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BMW 7 Series Test Driver Gets Angry at Spy Photographer

We’re sure you know that being a spy photographer isn’t necessarily the best job in the world but then again, every job has its ups and downs. In this case, we’re about to see the worst part of hunting down the most ‘secret’ cars big companies work on.
BMW Driver Loses It 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from Youtube
This time it was a German spy shooting the most recent G11/G12 7 Series testing somewhere in the mountains with some kind of trailers right up behind them. After stalking the guys for what could possibly be a couple of hours, one of the drivers gets out of his right-hand drive 7er and steps up to our man, telling him to put the camera away.

What the driver doesn’t seem to understand is that while he’s driving on public roads, the photographer can take pictures of the cars in from every possible frame and for as long as he pleases without his consent. Therefore, when he says ‘You can’t take pictures of the cars without our permission!’ he’s definitely in the wrong.

Sure, his face can’t be published anywhere without his consent but as long as he’s driving on public roads there’s nothing he can do about someone filming or taking photos of the car.

This is one of the few times we’ve seen BMW test drivers actually get so annoyed that they confront photographers so we think there might’ve been some foul play at hand here. At first, the video shows the camera guy behind the cars and then up in front of them so we assume that he might’ve been too pushy or he might’ve overtaken them dangerously and that’s what triggered the negative reaction.

We’re not sure, as the video posted online by Paul Tan doesn’t offer any more details but certainly all of this started from more than just a couple of pictures. After all, test drivers are used to seeing and dealing with all sorts of photographers.

The good news here is that BMW is testing the towing capacity of the cars. That could point to a couple of new engines, possibly even 2-liter ones. However, by the sound of those two testers, they weren’t wearing anything smaller than a 3-liter inline 6-cylinder unit.

Even so, rumors say that the new model will get new engines and a 2-liter is definitely a possibility, at least in conjunction with an electric motor for a plug-in hybrid alternative to the ActiveHybrid7 model.

Since the new 7 Series will be dropping around 200 kilos from its generous ‘hips’ thanks to CFRP and aluminum a 2-liter could easily handle even a big Sedan such as itself. However, the customers might not approve just yet and sales might suffer. We’ll just have to wait and see what BMW decides.

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