You can be excused if you’ve become increasingly frustrated with BMW and the seemingly long wait for the M7 to arrive, if it ever arrives to begin with. Truth be told, it’s become an exercise in patience itself just to wait for the flagship sedan. The presence of the M760Li xDrive, which BMW launched in late 2016, isn’t helping that long and arduous wait, either. But the good news is that we still do have the M760Li xDrive as opposed to not having one at all. It may not be the M7, but it could pass as one if you ignore the fact that it isn’t. Makes sense, right?

That’s not the point of all this, though, because to BMW’s credit, it is at least doing its part to make the M760Li xDrive more interesting with the luxury saloon’s first go in the world of BMW Individual. As you can imagine, a car that’s already brimming with luxury appointments like the M760Li xDrive is going to be a little difficult to improve from an aesthetic standpoint because, well, it already has everything a customer would probably want in a saloon short of it actually having its own portable butler. (Hmm…)

Good thing then that BMW Individual isn’t bound by what a car already has, but what a car could still have to go on top of what it already has. And so, the German automaker’s very own personalization division went to work on the M760Li xDrive and presented it with a series of new options that are meant to entice customers on seeing the seemingly limitless customization potential of the saloon.

You think the BMW M760Li xDrive already has everything? Well, try telling BMW Individual that. Just don’t mention anything about the M7, because, well, that’s for BMW to answer.

Continue after the jump to read more about the BMW M760Li xDrive by BMW Individual

2017 BMW M760Li xDrive by BMW Individual

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2017 BMW M760Li xDrive by BMW Individual
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

What makes the BMW M760Li xDrive by BMW Individual so special?

There can be a multitude of answers to that question, but in the interest of this specific personalized work, we’re going to limit it to what BMW Individual did to this particular example of the M760Li xDrive. Obviously, looking at it doesn’t reveal any new aero bits hanging out from the front or ominous wheel arches on the back. That’s not particularly BMW Individual’s game and in case you’re looking for those upgrades, the aftermarket world is who you should ring up.

By contrast, BMW Individual’s work on the M760Li xDrive is largely of a cosmetic nature, as is often the case with most of its past works and projects. In the case of this stately looking piece of luxury, the personalization division started off by dressing it up in a Frozen Dark Brown metallic paint finish. The color, as you can expect, is exclusive to BMW Individual so if you really want to get it, there’s no other place for you find it except through them. Don’t worry though because BMW Individual has a habit of creating unique paint colors for a wide range of BMW models that are otherwise not available anywhere else. Take for example this previous work that was done for the M760Li xDrive’s sibling, the standard 7 Series.

Note: Photo of the BMW 7 Series by BMW Individual

To be specific, that body color on the 7 Series is called Almandine Brown metallic. I know what you’re thinking: “what’s an almandine?”

In any event, the upgrades on the M760Li xDrive don’t just end with the fancy paint finish. The exterior, in particular, also gets a new set of 20-inch light alloy wheels with its own double spoke design. The quantity is lacking in terms of unique upgrades, but the finished product on the exterior is no less impressive, especially with how the Frozen Dark Brown Metallic paint finish looks so naturally smooth on the body of the M760Li xDrive.

Move to the interior and this is where the upgrades become a matter of subjective opinion. See, the M760Li xDrive’s cabin is already drowning in luxury. It’s got premium leather for days to go with top-shelf wood, high-gloss metal, and brushed alumiunum trim, among other classy amenities.

It also has new technology, including a next-gen heads-up display. These features are consistent with what you’d expect for a car that’s touted as BMW’s flagship sedan and BMW Individual is smart to keep most of these elements in place, hence the only options being offered, at least in this example, include an interior dressed to the nines in full fine-grain Merino leather in Cashmere Beige with weave-look stitching to go with a headliner covered in Anthracite Alcantara and some well-placed engravings of BMW Individual’s signature.

By comparison, BMW Individual’s work on the 7 Series featured full fine-grain Merino leather in Tartufo hand-woven piping and white contrast stitching. It also added Alcantara headliner that was finished in the same color as the upholstery and Black Piano and aluminum inserts on the dashboard, door panels, and center console. A leather-wrapped steering wheel and the two-tone (black over Tartufo) dashboard complete BMW Individual’s personalized work on the 7 Series.

Note: photo of the interior of the BMW 7 Series by BMW Individual

The extent of the personalized features of the BMW M760Li xDrive are subtle and minimal, at least when you compare it to what BMW Individual did to the 7 Series back in August 2015.

Engine upgrades don’t amount to anything since BMW Individual doesn’t touch that particular section of the car. Not that it’s a problem or anything because the BMW M760Li xDrive already uses a potent and well-placed 6.6-liter, twin-turbo, all-aluminum V-12 engine that pumps out 600 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque. The numbers add up to a 0-to-60-mph sprint time of 3.92 seconds to go with an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.

Even if the thought of a BMW M7 bursting into the scene keeps up awake at night, the M760Li xDrive makes a good account of itself as the current flagship model of the German automaker’s range-topping 7 Series family. It may not be an M model in the purest and most technical form, but it looks and performs like one anyway. That’s more than what you can say for other pseudo-badged M-models in BMW’s current portfolio.

And for what it’s worth, Alpina’s B7 xDrive – the closest thing to a tuned 7 Series that the market has – comes with a similar output of 600 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, right around the same figures that BMW was able to get out of the M760Li xDrive. The only difference is that Alpina’s engine upgrade program for the 7 Series’ 4.4-liter bi-turbo V-8 engine helps the luxury sedan push to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds – 0.3 seconds quicker than the M760Li xDrive – before peaking with a top speed of 193 mph on account of the car’s speed limiter being removed.

BMW M760Li xDrive Drivetrain Specifications

Engine

Config/No of cyls/valves

V/12/4

Engine technology

M Performance TwinPower Turbo technology: two mono-scroll turbochargers, High Precision Direct Injection, Double-VANOS variable camshaft control

Effective capacity cc

6,592

Output

600 HP @ 5,500 RPM

Torque

590 LB-FT @ 1,500 RPM

Acceleration 0–100 km/h

3.92 seconds

Maximum speed

250 KM/H (155 MPH)


Read our full review on the BMW M760Li xDrive here.