autoevolution
 

2016 BMW 7 Series Finally Officially Unveiled: The Good Stuff’s Inside

Boy, did we have a lot of headaches trying to figure out what BMW was doing with its new flagship? There were millions of spyshots out there, a leak right before we entered 2015 and a lot of rumors about the new car that just didn’t give us peace. Well, the moment has come to take a look at how the new 7 Series turned out.
2016 BMW 7 Series 148 photos
Photo: BMW
2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series2016 BMW 7 Series
I’ll say it from the beginning: for me, the exterior design doesn’t cut it. That’s the vibe I got from the photos initially but after seeing the car in person, nothing has changed in my mind. Yes, it's not as breathtaking as the new S-Class and it feels more like an evolution than anything else. However, the real advantages of the 7er lie beneath the sheet metal, as we were guessing already. Let’s take a closer look.

Exterior/Interior design

At first, the 7 Series will be launched in two different guises, the M Sport and Pure Excellence trims and those will be joined by the BMW Individual Design Composition package. The latter will only change the way the car looks like on the inside so, as far as the exterior design goes, we’re dealing with a simple choice.

My personal favorite is the M Sport package, even though you’d be right to say that the lower side of the front bumper resembles the design seen on the new X1. Overall, this is the one for me as it seems to work better with the new, large kidney grills up front (that are extremely impressive in person, by the way), connected headlights, and new taillights.

The kidney grilles also feature active bars that change their position depending on the car’s speed and need for air, but we’ll get into that a bit later.

The front fenders, as you might’ve noticed, have kept the side gills from the BMW Vision Future Luxury concept. Apparently, they are helping out with the air flow in the front wheel wells and make the cars more efficient. The chrome details are not a plus in my book, even though BMW considers they add a bit of exclusivity to the look of the car.

Inside the cabin, the driver and his right-side passenger will not get all the goodies we hoped for. The digital instrument cluster looks better than what we have today and a bit more refined while the rest of the cabin feels like an improvement over the previous model but not a complete revolution as we expected.

There’s no augmented reality included and no second screen in front of the passenger that would communicate with the driver. The materials used have been improved and aluminum dominates the cockpit, from the door panels to the stick shift.

In the back, we get a panoramic sunroof that now can mimic the night sky via 15,000 LEDs when it’s dark out and new seats that have a massage function and one that can help you get your metabolism going called Vitality. Testing it out, I found out that it's actually a feature meant to help you stretch while traveling for long distances.

The rear right-side passenger can now stretch his/her legs also thanks to a reclining front seat that has an embedded seat rest included. There’s also a new iDrive system that has touch-sensitive surfaces and allows you to do a bunch of new stuff.

In the center armrest, you’ll notice a 7” tablet that is removable and usable from outside the cabin. With it you can adjust the standard four-zone climate control (that now can also be adjusted via touch-sensitive controllers) and perform other functions as well. There’s even wireless inductive charging included for your smartphone, inside the front center armrest.

New technology for the driver and the passenger included

As far as safety goes, BMW wanted the new 7er to be as good as possible. They added the best of the technology they have at the moment. The driving assistance features are now sporting radars on every side of the car as well as cameras.

Backing out of a tight parking spot with poor visibility is easy as you’ll have surround view and even a 3D projection of the car in relation to the surroundings at your disposal. That 3D imagery must be one of the highlights of the car. You can control it via the new gesture recognition feature that follows the movement of the driver's right hand and performs various task.

Basically, you can imagine it as a thrid person view that uses all sorts of data collected by the car's sensors to create a map of the nearby environment. Then, you can take a look at the car from up top and change the perspective too. Think of GTA V and you'll get the point.

The Traffic Jam Assistant and Stop&Go features now work outside of highways too, on every road. You can even have your car read the speed limits and adjust its speed accordingly without any additional input. To top all of it off, the car can now hold its own lane too.

Remote parking is a first in the industry and BMW will surely point it out as many times as possible. The new 7 Series can be parked in extremely tight spaces using the new display key that is similar to the one used in the i8.

