Want to know what the big man on the BMW campus will be wearing in 2016? You’ve come to the right place, B&B.
AutoBuzz posted a couple of the photos of the upcoming 2016 7 Series — the 730d, in this case — on its Facebook just before 2014 gave way to 2015. The main draw is its new face, sporting a pair of laser headlamps originally used in the i8. It will also have an option to replace its plastic engine cover with leather, a feature available to i8 owners who choose the $10,000 Pure Impulse World package.
The 2016 7 Series — the first to use BMW’s new 35up modular platform — will also undergo a weight-loss regimen, thanks to a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber. The new car could shed as much as 300 to 400 pounds over the current model’s 4,400 base weight, if not more: MotorAuthority believes the big luxury sedan could fall below the current 5 Series’ 3,700 pounds.
The 7 isn’t my favorite BMW model. It’s just not a segment I have any interest in, but I know for BMW to be taken seriously in the luxury segment it needs this car. Glad to see some weight reduction and very curious on the laser headlights and I know this isn’t new technology for BMW. Perhaps TTAC should do an article with pros/cons of newer headlight systems.
The 7 is the reduction ad absurdum of the baby Boomer fad for looking “sporty.”
In a 3, achieving BMW’s much ballyhooed 50/50 weight distribution by moving everything rearwards makes the world of sense, as it lands the “important person”, the driver, right in the middle between the axles. Where motion is the most subdued, allowing firmer tuning with minimal concessions to ride comfort.
In the 7, the same layout, coupled with “that other fad” of “airline 1st class” legroom in the rear seat, lands the important person, the back seat passenger (why else buy a 7 with a limo rear seat?), right on top of the rear axle. Where all of BMW’s “sports derived” engineering choices; from short travel, lowered, suspensions, to harder spring rates and aggressive damping, to tires without sidewalls mounted on 24″ rims, to whatever little tire there is being made of solid hard runflat rubber; gang up on the poor sod’s backside. Making sure he never forgets it takes hard work to look good.
The back end with it’s chrome strip across the tail lights and the exaggerated exhaust tips ought to do wonders for Buick sales, because that’s what it looks like, a Buick
That’s a bit harsh. By the way, that chrome strip and those tail pipes have been a design element on the 7 series for years now. It’s not new at all.
Good point, is it unreasonable to think that a 7 series should be ahead of the curve instead of staying with the status quo?
“Good point, is it unreasonable to think that a 7 series should be ahead of the curve instead of staying with the status quo?”
They tried “ahead of the curve” with the E65 and it got them near-universal scorn.
Corey likes it, but he likes weird cars
Is it just me, or is their interior design looking tired these days?
@Lie2Me
He would, but he and that 28 guy are just weird guys.
I blame the fact that you and Corey were born under the malaise sign of the automotive zodiac. I find it amazing that you guys even want to drive with PMSD (Post Malaise Stress Disorder)
Explain today’s young people who were born much later under the mighty sign of fuel injected powah. I suspect if I dangled car keys or an Iphone in front of them, 8 times out of 10 the phone will win out.
You know, born under the malaise sign, yes. But just barely. And I don’t think anybody in my family actually had a malaise car during my lifetime.
I started in the back of an 85 Regal coupe. Then they got the awful 88 Dynasty. My grandparents had maybe an 84 Caprice Classic ex-popo (is that malaise?) and an Astro van. Then a 92 New Yorker and an 86 5th Avenue (is that malaise?). My aunt did have the 86 or 88 Corollo-Nova, that seems malaise.
(Shakes head) Kids today
“85 Regal coupe
88 Dynasty
84 Caprice Classic
92 New Yorker
86 5th Avenue
88 Corollo-Nova”
OMG! Those are malaise era poster-cars. You poor dear, how do you even function behind the wheel of a car without going through a vinyl/velour flashback induced fit?
I didn’t think those were! In my mind, malaise cars had to be like pre-85 and have a carb!
Well, that was the recovery period, but still a lot of lingering malaise in that list
I think all the chrome bits on German cars these days are catering to the Chinese market.
We know that no one understands the Chinese market like Buick, so perhaps you’ve nailed it
In the end, are these chrome design elements any different than GM and Cadillac throwing chrome rims on everything? Light chrome trim seems common these days. To me though, the back end is looking more Lexus than Buick and that’s not a complement.
I liked the @ss on this one. I feel like they didn’t use this rear design for very many model years. I rarely see it.
http://i03.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/929/531/104/1275626129144_us-myalibaba-web3_230.jpg
Corey’s a “Bangle Butt” fan
Make no mistake, not all of the versions! Just that one. I like the 00-01, then this one. The present versions look too compensatory in the front area, and I don’t dig em.
