German Car Zone

The press kit for the 2009 BMW 7 Series thuds on the table like a telephone directory: It's an astonishing 281-page tome. BMW has a lot to say about the new 7 Series, and for once it's not all marketing BS. This is one of the most technically advanced automobiles ever built.

The new 7 Series will make its U.S. debut at the Los Angeles Show next month and is expected in American BMW dealers by spring 2009. Only one powertrain, the 400-hp, 450-lb-ft, twin-turbo 4.4L V-8, will be available, in short wheelbase 750i form and the 5.5-in.-longer 750Li, which is expected to comprise the bulk of U.S. sales. This engine not only outpowers the 4.8L V-8 in the outgoing 750Li, it also has more torque than the 6.0L V-12 fitted to the 760Li.

There are no plans to offer the 326-hp, 332-lb-ft, twin-turbo 3.0L straight-six version (badged, somewhat confusingly, 740i in Europe), nor the sensational 245-hp, 398-lb-ft, single-turbo 3.0L straight-six diesel (730d), which with a 0-to-60-mph time of about 7.0 sec is just two seconds slower to 60 mph than the big V-8, yet uses almost 40% less gas on the European combined fuel-consumption test (BMW claims 32.6 mpg). However, BMW officials admit they will monitor the impact of high gas prices and the looming CAFE regulations to assess whether a smaller-engine 7 Series might make sense at some point in the future.

No official word on pricing yet, but the new 7 Series will be more expensive than the outgoing model. Loud hints dropped at the international launch program in Dresden, Germany, suggest prices will start in the low- to mid-$80,000 range.


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2009 BMW 750Li and 750i Technology - Inside the 2009 BMW 7 Series - Motor Trend


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