Styling
There's no getting around this: even four years on from its launch, the outlandish appearance of the 7 Series has not mellowed in the slightest. We've just about come to terms with the aspect of the car from the rear three-quarters, but those whopping (and gopping) great kidney grilles up front, complete with super-slim upper DRLs and wider lower headlamp units below, gives the BMW a kind of distorted, distended face like an automotive Sid the Sloth from
Ice Age. Also, giving the M Sport models like our tester the
SEAT Ibiza Bocanegra treatment doesn't work, either, as it only draws ever more ocular attention to the G70's enormous and displeasing conk.
Anyway, let's at least say the BMW is... distinctive. Although we don't think the car enthusiasts of the future will look back with any particular fondness on this aesthetic period in the German company's history, any more favourably than they already do now. BMW itself seems to have recognised its grille-related
faux pas and all the Neue Klasse cars coming in, like the iX3 EV, have the polar opposite - tiny little kidneys. Which we actually don't think is a much better solution, but that's a story for another time.
Still, the LCI G70 7 Series might well be the last 'hurrah' for gigantic apertures in the front of BMWs. Rather amazingly, we think the facelifted car looks even worse than the vehicle you can see in pictures, although it's not quite the same as when the company sanitised the E65 Bangle Seven
into the generic-looking LCI from the more distinctive
pre-facelift model. Instead, Munich seems to have doubled down on this car's ugliness for the newer version - the saddest point of all being, the G70 is far from the worst stylistic aberration the Bavarians have foisted upon us in recent years. XM, anyone...? No? Thought not.
Interior
If the exterior of the BMW 7 Series is contentious (and that's putting it mildly), the interior is far more of a success. It's possibly a bit chintzy in certain colourways, granted, what with its light-up crystalline dash inserts, but the quality of the fixtures and fittings, the sumptuousness of the armchair-like front seats, the ergonomic arrangement of what switchgear there is - it's all stuff which is spot on. Yes, for the technophobes among you, the huge array of 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen dominating the dash might look daunting at first, but this configuration works slickly and the graphical representations are impeccable. And while the climate controls are on the touchscreen, they're always readily available in the bottom corners of the display, while the 7 Series retains the wonderful iDrive controller; once much-maligned, now an endangered species but something that has been honed to perfection over the years it has been in service. We'll miss it when it has gone.
Practicality
The idea of a long-wheelbase (once iL, thence Li, Ld or Le) BMW 7 Series is a thing of the past, as every G70 sits on a colossal interpretation of the CLAR platform with a goliath 3,215mm wheelbase, all housed in a body which is just nine-mill shy of 5.4 metres long. This thing is a barge. Thus, rear-passenger space is as voluminous as you might imagine, and while our test car was in full five-seater configuration (albeit the transmission tunnel in the central rear footwell rather precludes adults sitting in the middle of the back bench), you can option up the Executive Lounge in the second row, which brings in an opulently luxurious pair of chairs only. Also, our test car didn't have it, but a phenomenal 31.3-inch Theatre Screen can be specified, which folds down from the headlining for rear-seat occupants to consume their media. Anyway, behind the passenger compartment, the 7 Series also has a 525-litre boot, which is pretty good for a three-box four-door.
Performance
While there have been pure combustion versions of the G70 available in various markets, here in the UK the LCI range is going to be entirely electrified - mainly focused on the all-electric i7, but with two PHEVs making it through. One of them is this 750e, a 489hp/700Nm petrol-electric powertrain that can on the one hand offer 0-62mph in just 4.8 seconds, yet on the other is supposedly capable of up to 282.5mpg and 49 miles of zero-emission range.
As an outlet with a long connection to BMW in particular, we can't help but have a slight pang of regret that, in 2026, a BMW 750 is no longer a V12. We all remember Jimmy B driving a Mk3 E38 750iL around a German car park via remote control in
Tomorrow Never Dies, eh? Aah, what a great sequence! There are some lovely cars involved in that pursuit, including an Opel Senator and a Ford Scorpio (both of which, sadly, get RPG-ed to death), while it also includes one of our favourite (and completely needless) lines in automotive cinematic history when the onboard computer woman in Bond's Beemer suddenly shouts in a wholly unconvincing German accent: "REMINDER! UNSAFE DRIVING VILL VOID VARRANTY!" And then he crashes it into an Avis car-rental shopfront. Sigh.