I’ve been hoping against hope that someone would finally offer a leather engine cover. Thankfully, that day has apparently arrived.
Not sure I get this option either. Porsche offers to wrap almost everything in leather, so I guess this is the next level s#^*? It also seems to me the leather could be easily compromised by heat. I’d rather pay for options that improve performance or driving, but hey, I guess this improved the idea of “what’s under the hood”.
Sheesh this was already on Yahoo’s auto section on Friday. It linked to Jalopnik or something.
My favorite part was someone embedding the photo of the “Laserlight” headlamp with the following comment.
pew pew, pew pew pew
Cool story bro
Sometimes it’s so nice commenting here.
Sometimes it’s nice to get a taste of your own medicine :)
LOL made me laugh, good job.
*strum-strum-strum-strum-lots of strumming!*
I got laser eyes
I know what you’re thinking
It comes as no surprise
Christmas lights are blinking
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
I got laser eyes (hey!)
I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
I got laser eyes (hey!)
I got laser eyes (hey!)
I know what you’re thinking (hey!)
It comes as no surprise
Christmas lights are blinking
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
I got laser eyes (hey!)
I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
I got laser eyes (hey!)
I got laser eyes (hey!)
I know what you’re thinking (hey!)
Christmas lights are true (hey!)
Christmas lights are blinking (hey!)
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
I got laser eyes (hey!)
I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
And I’m so curious
I got laser eyes (hey!)
I got laser eyes (hey!)
Ahhhhhhhh… SUFFRAGETTE!!!
I can’t believe they’d choose a navy one with black wheels as a debut version, unless the wheels are gonna get changed before the show. Cause they look awful.
This must be the 730d Allroad with all that ground clearance ;).
And, to compete with the S250 it seems BMW will be offering the 720i in countries with high displacement taxes.
Nice to see a Bimmer with this price has the Chrysler 200 wheel paint scheme going on.
You do realize this is a test mule not a show version?
Can’t wait to spend $2470 to replace one of those headlamp assemblies. Yay, meaningful progress.
You can wait in the Laserlight Lounge, sir.
Ford’s MyColor + BMW’s Laserlight + *insert narcotic here* + ??? = PROFIT!
The “Laserlight Lounge” can be found in another country, because not legal in the US
The US has a long history of ridiculous headlight regs, dating all the way back to ruining Citroen’s chances here.
So expensive cars should use cheap parts? I don’t understand your point.
The point was that laser headlamps are not necessary. They are a complex innovation solely to be complex and innovative.
Mostly agree, but there are *some* tangible benefits. Laser headlamps should theoretically be more reliable than high power LEDs, since they tend to degrade the surfaces they’re mounted to over time with heat.
The point was that laser headlamps are not necessary.
Neither is a v-8 or V-12 or air suspension or leather or wool or wood, if you just want to get from point A to B – buy a Fit if you want big buy an Avalon.
They sell Avalons with cloth seats still?
In BMW’s defense replacing anything on a 7 series costs $2470.
Looking at the interior shot on this it looks like the 2014+ S-Class is going to eat this things lunch. I used to think the E38 was one of the coolest cars on the road when I was younger, but the following model years seem to have just brought a succession of meh.
The e38 was the pinnacle of sedan design. Subsequent versions of the 7 series have been disappointing at best and ridiculous at worst, especially the version that followed the e38. BMW has lost it’s way from a design perspective. I’ve not driven anything newer than my e91 to know if driving dynamics have also been removed.
When I worked at a BMW dealer a few years ago the manager made a mistake of scooping up a bunch (like seven) two-to-three year old 7 series for CPOing. No one bought them. He ended up losing tens of thousands on the purchase, which he made within weeks of going to a new dealership and a new city.
The blackbook value of a 2008 7 series is pretty eye watering – around 10 grand. Or less than my 2008 Volvo V70 which cost half as much new.
Wow, the 7-series is like the poster child of “hit ’em where they ain’t” used car values
Careful, a used 7 hits back hard and often in the wallet region.
To echo Corey’s sentiment above, I’ve seen this interior before– on every car they currently make, save perhaps the Z4. I sat in every current model at the dealer this morning while waiting for an alignment on my car. Are they going to anything new?
The amazing thing about the BMW interiors is I bet they have less interior bits in common than the old cars did, and yet they manage to look increasingly similar. The E38 and E39 shared HVAC controls, radios, instrument clusters, etc.
Wasn’t LaserLight a CD label in the mid 90’s that put out crap recordings of Classical music?