Spy video for the 2026 BMW 7 Series shows several prototypes

A new spy video filmed in southern Europe shows BMW is hard at work testing a Life Cycle Impulse for the 7 Series. The revised flagship came in several variants, including a plug-in hybrid and the all-electric i7. Although the prototypes were covered in camouflage, the luxury sedan will not be completely redesigned. It’s just an LCI after all. Still, there could be some notable changes on that front.

If you think these headlights look strange, they are makeshift clusters that are only used on prototypes. However, the placement of the street model is unlikely to change. This means the lights will be unusually low again. Interestingly, the indicators are also positioned low along with the main lights.

This is not the case with the G70 available today, where the indicators and daytime running lights are positioned above the low/high beam. Does this mean the 7 Series facelift will have uniform headlights? This is the impression we get because the camouflage has no cutouts where you would normally see the indicators and daytime running lights.

We don’t want to get your expectations too high, but it looks like the kidney grille is a bit smaller. One of the prototypes has horizontal bars in the grille, so it could be the M760e. However, the license plate ends with “E”, indicating that it is a purely electric vehicle. If that’s true, we’re dealing with the i7 M70. It seems unlikely that BMW has finally decided on a full-fledged M7.

The test vehicles also appeared to have makeshift taillights. It could be a sign that there will be some notable changes at the rear too. However, we don’t rule out the possibility of seeing the same taillights, just with different graphics. An LCI’s profile is unlikely to change, although new alloy wheel designs are likely planned.

Since the prototypes were in motion, the car paparazzi couldn’t get a look inside the cabin. However, logic dictates that the 7 Series will switch to iDrive X in 2026 with a huge central screen and possibly no driver display. The latter could be replaced by Panoramic Vision, a marketing term for a next-generation head-up display that’s as wide as the dashboard.

The 7 Series LCI is reportedly set to go into production in July 2026, although an official reveal is likely to come a few months earlier. Once that happens, petrol models will drop the letter “i” at the end of their names.

The 7 Series facelift was part of a larger test fleet from BMW, which also included the next-generation X5. It’s easy to see that the luxury SUV had obvious design influences from the Neue Klasse.

Source: NCars / YouTube