A full-blown M-version of the BMW 7 Series->ke323 has long been in the cards as far as certain Bimmer aficionados are concerned, with every new generation of the model having been expected by some to feature such a model as a range-topper. Talks about the possibility of an M7 usually increase when a 7 Series generation is approaching the end of its life-cycle, so with the 2017 model being right around the corner, speculation is at a high level once again. According to an interview he recently gave to AutoGuide, even the director of product at BMW->ke178 M, Carsteb Pries, kind of acknowledged that demand for an M7 is real.
With that being said, Pries also mentioned that the "real demand" may not actually be significant enough, and stipulated that there should be a good number of potential customers to "make such a project a priority ahead of other potential projects." You can take whatever you like from that phrase, but Pries also admitted to having received multiple emails with photoshopped M7 versions of the 7 Series and accompanying, "This is what I want" texts. If those don't sound like potential customers, I don't know what does.
Since the next generation of the 7 Series has already been spied completely undisguised almost a year before normal folks were supposed to see it, BMW's marketing department has a lot on its mind in 2015. In other words, if an M-version is indeed in the cards, BMW has every reason to take everyone's mind off of it and keep your attention on the current product line.
Click past the jump to read more about a possible BMW M7.
Why it matters
With Audi->ke14 offering an S8->ke1900 variant of the A8->ke1089 since 1996, and Mercedes-Benz giving the choice of either a V-8 or a V-12 AMG version of the S-Class since the W220 generation in the late 1990s, it would be silly to think that there is no actual market for a heavyweight sports sedan. Even Jaguar->ke39 has always made a good business case out of its XJR model, so to think that BMW will never make an M7 is sort of hard to believe, frankly. To put it into perspective, a little over a decade ago the Bavarian carmaker kept saying that it will not offer a fully fledged M-version of its SUVs (OK, SAVs), and yet, the X5->ke326 M and X6->ke2396 M are now in their second generations already. If I were to guess, a BMW M7 version of the upcoming 2017 model could very well be in the cards. I'm not too sure what will Alpina and its B7 model will do when and if that happens though, since it is already sold through BMW dealers in certain markets.