BMW gives the 7-Series the Neue Klasse treatment

BMW is expected to get very busy in the next few years as it revamps its entire lineup to shift to the Neue Klasse platform. After the debut of the new 3-Series, it’s the turn now of its flagship sedan, the 7-Series. And even if this is just a mid-life cycle refresh (or Life Cycle Impulse), the changes are so substantial that you might as well just call this a new generation.

And this starts with the exterior. While the general shape of the sedan is still there, you can see the Neue Klasse treatment bleed into its front and rear fascia. Gone are the soft lines, and in are hard, boxy edges with a (thankfully) smaller illuminated kidney grille. There is a new matte BMW badge that sits in the new power valley that extends into the bumper grilles.

You can tell that care has gone into the design, where the sensors, camera, radar, and washer nozzles are all elegantly hidden within the kidney grille, and the new optional Crystal Headlights feature 12 crystal glass elements per light that give it a unique look, especially when the adaptive LED headlights are off, and they blend seamlessly within the bumper.

The rear end also gets slim, elongated taillights that “are almost but not so” a lightbar, where the camera, trunk popper, and camera washer nozzle are also hidden within the black areas of the lights.

The car comes with gorgeous retro-inspired wheel designs ranging from 20 to 22 inches, and it can also be optioned out with an M Sport Package and M Sport Pro Package to give it more aggressive M-specific bumpers, high-gloss black trim, 21-inch M aerodynamic wheels, a spoiler, Shadowline Lights with special darkened crystals, and other M adornments inside.

Of course, you can go the other way and opt for the BMW Individual Dual-Finish and the hand-applied Coach line (something adopted from BMW’s ownership of Rolls-Royce), where the paint jobs ordered will spend over three full days just in the paint shop alone.

The interior also gets the Panoramic iDrive treatment. Gone is the crystal-adorned, capacitive strip of buttons found within the Interaction Bar, and in its place are a large floating central display for the infotainment, an almost pillar-to-pillar display for essential information underneath the windshield, and the new BMW Passenger Display.

Of course, the interior can be specified in the finest materials, with a whole swath of options available that range from leather, alcantara, or even wool upholstery for the multifunction seats with massaging, a lot of electronic adjustments, and climate control (heating and cooling). Trim options range from wood, piano black, alcantara, and even carbon fiber.

There’s a new ambient light setup that also integrates with the panoramic glass roof with built-in lighting, an upgraded 31.3-inch 8K touchscreen that flips up into the roof for rear passengers, an integrated camera, an HDMI connection, and the optional Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System, which turns the rear seats into a theater.

Combine this with the glass elements, the tech that includes automatic soft-closing doors, air suspension with adaptive chassis control, optional bulletproofing, and the 7-Series is looking less like an offering from a mainstream European brand and more like one of those ultra-luxury land yachts from brands like Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and Maybach.

Like before, the 7-Series is available in a multitude of powertrain configurations, three full electric variants, four ICE-powered variants with 48V mild-hybrid electrification, and two plug-in hybrid models. In fact, there is a V8-powered M Performance variant in the works, too. The most powerful version, the i7 M70 xDrive, has a maximum rated power output of 680 horsepower and 1,100Nm of torque. 

The new 112.4kWh battery for the full electric variants now uses the cylindrical cells found in the 6th-generation eDrive technology. Thanks to new efficiency gains in the motors and improved adaptive energy recuperation, the updated BMW i7 can drive over 720km on a single charge. Charging speeds have also been upped to 250kW, allowing it to charge from 10 to 80% in 29 minutes.

The car will be unveiled at Auto China 2026 in Beijing alongside other concurrent reveals around the world, and the start of its production and worldwide market launch will happen a few months later, in July 2026. Of course, with the current 7-Series in our market, this will only be a matter of time before BMW Philippines brings the executive sedan in.

^{Photos from BMW}