The redesigned 2023 BMW 7-Series and its electric i7 sibling have started production, so BMW released a video showing how these flagship luxury sedans are made.
The roughly 10-minute video is divided into three parts, showing the 7-Series/i7 body shop assembly line, at BMW’s Dingolfing, Germany, factory, as well as finished cars driving themselves off the assembly line.
In the body shop, hoards of robots clothe bare body shells with doors, hoods, and panels. Once painted, the bodies are sent to the assembly line, where pretty much everything else is added. The i7’s battery pack is married with the body here, along with front and rear subassemblies with pre-assembled suspension and brake components.
2023 BMW 7-Series and BMW i7 assembly
Also shown is the assembly and installation process for the 2023 7-Series’ headliner-mounted 31-inch rear screen, as well as the installation of the rear seats, which are inserted on a long mechanical arm and guided into place by factory workers.
Finished cars are inspected—including a short dyno run—and then the most unusual part of the process starts. Cars drive themselves through a tunnel connecting the assembly area to the holding areas where they’ll wait for shipment.
Based on an updated version of the outgoing car’s CLAR platform, the redesigned 7-Series launches in 740i and 760i xDrive guises, both with mild-hybrid powertrains. The base rear-wheel drive 740i gets a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 producing 375 hp and 383 lb-ft of torque, with a temporary boost to 398 lb-ft available from the mild-hybrid system. The all-wheel-drive 760i xDrive has BMW’s new 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8 and boasts 536 hp and 553 lb-ft.
BMW isn’t offering a V-12 option this time around, leaving the all-electric i7 to complete the lineup. In i7 xDrive60 launch guise, it has a dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain producing 536 hp and 549 lb-ft of torque. A 101.7-kwh battery pack will afford up to 300 miles of range, BMW estimates.
The 2023 BMW 7-Series and i7 are scheduled to reach U.S. dealerships this fall. Pricing starts at $94,295 (including destination for the base mild-hybrid 740i and $120,295 for the i7 xDrive60. A plug-in hybrid 7-Series and more powerful M Performance version of the i7 are due to arrive at a later date.
