End of the road for BMW’s V12 engine

As BMW pushes for electrified powertrains, the V12 engine is facing a painful demise this year as the month of June will mark the end of the road for the V12 powerplant. ‍

To honour the V12 mill, a limited run of 12 special M760Li will be made solely for the US market. The special m760Li models will be distinguished by bespoke badging, wheels, exterior colours and upholstery as part of BMW Individual. 

On the outside, the final V12-powered 7 Series will feature a bold ‘V12’ icon at the back, special 20” Style 760M double-spoke light-alloy wheels that can be coated as per the customer's choice of either Window Grey or Jet Black then burnished to reveal a dark silver surface highlight. 

The wheels are home to M Sport brakes with a choice of blue or black calipers.

On the inside there are threshold plates at each door sill with the words ‘THE FINAL V12’. The interior is equipped with BMW Individual’s Piano Black Finish trim. To further mark its exclusivity, there is a console-mounted plaque commemorating the vehicle’s number out of the planned 12 that will be made. 

According to BMW, the final V12 will be offered only in a fully-equipped configuration that means it will come fitted with BMW’s Driving Assistance Professional Package, Luxury Rear Seating Package, Panoramic Sky Lounge LED Roof, Icon Adaptive LED Headlights with Laserlight, and a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound Audio System. 

Buyers will also be able to select from over eighty exterior colours and several tones of opulent Full Merino leather from BMW’s catalogue.  

As if all this isn’t enough, customers will receive a custom-built desk trophy to celebrate their specific vehicle, recognizing the special order paint, leather, and vehicle identification number as one of the final V12 vehicles.

Under the hood of the M760Li is a 6.6-litre V12 engine that gushes out 448 kW and a mountain-moving 800 Nm of torque. The figures help the sedan to accelerate from a standstill to 96 km/h in 3.6 seconds while shuffling through an 8-speed Sport Automatic transmission.  

The first V12 mill ever to be fitted in a BMW road car happened in 1987 with the naturally-aspirated 5.0-litre M70 V12 engine. It spawned a single overhead camshaft, two valves per cylinder and an innovative drive-by-wire electronic throttle producing a now-modest 220 kW.