Ahem. We've gone off on a bit of a tangent, there. Sorry. Also, we need to stop talking about
Tomorrow Never Dies because it's not a very good Bond film. At all. Anyway, the present-day BMW 750e might only have half the pots of the old V12 models, but you won't feel short-changed by the effortless performance this silken PHEV powertrain offers up. Floor the throttle and the G70 surges strongly towards the horizon, a smooth, rich snarl emanating from somewhere distantly beneath the long bonnet. We honestly thought for the first few days with it that they'd mistakenly sent us something with a sneaky V8 installed instead, so deep was the car's well of power. We had to keep checking the boot badge to make sure it was 'only' a 750e.
The PHEV gear is reasonably economical in the real world, too. Obviously, the 282.5mpg figure is the one skewed by WLTP tests, so BMW's combined claim of around 56mpg is probably more attainable by owners. After 426 miles at the 750e's wheel, we saw an overall and highly commendable 35.3mpg from the BMW - it
is a 2.4-tonne plus, 489hp limo, after all - with a decent 37.4mpg returned on a 170-mile motorway jaunt with a depleted battery. Indeed, we didn't charge up the 750e's 18.7kWh power cells once, although it arrived on test with a full charge, and proceeded to deliver 62.4mpg indicated in our first 50 miles of hybrid-running motoring. That, for such a big, heavy and powerful car, is amazing, and validation of the PHEV concept; charge the G70 up regularly, and it'll likely be cheaper to run than some small petrol hatchbacks.
Ride & Handling
The emphasis here is clearly on ride comfort and immaculate rolling refinement. BMW has ever and so been known as the 'ultimate driving machine' company, and Sevens have typically handled better than the contemporaneous Mercedes S-Class and Audi A8 rivals if you place any stock in engagement behind the wheel at all. To an extent, that is still true of the G70, because its steering is lovely for both weighting and feedback, and the twin-axle, self-levelling air suspension does a grand job of keeping the 750e's not-inconsiderable heft in check through the corners. Also, the standard-fit xDrive gives immense traction advantages on give-and-take roads, so you can really hustle the 7 Series quickly down a challenging route if you so want to.
Ultimately, though, its 2,455kg mass comes to the fore, so while we'd say the 750e is enjoyable to drive by limousine standards, it's still not some kind of M car in disguise (like the rather spectacular and somewhat demented
G12 M760Li, for instance). However, you won't mind that at all, when you experience how supremely comfortable the 750e is when it's just loafing along at a steady-state cruise. It's not quite at the levels of ride opulence of the
Genesis G80 Electrified, which would be the highest compliment we could pay the Seven, but it's very, very close indeed. It's a quite marvellous machine for soaking up the stresses and strains of everyday motoring, precisely what a prestige four-door like this should excel at.
Value
For the standard of vehicle you get, the appropriate amount of cutting-edge tech included in the spec, and considering how expensive the similar rivals are, the BMW 750e doesn't feel outrageously dear. That said, we're talking about the 7 Series now being a six-figure car in any specification you care to choose, and our optioned-up M Sport was in the region of £130,000 as well. Factor in that luxury limos like this rarely escape an utter savaging at the hands of depreciation and it's clear that the value, or otherwise, of the 750e is something that can be fiercely debated for hours at a time, preferably over a pint or four down the pub.
Verdict
As long as you can put up with the wrapper, the G70 BMW 7 Series is a storming car. For what it's worth, we think both pre- and post-LCI models have hard-to-digest looks, and there's also the issue that this PHEV model is getting on for 2.5 tonnes, so it's not the lightest machine in the world, hence the roadholding is admirable, yet not brilliant. But otherwise, the smooth, suave and sophisticated Seven is a sensational big saloon. And you really don't need much more from it in terms of power and torque than the stunning showing the 750e can serve up, either.
