BMW lobs refreshed 7 Series pricing

BY ROBBIE WALLIS | 23rd Apr 2019

BMW Australia has announced pricing and specification for its facelifted 7 Series upper-large luxury sedan range, with incremental price rises across the board for the one-variant-smaller range, starting at $199,900 plus on-roads for the 730d and 740i.

Prices across the six-variant range have risen between $1000 and $6000, now topping out at $378,900 plus on-roads for the V12-powered M760Li xDrive, while the petrol V8, long-wheelbase 750Li has been deleted from the range.

As mentioned, the 730d and 740i open the range – up $4000 and $1000 respectively – while the old 740e four-cylinder hybrid has been replaced by the new 745e, which brings a six-cylinder engine with an increased combined output of 290kW/600Nm and a larger pricetag to match – $204,900, up $6000.

The 745e will not be available at launch but will arrive in dealerships later in 2019.

Topping the short-wheelbase range is the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 750i xDrive, which has increased in price by $3000 to $272,900.

Two long-wheelbase versions are also available, consisting of the 740Li from $228,900 (+$1000), and the aforementioned M-fettled M760Li xDrive flagship.

Justifying the increases across the board are some updates to standard specification, such as the inclusion of the Design Pure Excellence package on all variants bar the M760Li, which includes brushed aluminium and wood trims, and greater sound insulation thanks to thicker glass, added damping and optimised engine mounts for the 730d.

The M Sport package will also be available at no extra cost, which bundles 20-inch alloys, M-designed front and rear aprons, the M Aerodynamics package, M kidney grille with black aluminium trim, M tailpipe finishers, illuminated door sill finishers, M-specific vehicle key and Dark Shadow metallic rear bumper trim.

BMW has added extra tech to the new 7 Series including a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 10.25-inch infotainment screen with the brand’s latest 7.0 operating system, while Navigation System Professional and a head-up display are included as standard.

The turbocharged 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder diesel and petrol engines in the 730d and 740i carry over, producing 195kW/620Nm and 250kW/450Nm respectively, both driving the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

BMW has bumped up power from the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 in the 750i by 60kW, to now produce 390kW/750Nm.

To better handle the extra grunt, a rear-biased xDrive all-paw system has been fitted as standard.

The range-topping M760Li carries over its hulking 6.6-litre twin-turbo V12, pumping out 448kW/850Nm to all four wheels.

As mentioned above, the 745e now features a 210kW/450Nm 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder petrol engine, which improves the combined system output by 50kW (290kW/600Nm) allowing for a zero to 100km/h sprint time of 5.2 seconds.

Significant styling changes means the new 7 Series has increased in length by 22mm, while welcoming in larger kidney grilles and slimmed-down LED tail-lights.

In 2018 BMW recorded 116 new sales for the 7 Series, down 29.3 per cent over the 164 it managed to the same point last year.

It was enough to place it second in the upper-large luxury sedan segment behind the Mercedes-Benz S-Class (284) and ahead of the Porsche Panamera (105) and Lexus LS (91).

Through the first quarter of 2019 it has registered 45 sales, down 11 units over the same period last year.

2019 BMW 7 Series pricing*