Say Hello To The New BMW 7-Series: Leaner, Cleverer, And Packing A Massive Kidney Grille

There’s a new version BMW’s biggest and swankiest saloon, and before we go any further, yes, that is a rather big set of teeth it has. Like the outgoing model, BMW has given the new 7-series - also known as ‘G11’ - a particularly massive kidney grille. However, we won’t get caught up in the love-it-or-hate-it looks of the front, for two reasons: the rear looks considerably tidier, and (more importantly) what’s going on under the skin is much more interesting.

The G11’s chassis features something called ‘Carbon Core’, pinched from the i3 and i8. It features the extensive use of recycled carbonfibre reinforced with thermoplastic in its construction, and has a dramatic effect on the new 7: it’s around 130kg lighter than the old one.

This means if you shirk the sensible options like the 730d (3.0-litre turbodiesel), 740i (3.0-litre turbo straight-six) and go for the 4.4-litre V8 twin-turbo 750i Xdrive version, you’ll have a rather fast car. The 444bhp range-topper will do 0-62mph in an impressive 4.4 seconds, while still managing 34.9mpg combined and puffing out an almost Greenpeace-friendly 189g/km of Co2. A V12 should be joining the range at some point.

As you’d expect, it’s also packed full of clever techy stuff. It still has iDrive with the usual rotary control knob, although this time there’s a touchscreen too, and a gesture control system to feel like you’re Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

There’s air suspension as standard - which adjusts according to information given by the 7’s road-scanning camera - and it comes with a remote parking feature. Yep, you read that correctly: if you find a tricky space, you can get out and park the car using the key.

So, why should you be interested in a luxury saloon designed for high-ranking execs and the like, with a starting price of £64,530? Because much of the new 7-series’ clever bits will filter down to the rest of the range, that’s why. A high-powered 3-series or even full-blown M3 with Carbon Core? That’s an enticing prospect. Let’s just hope that massive grille isn’t one of the 7’s hand-me-downs…