Modern luxury carmakers, perhaps inspired by the Cruise-O-Matic General Motors of the 1950s, seem intent on giving every last part of their vehicles a slick, consumer-friendly name. Engines aren't just engines; they're TripleBoost ModPower SupaDrive SmoothRunners. And transmissions are GearFormance StepMaster xShifter Pros. And among luxury carmakers, BMW may be the most devoted namer of things — surprising, perhaps, for a company that uses numerical designations for actual cars while giving brake pads and bonnet latches names worthy of JRR Tolkien.
This extra-large executive express, which is set to debut at the Geneva motor show in March, packs a veritable Marvel Universe of superheroically named pieces.
It takes an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink model like the new M760Li xDrive to really highlight the practice. This extra-large executive express, which is set to debut at the Geneva motor show in March, packs a veritable Marvel Universe of superheroically named pieces. The centrepiece is a new 6.6-litre V12 — that's the M Performance TwinPower Turbo 6.6-litre V12 to you and me. It produces 600 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, which is sufficient, claims BMW, to launch the car from zero to 62mph in 3.9 seconds. In standard spec, the top speed is electronically limited to 155mph; with the requisite M Driver's Package, the limit (still computer-governed) rises to 189mph, although the model-exclusive speedometer extends to 205mph — you know, to accommodate high-altitude tail winds. There's also a M760Li xDrive V12 Excellence model that tones down the standard car's M-ness (it has a 160-mph speedometer) but amps up its Rolls-Royce-ness (it has a wood-rimmed steering wheel and a hushed exhaust).
Power reaches the wheels — all four of them, thanks to BMW's rear-biased xDrive all-wheel-drive system — via an eight-speed (Steptronic Sport) automatic transmission, which includes GPS-aided shifting, à la the Rolls-Royce Wraith. The suspension (or Executive Drive Pro system, as ye shall know it) uses Active Roll Stabilisation to contain body motions and a four-wheel Integral Active Steering system to improve manoeuvrability. The 20-inch wheels feature a stylin' Cerium Grey Metallic matte finish.
Needless to say, the M760Li xDrive comes equipped with pretty much every capitalised gadget, function and feature in the BMW arsenal, including iDrive with Gesture Control, a Touch Command Panel with a 'V12' identifier in the centre armrest, Surround View cameras with 3D View and Panorama View functions, and Auto Stop Start — which should not be confused with Stop&Go, the urban-traffic function of Active Cruise Control, itself part of the semi-autonomous Driving Assistant Plus system, which combines the Speed Limit Info and Traffic Jam Assistant functions with Steering and Lane Control, Lane Keeping with Active Collision Protection, Rear Collision Protection and the Crossing Traffic Warning function. We're pretty sure there's a microwave oven in here somewhere, too.
The price has not yet been named. The Geneva motor show kicks off on 1 March.
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