Why the second BMW 7-series caused panic at Mercedes-Benz

It’s really amazing how some quotes from TV series have taken on a life of their own over the years. Thus speaks Oberinspector Stephan Derrick of the Kriminalpolizei München did not use the sentence ‘Harry, hol mal schon den Wagen’ – contrary to popular belief – in any of the 281 episodes of the Derrick series against his loyal assistant Harry Klei. It is also very special that a detective with a relatively modest salary has a gold Rolex on his wrist and drives around in a brand new BMW 7-series, which even the police commissioner can only dream of. However, that does not alter the fact that Derrick first appears on TV on June 19, 1987 in the second generation of the 7 series, internally called E32. That this exactly happens in the episode called ‘Die Nacht des Jaguars’ is probably not entirely coincidental. This is not so much due to the fact that actor Horst Tappert privately mainly drives British twelve-cylinder engines, but rather the fact that BMW’s gracefully lined top model is quickly regarded as a kind of German Jaguar. Fortunately, he is a lot more reliable than his British opponent, otherwise he would probably have missed his most important goal: to join the all-powerful competition from Stuttgart. Of the first generation 7-series (E23) that was sold since 1977, the S-class had little to fear in terms of sales numbers. Board members and presidents rarely opted for the top BMW, which happened at most in Bavaria.

The second-generation BMW 7-series was unveiled 36 years ago, but it doesn’t look old at all.

Italian designer

When the new 7-series makes its debut in September 1986, the management of Daimler-Benz is shaken awake. Many motoring journalists believe that the BMW is better than the Mercedes, which previously seemed unthinkable. The E32 is also immediately popular with the buyers when it appears in the showroom a month later. This was partly due to its elegant and understated design, which – how could it be otherwise – was realized by an Italian designer. Ercole Spada managed to create a design that exudes class, but certainly does not come across as cheesy.

However, the design of the 7-series will not even have been of decisive importance to many buyers, because Bruno Sacco’s W126 with which he crosses swords is also a stylistic highlight in the history of the S-class. No, the success of the new Siebener This is mainly due to the fact that BMW has pulled out all the stops from a technical point of view for its new top model. In March 1987, for example, the 300 hp 750i made its debut, the first post-war twelve-cylinder from German soil.

At Mercedes-Benz, the salespeople still have to sell no at that point when customers ask if they can get more than eight cylinders. Only with the 600 SE of the model generation W140 that is presented in 1991, the manufacturer from Stuttgart strikes back – and with 108 extra horsepower takes it even further in the erupting horsepower battle. In aesthetic terms, however, BMW is now in the lead, compared to the somewhat clunky new S-class that quickly gets the nickname ‘Cathedral’, the lines of the 7-series look even more slender and refined. It is the elegant and sporty alternative for people who shop in the top segment, but who have not yet completely lost their wild hair. Incidentally, in the 80s and 90s, luxury is also a relative concept in the highest regions of the car market. The well-placed car buyer has to be satisfied with little during that period – or dig deep into his pocket for things that are self-evident today. For example, the basic model 730i rolls off the assembly line in 1986 on sober steel wheels with (yes) hubcaps. And air conditioning is still on the option list even with late copies (until 1994 the E32 was built).

You even had to switch gears yourself in a BMW 7-series. Not with the V12 of course, but with six-cylinder or the later V8s it was possible.

Low cw value of 0.32

Even a few decades later, it is remarkably quiet on board an E32, thanks to the aerodynamic fine grinding. BMW’s flagship showed a cw value of only 0.32 after many hours in the wind tunnel. The aerodynamic efforts are not only made visible by the narrow body seams and subtle spoiler edges. “When you close the door, the door seals fold together like the leaves of a poppy,” a motoring journalist reported at the time. Did Derrick also have that much sense of poetry? We have not been able to accuse him of that in all those years. Two weeks after he received the keys to his new official car, he got his first flat tire in episode 154 (which bears the name ‘Ein Weg in die Freiheit’). He could have saved himself that misery, because (although they weren’t called that yet) the run-flat tire was already on the option list at BMW at the time. We said it already: this BMW had an edge not only in aesthetics, but also in technology. And that makes it a very interesting youngtimer, almost classic today.

This article was previously published in AutoWeek Classics 4 2015.

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