far more than skin deep. See, luxury cars like the Mercedes-Benz S Class and Audi A8 are both incredible luxurious and comfortable and beautiful vehicles. All of them can take the successful business person to whatever destination they choose, no matter how far, in supreme comfort and luxury. But what are they actually like to drive?
BMW tends to make the 7 Series a bit more James Bond than Donald Trump. It’s dynamic first, luxurious second. That’s they key difference between the 7 Series and all of its competitors. For the G11, that hasn’t changed. BMW will offer initially four models of 7 Series, the 730d, 740i, the 740e and 750i, all of which will be available in Li long wheelbase variants. The North American market will only receive the long wheelbase models. The 740i and 750i will be rear-wheel drive as standard with xDrive being optional for harsh weather climates, though the 740e will be xDrive only.
2016 BMW 740i
Two engines will be offered, the 740i will have an all-new 3.0 liter TwinPower straight-six engine, developing 320 horsepower, a 20 horsepower increase over the previous 7er’s I6. The crankcase, cylinder head and oil sump are all made from aluminum, so it should be very lightweight. BMW has also fitted an indirect cooling system for the TwinScroll turbocharger, which is incorporated into the intake manifold, and will work in junction with the High Pressure Direct Injection, Valvetronic and Double Vanos variable valve timing. So not only will there be a significant power bump and weight loss, but increased efficiency as well.
2016 BMW 750i
The 750i will be fitted with a revised 4.4 liter TwinPower twin-turbocharged V8, with the turbos mounted in between the v-shaped cylinder bank, and will develop 445 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque which will be available at 1,800 rpm. This revised V8 is also a ULEV (Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) and is far more efficient than the outgoing model’s. BMW managed to do this by changing the compression ratio, from 10:0:1 to 10:5:1 and the addition of the latest Valvetronic and Double Vanos systems. This engine also marks the first time in a production car that the intake manifold has been partially integrated into the cylinder head, allowing for less airflow resistance and smaller exterior dimensions.
2016 BMW 740e
BMW will also be developing a plug-in hybrid version, the 740e xDrive, using techniques and technology learned from the i Division. All 7 Series will come standard with a ZF-sourced eight-speed Steptronic transmission. The transmission will have technology borrowed from BMW’s British sister company, Rolls Royce, and will link to the navigation system to further the transmission’s shift knowledge. This means that the navigation system can help the transmission change its shift strategy based on the road you’re driving or the route you have programmed. It can also vary this information based on the driving mode selected, so if Sport Mode is engaged and the nav detects twisty roads ahead, it will keep the big 7er in lower gears to help you out.
The ZF trans also features steering wheel-mounted shift paddles and a Launch Control feature, though I doubt few 7 Series owners will use the latter, even if they should. To improve efficiency, an ECO Pro mode is featured which can decouple the engine from the transmission while coasting, at speeds from 31-100 mph, to improve efficiency.
2016 BMW 730d
The diesel unit powering the BMW 730d and BMW 730Ld models is also 3.0 liter in size and has a total output of 265 hp. Peak torque is now 620 Newton meters (457 lb-ft). Fuel consumption and emissions are considerably lower than the previous model thanks to a reduction in weight, improved thermodynamics for the turbocharging system with VNT technology and a new common-rail direct injection system whose piezo injectors now generate a maximum pressure of 2,500 bar. The new diesel models in the BMW 7 Series line-up are available with xDrive as an option.
Nice, nice. Awesome fuel consumption, respectable hp even for the basic versions. Wonder how powerful the 60i will be, and if they do even an M Performance version of it (something like a M770i ).
That’s a great question on the V12, they haven’t touched it in years, it only has 17% more power and 13% more torque than the V8 despite having 34% more displacement.
Well if they put too much power it won’t be as smooth i believe. That said, as they have recently putted some power in the wraith, we can expect a bump in power and maybe in efficiency as well.
hey kaisuke does the 760 exist? i cant find info on it anywhere or have they not done a 760 for this gen?
The V12 version is quite special, because it will also lead the path to the future Rolls Royce engines. Expect it to be way more powerful (assuming that E65 was 450hp and F01 was 540hp, it will likely approach 650hp), maybe more efficient as well. People want a lot from it: performance of course (being at least faster than S63, S8 and S600), but also smoothness (as i said, if new generation, we’ll likely see it in the next Phantom).
Now the thing is to see if they make a performance version of that (M770i or M7), and how will Alpina do its work, with the new B7 (maybe 700+hp V8 ? Or V12 HOLY SHIT that would be great !), and maybe a D7 as well (hybrid maybe ? ).
Oh c’mon, they won’t make a performance version (IF they plan to do so) out of a twelve. The whole idea is wayyyy too mad for it (with numbers climbing close to 700hp, WTF?!? I also think the next 760i will have fewer horsepower than you suggest, just around 600 for the bimmer and they can raise it for the RR. 650 is also too much for such a car, you would be in the S65 territory, thats just way too much for a non-M), would be wayy too exclusive as well and they wouldn’t have another car to put that engine in, which would make the whole thing ludicrously expensive. It would have to have a V8 and a different approach to power delivery than the 760i.
Well they said: “If you want it, we’ll build it”. It seems like people want it. And 700hp is not that mad actually… With eh same 6.6 V12 and smoothness the Wraith does 623hp. That’s less than 100hp/liters, and they do way more than that. Assuming that the 3.0 M4 does 431hp, 700 doesn’t even seems enough ! We can even imagine 750hp (to make some room for the G30 M5 Competition).
For the RR car, well, the 760i already had more power than the Phantom and as much as the Ghost, it’s not a problem. And yes it would be exclusive, but not in RR market, because it won’t be the same approach at all.
If they do the M7 they know they have to do it mad. Just like the E28 M5: the most powerful sedan in the world.
If they do an M770i yeah it will likely have something S63-ish, but it could have an N74 as well, with just a bit more hp.
Jeez, c’mon, man! Say it out loud. Seven. Hundred. Horsepower. That is a MAD number even for a supercar, let alone an exceedingly fast luxury barges territory. Why on Earth would you need that much power? To bend the time and space anytime you’d felt like it, I know :). Btw. the glorious e28 was the most powerful sedan in the world at a time when there were no powerful sedans ;-). You’d have to make sooo much effort to do it today, that it almost doesn’t make sense. I would be really amazed if they would do 760i or the M7 with such numbers. Yes, it doesn’t seem to be a problem to achieve it technically, but…
Not yet but it will most likely come out in a year or two.
Is the 730d a B58 engine? I’m surprised they didn’t call it the 740d, unless of course they plan on offering another more powerful diesel engine in the future.
It is the B58
WHERES THE 760
There should be a 740d (320hp) and a 750d (380hp)
did they say anything about 4-cylinders? I didn’t watch release from the start
Only on the hybrid, second to last on this article…
yea I see but I thought about pure petrol 2.0 l engines papers talked about, paired with new lightweight construction, maybe they are gonna be available in the near future
Gotcha. No, no word on that and I’d be surprised if it got one anywhere.