Test: BMW i7 M70 – Elektrolimo on steroids in which you would rather drive yourself than be driven

A large limousine, shouldn’t it have a V8 or better yet a V12?

With the i7, BMW showed last year that a top limousine with an electric drive is possible. While the conventional drivetrain had to be pushed to the limit – as many cylinders and gears as possible plus the necessary insulation material – to perform quietly and without shocks or vibrations, this appears to be part of the standard properties of the electric motor. Especially now that the battery technology required for electric traction has matured enough, the electric motor appears to be an excellent alternative to a majestic V8 with a refined eight-speed automatic transmission to turn a car into a comfort bubble. The electric version of the 7 Series is available as a rear-wheel drive i7 eDrive50 and for those who want more, the four-wheel drive i7 xDrive60. It now appears that the story is not over yet. The people of BMW M GmbH have also taken care of the i7 with great enthusiasm. Here is the i7 M70 xDrive.

When you are being driven, an electric motor is the ultimate in comfort.

Will BMW rival Tesla with the i7 M70?

The front electric motor of the i7 xDrive60, a 258 hp synchronous motor with electromagnets, has been left as it is. At the rear, the 313 hp machine has been replaced by a six-phase unit that peaks at 489 hp, BMW’s most powerful electric motor to date. This now brings the total maximum power of the car to 660 hp. That value was once considered extremely impressive, but a basic Tesla Model S now has more. Anyway, with BMW you don’t have to precondition a battery to get the most out of it. The i7’s peak power, together with the maximum torque of 1,100 Nm, is immediately available by simply pressing a button to activate the M Launch Control or by briefly pulling the M Sport Boost paddle. It sounds nice in theory, but in practice it means that we are pressed firmly into our seats when we are catapulted from a standstill to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds, a whole second faster than the i7 xDrive60. Admittedly, we know EVs that can do that a little faster, but those are not 2.7-ton limousines. And it doesn’t stop at just a single sprint. Thanks to intensive cooling of both the engines and the battery pack, the car continues to respond enthusiastically to the accelerator pedal even when pushing for a long time.

A Tesla Model S has more power than the BMW i7 M70, but the handling is different.

How does the BMW i7 M70 handle the asphalt?

Just before the first bends appear, the eager brakes (mechanical plus regenerative) not only appear to work seamlessly together, but can also be easily dosed to quickly regain speed. That creates trust. That confidence is further increased when we turn the corner at a brisk pace. Active stabilizers, air suspension, adaptive shock absorbers and four-wheel steering, all hardware is present and is quickly controlled by appropriately responsive software. The complete bag of tricks has been used, and with effect: the large limousine turns nicely flat and much more lightly around the corner than we expected based on its 2.7 tons. The steering has more than enough feeling to push the limits in an extremely controlled and manageable manner. Those boundaries are far away, but they certainly exist. We had to push hard on the wet winding roads during our introduction to reach the limits of the wide rubber (front 255/40R21 and rear 285/35R21). In the sport setting, the electronic safety net opens its mesh and the emphasis is on rear-wheel drive, which immediately becomes clear when we want to accelerate quickly out of the bend; After some insistence, the rear wheels of the i7 can be coaxed to take a step outside. With a steering system and a drivetrain that behave like extensions of your limbs, the car is very easy to get back in line. At M GmbH they show that they understand their profession like no other.

The i7 M70 appears lighter than the 2.7 tons it weighs.

So the BMW i7 M70 is a hardcore sports limo?

Only in built-up areas do we become aware again of being on the road with a very large car: as if we had to navigate the canals on an aircraft carrier. Wasn’t the car a lot smaller just now on the mountain route? We let the adrenaline level drop, because the car goes into Comfort mode. Bumps and lumps in the road surface are neatly filtered away and we float on in our bubble completely relaxed. The BMW i7 M70 is definitely a car with two faces. In a world where it’s all about driving or being driven, this car tempts us to immediately take the wheel ourselves. Gimmicks such as the immense Theater Screen and the automatically opening and closing doors are nice, but absolutely secondary to the driving qualities of BMW’s electric flagship. With a starting price of €189,877, the i7 M70 xDrive is €44,424 more expensive than the i7 xDrive 60. Looking down to earth, the i7 xDrive60 that the people at BMW M GmbH use as a starting point is already more than good and the added value seems to be there – especially considering the price difference. – perhaps quite limited, but if good is not good enough, the M people definitely have an answer with the i7 M70.

We’d rather get behind the wheel in this limousine.