BMW 7 Series refresh

BMW used Auto China week to reveal a reworked 7 Series that brings its Neue Klasse technology into the flagship sedan for the first time. (press.bmwgroup.com, autoevolution.com) The 2027 7 Series made its debut on April 22, 2026, in parallel events in Beijing and New York, with production scheduled to start in July at BMW’s Dingolfing plant in Lower Bavaria. BMW said the launch lineup includes two electric versions, the i7 50 xDrive and i7 60 xDrive, plus the gasoline 740 and 740 xDrive; a plug-in hybrid 750e xDrive is due in the first quarter of 2027. (press.bmwgroup.com, press.bmwgroup.com) Inside, BMW replaced the old dashboard layout with Panoramic iDrive, a full-width display concept borrowed from its next-generation cars, and added a front passenger screen. The rear-seat 31.3-inch Theater Screen remains, and BMW said it now supports Zoom video calls when paired with the car’s connectivity features. (press.bmwgroup.com) Neue Klasse is BMW’s name for the hardware and software package it plans to spread across its lineup, covering battery systems, displays, driver-assistance computing and a new design language. BMW says the rollout starts with the iX3 and will extend across the portfolio by the end of 2027, regardless of whether a model is electric, hybrid or combustion-powered. (bmwgroup.com, press.bmwgroup.com) That helps explain why BMW put the first luxury-segment version of the package into the 7 Series instead of waiting for a clean-sheet limousine. The company is using its highest-priced sedan to introduce the new interface and styling while still selling electric, gasoline and later plug-in hybrid variants on one model line. (press.bmwgroup.com, bmwgroup.com) BMW said the electric i7 now uses a high-voltage battery with cylindrical cells, a format the company says improves energy density versus its earlier pack design. Quartz reported BMW is claiming more than 720 kilometers, or about 447 miles, of range on the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure, the European test cycle that typically produces higher numbers than the United States Environmental Protection Agency system. (press.bmwgroup.com, qz.com) BMW’s published specifications for the i7 xDrive60 list a 101.7-kilowatt-hour net battery, up to 195-kilowatt direct-current fast charging and a 10% to 80% charge time of 34 minutes. The same spec sheet lists the car at 5,391 millimeters long with a 3,215-millimeter wheelbase, keeping the 7 Series in the large chauffeur-car class that is especially important in China. (press.bmwgroup.com, autoevolution.com) BMW called this the most extensive update it has ever carried out on the 7 Series, even though the car stays within the current generation’s basic footprint. The company’s next test is the market launch a few months from now, when buyers will decide whether a flagship sedan can sell a software-and-screen overhaul as convincingly as a new body. (press.bmwgroup.com, qz.com)