Putting a V12 BMW 7 Series through its paces

The mission statement of the new BMW M760Li xDrive is quite simple: it is to provide the most luxurious means yet of travelling inside a car that wears the famous blue and white BMW badge.

‘Luxury’ in this case also comes with a bit of speed: 189mph, if you opt for the de-limited version. A level of performance that might be handy if you’re trying to make last orders at the nice country pub inconveniently located a hundred miles away from your desirable residence.

You can do the driving yourself, or have Parker do it while you lounge in the back receiving a Thai-quality massage and checking your investments on the integrated Samsung tablet.

Driver enjoyment is the M Performance thing. Ridiculous long-legged luxury is the 760Li thing. You may not wholly approve of the piped-in 'enhanced' engine sound coming through the speakers, but you’ll not fail to be impressed by the way in which this 2.2-tonne beast marches imperiously across the land.

Or indeed the racetrack, where you will (to your surprise) find more than enough ‘M’ on hand to justify the badging. It's not ultra-communicative through the wheel, and you wouldn't want to rely on maximum braking potential for too many laps, but the 760Li is eminently flingable. And 0-62mph in 3.7sec is crazy fast for something of this bulk.

You might think £132k is a bit stiff for a 7 Series, especially as the 7 Series is known for depreciating faster than an ice cube in July, but it’s actually not expensive for a V12 über-saloon. A new Bentley W12 Flying Spur is £160k, or £170k for the new 202mph S version. Plus, BMW has been making V12 Sevens for 30 years now, so they kind of know what they’re doing.

BMW M760Li xDRIVE

Engine: 6,592cc V12 twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, xDrive variable AWD, rear-wheel steering
Power: 610@5,500rpm
Torque: (lb ft): 590@1,500rpm
0-62mph: 3.7sec
Top speed: 155mph (limited; 189mph limited with optional M Driver's Package)
Weight: 2,255kg (EU with driver)
MPG: 22.4 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 294g/km
Price: £132,310