BMW 7 SERIES

Munich's latest limo finally meets our timing gear, in full-size PHEV form

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While it isn't like the maker of a Teutonic limousine to leave much to chance, there is evidence that the creators of the latest 7 Series - which, following a long-delayed arrival on BMW's demo fleet, now finally undergoes an Autocar road test with a combustion engine under its bonnet - courted old-fashioned good fortune in just about every way they could.

The number seven is considered lucky the world over - and in China, one of BMW's biggest global markets for the 7 Series, particularly so. It just so happens, then, that this, the seventh model generation of the car, is codenamed G70. It has been in development since 2017. BMW makes seven versions of it (leaving out the i7 but counting the armoured 7 Series Protection). And it entered production on the first day of the seventh calendar month of 2022 - seven years to the day after the sixth-generation car had done so.

With diesel and (even mild-hybrid) petrol options studiously omitted from the UK range, however, the choice for those of us who don't want an electric i7 is between two plugin hybrids: a 483bhp 750e xDrive (which qualifies for benefit-in-kind tax at less than 10% of its showroom price) and a 564bhp M760e xDrive (which, since it emits more than 50g/km of CO2, isn't so tax-efficient).

We elected to test the former.

DESIGN & ENGINEERING

PROS Has the advanced suspension and steering tech to marshal its heft; plenty of power and electric range

CONS Being uncompromisingly large and tech-laden inevitably makes it heavy; 'designed in Minecraft' styling is hard to warm to

Unlike with previous generations of the 7 Series, there is only one wheelbase available on this car. So exactly how controversial - revealing, even - should we consider it, for a brand like BMW, that the version it omitted was the short wheelbase?