BMW is giving its flagship 7 Series a big fat makeover for 2027. The latest in the company’s onslaught of the “Neue Klasse” redesign of the lineup, the changes to the 7 Series are, at first glance, fairly conservative compared to something like the i3 and iX3, which feel like totally new, groundbreaking design shifts.
That makes sense once you realize this is more of a big refresh than a totally new model. The front end is somehow even more upright and squared off than before, while the rear feels modernized to match up with the lesser Neue Klasse-ified siblings.
The biggest changes have happened under the skin, where the 2027 7 Series has been given a totally new interior loaded up with fancy screens, along with some new battery tech to unlock even more range between charges. Let’s get into it.
Looks Familiar, Right?
At first glance, you might not even notice the front of the 7 Series has changed for 2027. That top-to-bottom kidney grille, which caused quite the stir when it debuted in 2022, is still present and accounted for. This time, it doesn’t slant backward on its upper edge, for a fully vertical design, like two tombstones stacked shoulder to shoulder. Thin-strip daytime running lights are still there, too, while the actual headlight pods below have been reshaped for an upright layout.
The rear end of the new 7 Series is a bit easier to tell apart from the old car. There are still long, horizontal taillight blades on either end, but they’ve been stretched even longer for the 2027 model, mimicking those seen on cars like the i3 and iX3. Unlike a lot of new luxury cars these days, which use a single light strip to connect the two taillight pods into a continuous beam, that isn’t the case here. And that’s pretty refreshing, honestly.
The most interesting part of the new interior is the updated available two-tone finish, or what BMW calls Individual Dual-Finish paintworks. According to the company, it had experts spend two and a half years perfecting the process, which takes 75 hours to complete, or around six times longer than a normal paint job at the factory. From BMW:
More than 20 specially trained employees are involved in a complex process in which the car is prepared manually for each of the 12 steps in the painting process. Among the tasks they carry out are taping the car by hand and sanding down the body to prepare it for the manual painting process. These jobs alone account for nearly half of the work time.
BMW says this process can only be done at its Dingolfing plant in Germany, where cars like the 4 Series and 5 Series are also built. But before you get any bright ideas about optioning a dual-finish black and Laguna Seca Blue on your new M5 Touring, the company says this option is only available for the 7 Series. I reached out about a price for this finish, but a representative didn’t have option or package pricing readily available. Previous two-tone paint jobs on the 7 Series have reportedly cost around $26,000, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a similar price here.
The Inside Will Look Familiar, Too, If You’ve Been Following BMW Reveals
While the outside of the new 7 Series isn’t terribly groundbreaking, the inside has seen some big changes. It has adopted the company’s Neue Klasse cabin setup, which means there is no traditional gauge cluster, digital or otherwise. The screen in front of the steering wheel has been replaced by a head-up display called BMW Panoramic Vision, which projects information onto the base of the windshield, stretching from one A pillar to the other.
The 17.9-inch, rhombus-shaped central infotainment screen is borrowed from the other Neue Klasse cars as well, with one small caveat: It gets its own small, child-like companion screen to the right side of the dashboard. How cute!
It’s called the BMW Passenger Screen because every aspect of the 7 Series interior must have its own name. Measuring 14.6 inches, it’s the first passenger-side screen offered in any BMW production car, and comes standard with every 7 Series going forward. According to the company, the passenger can use it to stream videos and TV, as well as gaming and even music controls. So you don’t have to bring along your iPad for road trips.
The main attraction of the 7 Series interior—the hilariously large, TV-like 31.3-inch “Theater Screen” touchscreen that drops from the ceiling—is still an option for 2027, thankfully. Like before, it has an 8K resolution and even an HDMI input, which means you could theoretically plug in an Xbox or PlayStation and start grinding through Elden Ring while you’re at a charging station. New for this year is a rear-facing camera built into the screen, so you can also take video calls through Zoom, if you’re the professional type.
There Are New Batteries, But The Range Is Meh
Unlike the truly new Neue Klasse i3 and iX3, this refreshed 7 Series, in its two electric trims, isn’t exactly a range beast by modern standards. The last car, with its Gen5 prismatic cells and 101.7-kWh battery, was able to achieve up to 314 miles of range on a charge, which was pretty good for 2022, when it came out, but not terribly far compared to modern competition.
The new i7 models have cells with 20% higher volumetric energy density, unlocking more usable energy content within the same physical battery space. The usable battery is now 112.5 kWh, resulting in a range “in excess” of 350 miles on the EPA cycle, according to BMW estimates (official numbers haven’t been released yet).
While 350 miles isn’t terrible, it’s also a lot less than either the i3 or the iX3, which can go up to 440 miles and 400 miles between charges, respectively. It’s worth noting that the battery packs on those cars are essentially the same size as the one on this new 7 Series, so it sort of makes sense why the bigger, heavier, flagship luxury sedan is a bit worse on overall range.
The nice thing about the 7 Series is that it’s available with gas power, too. The base model, the 740, gets BMW’s now-legendary B58 turbocharged straight six, here making 394 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque. If you want even more oomph, there’s the 750e xDrive PHEV, which pairs a detuned version of the B58 making 308 hp to an electric motor built into the transmission. Total output is 483 horses and 516 lb-ft.
If you want the most horsepower, though, you’ll have to stick with EV power. The base i7 50 xDrive makes 449 hp, while the i7 60 xDrive makes 536 hp. Like the last 7 Series, there will no doubt be an M70 version that makes even more power offered down the line. There’s also a hybridized V8-powered gas version on the way, which sounds like it’ll be a fun time.
As for pricing, the gas car is still king. The base 740 starts at $101,350, including a $1,550 destination charge (add $3,000 if you want all-wheel drive). The base i7, meanwhile, comes in at $107,750. And the i7 60 xDrive starts at $126,250. There’s no word on price for the hybrid, though if I had to guess, it’ll probably land somewhere between the AWD 740 and the fancier i7.
Top graphic image: BMW
The post It Takes 20 People Over Three Days To Paint The New 7-Series If You Order Two-Tone Paint appeared first on The Autopian.