With Mercedes-Benz unveiling the all-new S-Class for 2014, the pressure is on for BMW — and other automakers — to compete appropriately. From what we've heard no one is even close to meeting the all-new benchmark.
From what we can see, it appears BMW will NOT be ready to launch an all-new large luxury sedan until 2015. That's quite a bit of time.
The good news is that still provides the Bavarians with plenty of time to develop something truly groundbreaking. Sources are currently reporting that BMW will be using more carbon fiber in its production vehicles — as seen in the Project i autos — and the 7-Series will be the first benefactor excluding the marques EVs.
The latest spy photos show the all-new car still under development with PLENTY of camouflage. Essentially, no part of the vehicle is exposed with exception of a few parts. We can't be too sure how much of this body will make production but note there are a couple of changes over the current model. Note the new exhaust design and the hood that seams line up with the front kidney grille.
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It's no secret that BMW has been on the forefront of weight reduction in volume production vehicles. Starting with their tie-up SGL Group and development of the BMW i vehicles, they have been finding great use for carbon fibre in weight reduction. The key to this is carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). While this highly touted material is being used in the BMW i vehicles, it has yet to make its way into a series production BMW, until now...
And so it makes sense that the BMW 7-Series (usually the most cutting edge and forward looking BMW on the tech front) will be the first series vehicle to use this magical material in key areas to reduce weight, and thereby increase efficiency. As the use of this material will be a key selling point for the new model, it makes sense that the exact weight savings will remain guarded information until we are closer to the full reveal.
Slated as a 2016 model, the next 7-Series will fall under the G11 chassis code and will likely be shown off sometime in 2015...
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