A trim level in and of itself, M70-spec adds illuminated M doors sills, custom merino leather trim and an 'M driver's footrest'. The M70 brings some added verve, albeit nothing too drastic. And each can connect his or her own smartphone to the car’s Bluetooth system, and make and receive calls routed exclusively to the speakers around their own seat. Each can take advantage of BMW’s roof-mounted folding Theatre Screen (see ‘Multimedia system’, right). The one on the passenger side reclines and extends at the touch of a button, converting into a ‘sleeping seat’-style position that is both surprisingly roomy and supremely comfortable.Įach rear-seat passenger has his or her own door-mounted touchscreen console for control of the car’s entertainment functions. In the back, a three-seater bench with folding seatbacks is standard, and electrically adjustable lounge-style outer chairs are an option. Even so, there’s an expensive feel to all of the car’s fixtures and fittings, which can only have been painstakingly engineered in – right down to the indicator stalks and sliding cupholder covers (both move with a damped tactile heft that brings an E39 5 Series to mind). As standard, the 7 Series might not have quite as many luxurious high notes. Our car’s specification had been hiked by the addition of BMW’s Ultimate package. Its ambience is conjured by cleverly combined leathers, veneers and decorative chrome trims by beautifully presented secondary controls made out of cut glass, which are enticing to touch by broad front seats with every motorised adjustment, massage and heating function you could wish for and by BMW’s gently curved touchscreen infotainment and instrumentation display console. Sitting in the front, the i7 follows very much where the iX led. But the G70 fully commits on all of those fronts, and to hell with the kerb weight (which on our car was more than two-and-three-quarter tonnes as tested). For the last few model generations, Munich’s big saloon has shied away from a straight fight with its opponents from Audi, Mercedes and elsewhere when it comes to second-row lounging space and comfort, outright material quality, technological specification and lavish luxury feel. This, it’s reasonable to assume, is where BMW imagined the 7 Series had the most ground to make up – and boy, does it ever do that. It takes the M70's total output to 651bhp and an ample 811lb ft of torque, and 'M Performance' revisions have been made to calibration of the damping, rear-steering, active anti-roll bar, by-brake torque vectoring and, of course, the character of the torque-split between the axles. It uses a new, six-phase electric motor at the rear axle, which BMW claims is both more efficient and power-dense than using two separate motors. Those in need of the most extroverted, powerful i7 money can buy will gravitate towards the M70. They draw power from an under-floor drive battery of 101.7kWh of usable capacity, which the equivalent EQS trumps but a Genesis Electrified G80 doesn’t really approach. They combine to create 536bhp and 549lb ft – enough to shade a non-AMG-branded Mercedes EQS, but a way off Tesla Plaid territory. The all-electric i7 xDrive60 is powered by a pair of electrically excited drive motors, the more powerful at the rear. Integral Active four-wheel steering is technology offered as an option on most versions, as are Executive Drive active anti-roll bars. It is offered in de-facto long-wheelbase form only, and has also grown by around 50mm in terms of both overall width and height compared with the old G11/G12 version, the car’s front axle showing a matching increase in track width. The car adopts height-adjustable air suspension, with adaptive dampers, as standard – something of a departure for a saloon that has hitherto stuck with steel coils as a default option.
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