BMW Is Set To Produce Its Final V12 Engine In June

BMW V12 engine, a 36-year old legacy, is going to discontinue this June. The recent announcement from BMW specialist German automobile giant has confirmed that the company will not offer its V12 variant in their next-generation BMW 7 Series.

The news has sparked a lot of deliberation. As per the BMW workshop experts, such a step was indispensable in the wake of producing fully-electric cars. The automotive industry, which is going through a tremendous revolution, will be mainly resorting to smaller engines for manufacturing fully-electric cars.

The Final V12

The last BMW V12-engined vehicle is the 7 Series limousine, is widely becoming popular as the ‘The Final V12’.
The specifications of this most expensive BMW car, which is offered on sale, include:
• An M760Li xDrive or a short-wheelbase M760i
• Fitted with a 6.6-liter twin-turbo V12
• 448kW and 850Nm to all the wheels
• 3.8-second 0 to 100 km/h dash.
• The car is priced at $383,900 in Australia.

History

BMW had launched its first V12 variant in 1986 overseas and in 1988 in Australia. It was a 5 liter naturally-aspirated ‘M70’ engine, with 220kW and 450Nm powered E32-generation 750iL sedan.
With time, car mechanics kept evolving the engine. In the early 1990s, the company introduced an exclusive and highly-powerful McLaren F1 supercar with 5.6-litre ‘S70’ V12. It was one of the world’s fastest production road cars, best known for its top speed of 386km/h.

The US market

U.S.A has been a key consumer for BMW. BMW is ending its V12 production for the 7 Series with last 12 cars to retail in the US market.

To differentiate these 12 vehicles from other standard M760i variants, it will offer distinct features like:
• An alloy 20-inch grey or black wheels
• ‘THE FINAL V12’ badge in the interior and engine cover
• A ‘V12’ badge on the boot lid
• After the delivery, the owners will receive a customized desk trophy to commemorate the exclusive car.
• Individual exterior paint
• Merino leather upholstery
• Sky Lounge roof
• Laser headlights
• An impressive sound system
• Remote parking, etc.

The price starts from $US200,000 exclusive of delivery costs in the US market.

Competition

• Rolls-Royce: Rolls-Royce Wraith coupe and -Royce Dawn convertible 7 Series sedans come with a 6.6-litre ‘N74B66’ V12 with twin turbocharge feature. The company has not announced any possible date for ending its production line for these models.

Rolls-Royce Phantom, Ghost, and Cullinan models offer a larger 6.75-liter ‘B68’ version of the N74 V12. It has also been confirmed that with this engine and the smaller 6.6-litre engine, the company will cease its line-up after a few years.

• Mercedes-Benz: The absence of the V12-powered BMW 7 Series will make Mercedes-Benz one of the biggest three German luxury car manufacturers. Not to forget, the company’s legendry Maybach S680 sedan comes with a 12-cylinder engine, powered by a 6-liter twin-turbo V12 and 463kW and 900Nm.

• Audi: Audi 12-cylinder engine became quite a name in the late 2000s. Their car was characterized by petrol engines, compact W12 layout, 6.0-liter twin-turbo diesel V12, etc. Though the company nearly stopped offering the 12-cylinder vehicle in 2018.

What next?

After the end of the current 7 Series in June, the company is going ahead with the ‘G70’ model. The company will proudly launch new-generation BMW latest cars after successfully initiating its production in July.

Unlike the previous generations, the G70-generation model is equipped with a petrol engine with a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 to excite you further. According to the speculation, the most potent variant could be a six-cylinder plug-in hybrid or a fully-electric vehicle, only to unfold the details later.