Even the reader who sent the pictures to Motor Tips didn't quite know what they were actually showing: “I was shopping in a supermarket in Ulm, about 100 km west from Munich, and this car was parked right beside me”, said Francisco Maciel. He first believed the vehicle to be a development mule for the 2011 5 Series since it appeared to be smaller than a normal 7 Series. Then he began to wonder if the car was the future M5.
In the end he settled for the least fantastic assumption and said that the car might actually be the M version of the F01 7 Series. The only facts we can personally reveal just from looking at the pictures is that the car is definitely NOT a development mule or a Motorsport Technik version of the current 7 Series. Our opinion is just as biased as the car blogs' on the “OMG-it's-the-M7!” bandwagon, but we are basing it on relevant hints and clues from the three available photos:
- the wheels appear to be either 18 or 19 inch, with rather high sidewalls; considering the current 750i can have up to 20 inches, we would expect an M7 to sport at least as much;
- there is no visible exterior modification to the bumpers in the M-Technik style, except for the twin-exhaust with double rectangular tips;
- the brake discs appear to have about the same size as the ones on the 750i, while an M-Technik massaged version would most likely sport bigger ones.
To provide our readers with a personal assumption, we'll just say that the photos depict a tuner version made by one of Germany's many BMW specialists, since the majority of them sport round logos. Our first impression was that the car might be the new 760iL, but the V12 version of the 7 Series always came in long-wheelbase first and there is no visible (duct taped or not) V12 badge on the car and the wheels' design really don't suit a top of the line model.
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