Six Shooter

The latest straight-six from bmw. And it's in a 7 series.

- Raunak Ajinkya

You’re probably wondering why I’ve chosen a picture of a 7 Series sliding across the gravel to open this article. There’s the obvious reason: think of the drama of it all as something to lure you into reading about the car. More than that, however, there’s the fact that the newest 7 of the lot has something devastatingly divine going for it.

It’s not something that’s new or even something that’s unique to the 740Li. It’s what powers it — that’s what makes all the difference. You see, up until now, you could have specced your 7 Series with either a 3.0-litre diesel or a 4.4-litre V8 petrol. We’ve driven both and as their write-ups will point out, they’re nothing short of miracles on wheels. This one, the 740Li, takes that same magic one step ahead. It has a 3.0-litre straight-six petrol powering it that, quite honestly, I’d love for BMW to dump into all of its cars, not just this one. I can only imagine how brutally humbling it will be for other cars on the road if you drive a 3 Series or an X3 with this engine. It makes 322 bhp and 45.8 kgm — ample figures, even for a car this size.