This is how the V12 engine of the BMW Series 7 has evolved over 30 years

In this 2017 the current generation of the BMW Series 7 will have a very special new variant: the M760Li xDrive, a vehicle that combines every possible luxury, or at least nearly all of them, and beneath all of them houses an impressive engine that gives it sports-car figures: a 6,600 cc V12. This engine also, coinciding with its launch, marks 30 years of evolution since it was first fitted to a Series 7.

In the current BMW M760Li xDrive, as we have already mentioned, a 6,600 cc V12 with TwinPower Turbo technology will be fitted, delivering 610 CV of power and 800 Nm of torque. With these figures, and despite the car being large and heavy, it accelerates to 100 km/h in an impressive 3.7 seconds. That is broadly the latest V12 for the Series 7, but getting here required evolving and creating new technology that was once unthinkable.

The first V12 engine fitted to the BMW Series 7 arrived in 1987 for the 750i E32 with code M70. At that time its displacement was 5,000 cc and it delivered a not inconsiderable power output of 300 CV, allowing it to accelerate to 100 km/h in 7.4 seconds. It was a milestone for BMW because it was the first V12 since the Second World War, and it also brought electronic throttle control and chain-driven camshafts, along with features such as traction control and electronic suspension control. With a competition evolution of this engine, called S70, BMW won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999.

But although the 1999 race used an evolution of the 1987 M70 engine, in 1994 a new V12 was introduced for the third-generation Series 7, also for the 750i. This engine, with the code M73, increased its displacement to 5,300 cc and its power also rose to 326 CV. As a result, acceleration to 100 km/h dropped to 6.6 seconds and, as a reward, it won the Best Engine of the Year award in the “Over 4.0 litres displacement” category in 1999.

With the arrival of the fourth generation of the BMW Series 7 in 2003, a new V12 debuted with one main novelty: the designation became BMW 760i. This new engine, with code N73, increased its displacement to 6,000 cc and its power rose considerably to 445 CV. With these characteristics its acceleration to 100 km/h was just 5.5 seconds. The N73 was a major technological advance, since direct fuel injection and the VALVETRONIC valve-lift system were introduced for the first time on a V12 engine.

And so we arrive at 2009, the penultimate V12 engine debuted in the BMW Series 7 F01, which received the code N74. This engine was the first to use BMW’s TwinPower Turbo technology, and its power also rose considerably over its predecessor, reaching 544 CV, which allowed it to accelerate to 100 km/h in just 4.6 seconds.

As you can see, technology has gradually allowed BMW to build V12 engines that are both more efficient and more powerful, but as the saying goes, there is no accounting for taste, and the same goes for the engines and the cars that carried them. So… which is your favourite BMW Series 7 with a V12 engine?

Source: BMW

Technical specifications of this car

SedanBMW Serie 73 versions · from 124,200 €