Here is what BMW has in store for at the 86th Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland this month: A bigger, badder 7 Series, a bright red i8, and hybrid-model names that will get a lot longer.
Just as M Performance parts turned the M235i into the hottest 2 Series until the M2 was revealed, the M760i xDrive will become the closest BMW has ever come to building an M7. The new 7 Series is already BMW’s luxury flagship, but the company wanted it to have more “sport,” as in Motorsport—the M Performance variety. It starts with BMW’s first-ever M Performance TwinPower Turbo twelve-cylinder gasoline engine. This beast will produce 600 horsepower, which seems to be the magic number these days for classifying BMW engines as “beasts.”
The M760Li xDrive’s V12 will also manufacture 590 pound-feet of torque, which will propel the big sedan from zero to 62 mph in 3.9 seconds. If the top speed were not electrically limited to 155 mph, we would be afraid to guess what the real top end is.
The transmission is BMW’s eight-speed Steptronic Sport automatic, with special M Performance tuning. And yes, there is a Launch Control.
The M760Li xDrive gets all the balanced suspension tuning, Active Comfort Drive, Integral Active Steering, Driving Dynamics and so forth that the normal 7 Series gets, with some M Performance tweaking. It also has an M Aerodynamic Package to make it look and drive better, because what good is all that power without good aero?
The M760Li could be the perfect car for the person who needs a 7 but wants an M car. It could also be the jackpot for the world’s luckiest chauffeur.
If something slightly smaller and lower but a bit more eye-catching is what you need, BMW will bring that to Geneva also: The 2016 BMW i8 Protonic Red Special Edition.
Up until now, the BMW i8 has been offered in somewhat understated garb: white, blue, dark gray. Sales have exceeded BMWs estimates and have also exceeded sales of all other hybrid sports cars, although to be fair, some of those cost around $1,000,000 more than the i8. The i8 Protonic Red Edition is the first of a series of special edition i8s, and will be available only for a short time, starting in July.
Why a special edition? “The success of the BMW i8 speaks for itself,” said Ian Robertson, BMW AG Board Member for Sales and Marketing. “It is already the world’s most successful hybrid sports car and has comfortably exceeded our own expectations. I can think of no better illustration of the relevance of our young BMW i brand.”
Setting off the Protonic Red color will be Frozen Grey Metallic accents and BMW W-spoke light-alloy wheels in Orbit Gray metallic with aluminum-painted hubs. The powertrain and tire sizes will be the same as normal i8s. The Protonic Red Edition interior will feature red double stitching in the leather and carbon-fiber and ceramic trim.
As if the BMW i8 didn’t draw enough attention already.
BMW’s burgeoning i sub-brand is doing very well. The i8 and the BMW i3 electric vehicle sold 29,513 units in 2015. You might say that BMW is satisfied that the i sub-brand is established. So established, in fact, that BMW is now formalizing the technology transfer from what the i division has been doing to what the rest of the company will been doing.
Being announced at the Geneva Show next month is the new iPerformance designation, which will be given to all BMW plug-in hybrid cars and Sports Activity Vehicles starting in July 2016. The first lucky recipient of the moniker will be the BMW 740e iPerformance. It will sport a BMW i logo on the front side panel, BMW i-style blue elements in the kidney grille and wheel hubs, and an eDrive logo on the C-pillar. It will also make the name too impossibly long to write on forms and it will trigger a spell checker capitalization alert when you write about it.
As long as they’re showing new things in Geneva, BMW will also present its BMW ConnectedDrive On-Street Parking Information intelligent search function, which can help drivers find free parking spaces in cities, and by free, we mean not occupied, not necessarily at no cost.
We think Geneva will be a very interesting show, especially for the Protonic Red i8. We’re not sure who would buy a bright red i8, but they should be aware that they don’t really need a red i8 to draw the attention of law enforcement. The normal colors already serve that purpose, and we have that on pretty good authority.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
