NEWYORK: Our spy have fixed the very first shots of the next generation BMW 7-Series luxury sedan’s dashboard. There are plenty of new basics creation their appearance in the next 7er’s cabin, including the standalone screen for the infotainment system and what looks like BMW’s latest digital instrument panel and touch-sensitive controls for the air-conditioning system, but overall, the dash has a familiar feel to it.
And no, it doesn’t really look anything like the Vision Future Luxury Concept from the Beijing Auto Show unless you have an overly vivid imagination.
The iDrive system has a similar controller and buttons as the current model positioned next to the automatic gear lever selector, but the screen has a different layout with mobile- and tablet-like icons in a tile format selected via swiping.
The new 7-Series, codenamed G11, is believed to be be the first BMW to ride on the brand’s new “35up” rear-wheel-based scalable platform architecture before it rolls out to other models in the range, including the next 5-Series and 6-Series.
The use of lighter materials, including a mix of aluminum, magnesium and steel as well as carbon fiber for various parts of the car such as the hood and roof, are expected to help the G11 shed up to 200kg or 440 pounds over the current car, even though it will have the same footprint.
We could see BMW launching smaller displacement engines such as a 2.0-liter turbocharged four for the 725i fitted with its Efficient-Dynamics Toolkit, in addition to the regular straight-six, V8 and V12 turbocharged engines with improved performance and efficiency. A plug-in hybrid model and possibly sportier M Performance editions will be added to the lineup as well.
The 7-Series will be offered in two-wheelbase lengths and with the option of all-wheel drive when it’s launched late next year.
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