BMW officially unveils the facelifted 7 Series luxury limousine, due in Singapore ‘some time this year’ with a gigantic new kidney grille

Photos: BMW

Singapore –

Talk about a facelift! The upgraded line of BMW 7 Series has a face perhaps only a mother could love – or perhaps you could too if you like the look of modern BMWs.

That’s thanks to a kidney grille that’s a colossal 40 percent larger in comparison to the current version, also making the new car 50mm taller at the front so absolutely no one can miss it.

Those extremely-flared nostrils (along with the rest of the car) were previewed last month in China, but the German carmaker has now made it official: The facelifted BMW 7 Series is coming and is expected in Singapore ‘some time this year’ according to BMW Singapore.

Launched in 2015, the current sixth-generation G11/G12 model has received its mid-life facelift. Other than the giant kidney thingy, it now has slimmer headlight units (optional laser headlamps), and large, painted outer air-intake plates alongside chrome trim strips.

Together with that yuuge grille, BMW has produced a “new, striking and high-prestige appearance” for the 7 Series.

Obviously some will love it, and some will recoil in horror, but bear in mind that the 7er has always been the envelope-pusher for BMW as the infamous E65 ‘Bangle Butt’ 7 Series proved. People hated it at first but it became a huge trend-setter for the industry.

As before, the wirelessly-chargeable key ups the prestige factor, it comes complete with a 2.2-inch screen that lets you remotely park and un-park the car, amongst many other functions a normal car-key performs. Watch a video of the auto-park process here.

The rear end has received a fair amount of re-designing as well. The three-dimensional rear lights are 35mm leaner and a 6-mm-wide Daytime Running Light (DRL) strip connecting both rear lights provides some contrast. Chrome-surround exhaust tailpipes are also stretched more to the sides.

And when you do get a chance to step in, it’s Nappa leather upholstery all around, before an introduction to the new BMW OS 7.0 interior operating concept with voice control through Intelligent Personal Assistant (IPA).

We’ve interacted with OS 7.0 before in our BMW 3 Series test drive in Portugal and X5 test drive in Atlanta and found IPA to be the best implementation of voice control in a car to date – watch the video below to find out if it can understand Batman.

BMW Live Cockpit Professional packs a 10.25-inch infotainment screen, allowing you further control over your vehicle through touchscreen, control dial, voice, and gestures. Check out what staff writer Jon ‘Ah Boy’ Lim has to say about its implementation in the BMW X5 at the 2019 Singapore Motorshow.

Typical of luxury limousines, two optional 10-inch full-HD touchscreen-displays for the rear passengers can be added on as well.

There’s also improved soundproofing all round the car (acoustic glass, increased soundproofing of rear wheel archers and B-pillars), which should make the 7er even more refined than before.

The engines have been mildly updated and will all come with an eight-speed automatic gearbox, most interestingly, only the BMW 750i xDrive will be powered by a ‘new V8 engine’ with increased horsepower, though naturally as a AWD V8 model it may not be available in Singapore.

Singapore has offered five variants of the G12 (denoting the long wheelbase car) previously (730Li, 740Li, 750 Li, M760Li, and 740e plug-in hybrid) and our best prediction is that these options should remain. The regular wheelbase model, G11, was sold here in 730i, 740i and 730d versions on an indent basis.

Do take a gander at our house reviews of the BMW 730i, BMW 740Li and the fastest 7er, the V12-powered  BMW M760Li.

For those looking to give Mother Earth an easier time, the new 745e plug-in hybrid will carry on the work that the BMW 740e has done.

With a 3.0 turbocharged inline six engine and 113hp electric motor, the 745e has a total  output of 394hp and 600Nm of torque, enabling it to fly from 0-100 km/h in 5.2 seconds in a top speed of 250 km/h. But it only sips 2.2L/100km and can go much further than previous BMW plug-ins on a single charge, 58km, which is enough to travel the length of Singapore.