These are supposed to be leaked promotional shots of the 2009 BMW 7-Series due to be unveiled sometime this month. They were found on a random flickr account.
The whole Bangle design language seems to have stabilized somewhat, you can see this car taking cues from both the facelifted 5-Series (overall body shape and butterfly-wing rear lamps) and the X6, and the humongous hog-like kidney grille nostrils from the BMW CS Concept. The rear sports integrated exhaust tailpipes in the bumper.
On the interior you get to see a preview of the new iDrive interface. The iDrive screen seems to show a Google search page, which seems to indicate iDrive could now have a web browser. The iDrive knob is now placed next to the gear shifter. The gear shifter itself is the new shift-by-wire shifter first introduced in the X5, and is no longer mounted on the steering column.
Ten more photos after the jump.
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
Very pretty! But of course this is beyond me. Have to earn at least 20k a month to be able to afford this.
I guess it look slightly more masculine especially the back.
Worth the facelift.
based on the product life cycle, this should be all new not a facelift. I think its all new with the latest f-model designation. The design is bad. The front looks like it was alright and then someone slammed into a wall and flattened it to enlarge the grille. Weird. The taillamps look a bit like the Tiguans. It doesnt gel with rear. This car has to go up against the new S-class and the Merc has always beaten Bimmer in this segment. While the Merc looks just OK, this one is bad. If Bimmer wants to beat the S-class, its gotta do it in the tech department, if this is the finalised exterior design. Round 1 goes to the Merc, hands down.
Looks like the new citreon C5
BMW as usual…. is very nice.
Now the 7-Series alr out……
The next one is 5-Series.
Now this is more like it….
Looks great, sure it drives well too…
Sorry BMW.. I will still go for S-Class if i want a luxury car…
agreed with knight_templar… grille really ugly but who care? i can’t afford it anyway..
Is it me or the new 7-series looks a bit like the corolla altis when viewed from side?
but no doubt the interior is very well-laid out….and might have to agree to knight_templar. no way would this car win with the looks alone.
Sweet-looking car! Will definitely buy one if i had the money. or ask my dad to replace his ’95 S320L into this.
looks like they took design cues from the LS 460 at the rear..
yeah, new front looks takes some getting used to, nose bigger than eyes. like a pig. lol.
I notice some VW styling cues in this new 7-series.
not sure about the front grill, looks like a car with a bad flue
The integrated exhaust seems to be the in thing now. Everyone’s doing it!
Ugly is as ugly does….the front looks like all current BMWs, with bigger kidneys (to carry the weight and ego of a typical well-fed BMW driver), and over-sized rear light clusters (Kia and Hyundai, you now have new a design challenger). And if you look closely, the slopes at the side of the rear bumper mimic those of the latest C-class. The interior is same old-same old, which now looks more like a stretched 3 series. Suddenly, I miss Mr Bangle.
The front has a very prominent grille but I believe it has to do with latest pedestrian impact protection legislations.
Looks lot better than the current one
FINALLY, A NICE CAR IN THE LARGE LUXURY SALOON CATEGORY, CAN MAKE THOSE PEOPLE WITH THAT NASTY OBESE S-KLASSE RE-CON FROM JAPAN SHUT UP
what? is this a joke?
the current 7-series (pre-facelifted) looks better lah, especially with white paint….
Obviously, this car is made for chauffeur driven. This explains the lazy design of the dash etc..very minimalistic.
The front of the car looked so dated..and boring. I guess what it lacks of, it tried to make it back with huge gigantic wheels.
The rear have a hint of the Lexus.. no originality..
I think this time around, the S-class is more sophisticated and prestige looking.
I thought they would have start integrating some Maybach features in it..like a reclining rear seat..looks absent here.
The gear shift looks very out of place. Angling it make it worst.
Franky I think the problem with the kidney grille is that it is recessed instead of protruding.
Compared to Autobild’s artist’s impression from back in 2006 which sported an equally humongous kidney grille, the Autobild version looks much better.
http://images.paultan.org/uploads/2006/06/autobild_7.jpg
It looks a lot like Meseratti Quatruporte. Look at the grill, reminds of that car
look more better than the old 1…
disappointed with the rear light design..