There have been reports from the Chinese market on the availability of a G12 730Li from March 2016. The model is claimed to be powered by a 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine from the B48 family, mated to an eight-speed automatic.
The new B48-powered 730Li could either share similiar output as the F30 LCI 330i which is 252 hp and 350 Nm of torque, or it could either be essentially a 740Le without the electric motor – 258 hp and 400 Nm of torque.
As a comparison, the outgoing Malaysian market F02 730Li’s normally aspirated six-cylinder engine does 258 hp and 310 Nm of torque, so the new downsized engine has more torque. It certainly won’t sound as good as the silky six-cylinder.
The source of these rumours are apparently the screen grab above which apparently is related to some environmental registration in China.
If this is true then we know what BMW Malaysia might eventually offer at the mid-RM600k price range which is generally the entry-point for this segment of car in Malaysia before Mercedes-Benz Malaysia rocked the market with the duty-free S400 Hybrid.
The new 730Li won’t be the first 7-Series that we know of with a four-cylinder as there’s also the 740e plug-in hybrid powered by a 2.0 litre four-cylinder turbo engine for the internal combustion engine portion as well, but it might just hit the market before the 740e if the March date is true.
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Four cylinders are becoming mainstream in luxury car segment, even in full size, started by the Jaguar XJ..
Then what? 5 series get 1.5 3 cylinder turbo and 3 series get 1.0 3 cylinder turbo? Great… Make it FWD too….
If I’m right Mercedes actually made a 2.2 litre turbodiesel S-Class.
Is it true that smaller cc vehicles has smaller tax amount?
The 730Li is available in Turkey.