With it, you can set the car in front or the back of the parking spot and by keeping a button pressed it will slide itself into it. That will be useful for tight garages but out in parking spaces it wouldn’t help that much as other people might need to open their doors too.

The biggest news must be the new 3D sensor that recognizes gestures inside the car. It scans the area between the gearbox lever, steering wheel and dash and looks for pre-set hand movements. With it you can adjust the infotainment volume, take or reject phone calls and so on.

Other safety features include the new BMW Laserlight with Selective Beam, a world premiere in itself. After battling it out with Audi to launch the world’s first production car with laser headlights, BMW takes another step forward and adds the selective beam to the options list. With it, you can forget about switching between high and low beams without dazzling other traffic participants.

Since we’re talking about buttons inside the car, we should also mention the new driving experience control. Apart from the usual ECO Pro, Sport, and Comfort modes, now we also get Adaptive mode that is said to be selecting the best settings for the way you are driving and the road you are on.

There’s also the optional integral steering that is now available for xDrive models as well while the Executive Drive Pro chassis control that uses electromechanical anti-roll bars to reduce body roll.

Last but not least, the new 7 Series now has heated everything inside the cabin. From heated seats and steering wheel to heated armrests, heated center console and heated rear center armrests. Basically, all but the roof is heated.

New engines with more power and better efficiency

Under the bonnet of the new limousines, BMW will be using only the latest engines it has. They will all be part of the B family that was recently introduced on the 3 Series as well.

The entry level petrol model will be the 740i in its 740Li long wheelbase version and with optional xDrive. It uses the B58 3-liter inline 6-cylinder turbocharged engine making 326 HP and 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) of torque.

Thanks to a lower weight than its predecessor (1,800 kg / 3,968 lbs) the new car will sip between 6.6 and 7 liters of petrol for each 100 km (40 - 42.8 mpg UK) while accelerating to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.5 seconds.

The 750i (and its Li, xDrive versions) will be powered by a revised version of the 4.4-liter V8 twin-turbo N63 mill making the same 450 HP and 650 Nm of torque. With a weight of 1,945 kg (4,287 lbs), it is 130 kilos lighter than its predecessor.

The 730d (and its Li, xDrive versions) will be using the new B57 3-liter inline 6-cylinder engine BMW has been working on. It makes 265 HP and an astonishing 620 Nm (457 lb-ft) of torque, a 7 HP and 60 Nm (44.2 lb-ft) increase over its predecessor.

Quoted to sip just 4.5 to 4.9 liters of fuel for each 100 km (57 - 62.8 mpg UK) it will accelerate to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.1 seconds.

Last but not least we have the 740e, 740Le and 740Le xDrive model, the first plug-in hybrid in the 7 Series’ history. It won’t be available from day one but later in 2016.

It uses the same layout as the xDrive40e X5 model, with a 2-liter turbocharged petrol engine up front joined by an electric one included in the gearbox case. The petrol unit makes 258 HP and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque while the electric motor is good for 95 HP and 250 Nm (184 lb-ft) of torque.

Together they can deliver 326 HP and accelerate to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.5 seconds in the xDrive version. In electric mode, the car will cover up to 25 miles (40 km) while the top speed in EV mode is set to 120 km/h (75 mph).

Fuel consumption is said to be 2.1 l/100 km (134.5 mpg UK) while CO2 emissions should stand at just 49 grams/km.

The 8-speed transmission has been revised to have less friction and works in conjunction with the navigation system. Therefore, it prepares the optimal gear before reaching a corner or a steep hill, for maximum efficiency.

As standard, all 7 Series models will get a 2-axle automatic self-leveling air suspension and dynamic damper control. If you want to, you’ll be able to raise the suspension manually for bumpy roads or mall parking lots. It will also drop 10 mm automatically when entering sport mode or going over 75 mph (120 km/h).

In the car’s construction, BMW has implemented their new Carbon Core philosophy. Borrowing CFRP from the i sub-brand, the 130-kilo drop in weight was achieved by using the lightweight material in combination with aluminum wherever possible, including the cabin.

The new 7 Series will be built at the Dingolfing plant as its forefathers before it and production will kick off this summer with deliveries slated for the end of the year.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories