First drive: 2016 BMW 7-series prototype

XL BIMMER PRETENDS IT’S AN M

   The new 2016 BMW 7-series will be on sale “around the holidays,” say company reps, but we’ve gotten some laps behind the wheel at BMW’s Miramas test facility in southern France. We’ll get details on the major features of the car over the course of the next week, but for driving impressions here’s what you need to know:

-- Carbon fiber is used throughout the car’s structure to lighten weight by about 280 pounds over the current 7-series

-- Electrically controlled rear-wheel steering aids handling at low and high speeds

-- An “adaptive” mode is added to the sport/comfort/EcoPro drive mode options, and uses driving style, navigation data and cameras to determine the best driving mode for a given situation 

Lightweight materials, including carbon fiber and aluminum, take approximately 287 pounds out of the new 7-series' overall weight

   Our prototypes were long-wheelbase, inline-six cars; BMW reps were coy about any other engine details, but we got indications that a new-generation straight-six based on the architecture of the I-3 powering the i8 and new Mini Cooper was under the hood.

PHOTO BY BMW

   While we were allowed some spirited laps, there was a pace car at all times and the new 7-series has been thoroughly tested on this exact pavement; given those controlled conditions, real-world impressions will have to wait.

PHOTO BY BMW

   Caveats aside, the prototype was an extraordinary driver at all speeds, with the rear steering function and lightweighting measures combining to make the car feel a full size smaller than it was. Though not exactly the mythical M7 fanboys covet, the 7-series did things a luxury car shouldn’t be capable of when driven in anger. Stability, steering response and body control are the best we’ve ever experienced on a full-size Autobahn bruiser. 

PHOTO BY BMW

   While underhood specs are still a mystery (though, based on i8 numbers, could technically be 440 hp or so), whatever it is, it’s good. The six delivered smooth, silent torque and worked brilliantly with the automatic transmission; again, we were driving at the track at which the car had been developed, but if the 7-series’ shift calibration works this well in the real world, powertrain refinement will be a highlight.

PHOTO BY BMW

   The immediate question is, how does the new 7-series compare to the Mercedes-Benz S-class? That’ll have to wait for a detailed side-by-side drive. We can fairly say that BMW may be in the final stages of developing the best driver’s luxury car on the market, if not the most luxurious luxury car on the market.

PHOTO BY BMW

   There’s a lot more to tell about the new 7-series, including a detailed explanation of its lightweighting and carbon-fiber use, updates to iDrive that include touch screens and gesture control, and some driver aids you’ve heard of (and some you haven’t) that’ll be showing up on the new car; stay tuned, and we’ll bring you those stories over the course of the next week or so.