What's the news?
BMW is continuing to mark its 100th birthday with various interesting new cars and this time it's a limited production run of a special 7 Series, called the Centennial. Guess how many will be made at the Dingolfing plant? Go on, guess... yup, that's right, just 100 of them. Move fast if you want one, then.
Exterior
There are three engines and five drivetrain configurations available for the 7 Series Centennial, which we'll go into in more detail in the Mechanicals section, but whichever specification you opt for, you end up with a long-wheelbase body. This is painted in a BMW Individual shade called Centennial Blue Metallic and it is complemented by a handwritten graphic on the B-pillars which says 'The Next 100 Years', as well as a set of forged 20-inch BMW Individual light-alloy V-spoke wheels in bicolour Silver/Ferric Grey.
Interior
More of that BMW Individual goodness abounds within, as quilted fine grain Merino full leather trim in Smoke White with black accents and further interior details from the exclusive Munich catalogue can be found. As can a fountain pen. No, really; this is one of the selling points of the Centennial. BMW has teamed up with Montblanc to create a similarly limited edition stylus. It features a lot of the design signatures that can be found in the Centennial Seven, such as a surface structure reminiscent of the quilted seats, transparent elements shaded the Centennial Blue of the car's exterior, and a rhodium-plated gold nib which has an engraving on it that looks like the backstitching found on the BMW's chairs. Impressive stuff.
High-end writing implements aside, the Centennial has a BMW Individual headliner in Smoke White Alcantara, Piano Finish Black trim elements in the door cards and on the leather-wrapped steering wheel, and that same 'The Next 100 Years' logo as seen on the outside, here situated on trim above the glove compartment and on all the head restraints. The cup holder's cover in the centre console bears the inscription '1 of 100'.
Mechanicals
So, as we said earlier, there are three engines and five different variants. The 740Le plug-in hybrid model can be had as a Centennial, with either rear-wheel drive or xDrive all-corners grip. Same goes for the V8-powered 750Li, while the top dog is the V12 760Li Centennial, which can be specified as an xDrive only. What's interesting is that we're still waiting for the 740 and 760 models of the regular range to be launched, so the Centennial will almost be the debut for these powerplants.
The 750 offers 450hp and 650Nm, meaning 0-100km/h takes either 4.7- or 4.5 seconds, depending on whether you've opted for xDrive or not (the AWD version is the quicker). Fuel consumption is as low as 8.3 litres/100km (34mpg) with CO2 emissions of 192g/km, although the xDrive is a little behind (8.7 litres/100km, or 32.5mpg, and 197g/km). The 740Le, made up of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol and electric augmentation, has a system power output of 326hp (no torque is yet quoted), leading to astonishing on paper eco-figures: 2.1 litres/100km (134.5mpg) and 49g/km for the RWD, or 2.3 litres/100km (122.8mpg) and 53g/km for the xDrive. No performance stats have yet been confirmed by Munich.
Finally, the V12. It's a 6.6-litre turbocharged unit, similar to that found in some Rolls-Royces, which gives out a frankly brutal 610hp. That's enough to shunt the long-wheelbase, two-tonne limo from rest to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds. Fuel economy and CO2 emissions are, naturally, not that great, at 12.6 litres/100km (22.4mpg) and 294g/km, but when you're rich enough to own one of these bad boys, who cares?
Anything else?
One of the options available to Centennial buyers is the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System and we'd highly recommend it, because the sound quality it can generate at ludicrous volumes has to be heard to be believed.