Press Kit MY 2003: 760Li

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BMW 760Li: The new Ultimate Luxury Driving Machine arrives

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, November 8, 2002...It has been barely a year since
BMW's "New 7" was introduced, but what an eventful year for BMW. No mere
evolutionary product, The New 7 was instead a bold statement about who BMW is,
what BMW stands for, and where BMW intends to go. "With help from its
suppliers," stated no less august a source than Automotive Engineering
International in its March '02 issue, "BMW has produced a vehicle that blazes
the engineering trail with innovations that will influence passenger vehicles
for years to come. The new BMW 7 Series was selected by the readers and editors
of AEI as Best Engineered Vehicle for 2002 because it points the way not only
for luxury/performance sedans but also for other vehicle segments."

Indeed, the new 7 Series moved courageously into the future of luxury
automobiles with new solutions to the challenges of contemporary driving and
new stimuli for the esthetic sensibilities of our times. There ensued then a
certain level of controversy, as would be expected with so bold a leap away
from established directions. And when the controversy began to settle, the
verdict of critics and customers alike was overwhelmingly positive:

- In the first ten months of calendar '02, the two new 7 Series models very
significantly outsold the three-model line that had preceded them, achieving a
dramatic 45% increase over the same period of 2001. Worldwide, by the 6-month
mark after its launch, The New 7 had moved into first place among 8-cylinder
luxury sedans.

- The Robb Report (June '02) reported: "I'm driving the BMW on the day after we
have set our clocks forward for daylight savings. I'm pleased with the extra 60
minutes of sunshine, but disappointed that I have one less hour to master the
car's technology and enjoy the 745i's performance."

- European Car wrote in its February '02 issue, "Several of BMW's engineers
present expressed both surprise and pleasure that we were driving the new 7
Series as if it were a 3 Series. That, in the end, is the genius of BMW: To
make cars that drive exactly the way cars should, combining comfort and
performance with little compromise."

- Automobile Magazine concluded in its December '01 issue, "The 745i is a
refined car that covers ground with deceptive speed and with a minimum of fuss,
drama, and effort."

- And AutoWeek, in its October 22, 2001 issue: "BMW's new flagship has
everything, and more."

All this was from The New 7's first model year, 2002. Now, for 2003, BMW -
never known for resting on its achievements - has added further appeal to these
ultimate luxury-driving machines by the addition of a third, decisively
top-of-line model, the 760Li. If the original V8-powered 745i and 745Li "had
everything," this new V-12 model most assuredly has "more" of virtually
everything that makes the 7 Series such a dazzling automobile.

Heart of the 760Li: A new V-12 engine of dazzling technology and performance

As BMW had offered a 12-cylinder model in the previous 7 Series, the 750iL, it
was natural and expected that a 12-cylinder version of the new Series would in
time make its debut.

The 750iL, offered through 2001, was powered by a V-12 of 5.4 liters with
single overhead camshafts and 2 valves per cylinder; that engine's output was
326 horsepower - a figure now matched by the 7 Series' V-8. The V-12 powering
the new 760Li is completely new, with 6.0 liters of displacement, dual overhead
camshafts (per cylinder bank) and 4 valves per cylinder. Designated N73, it is
also related to the N62 V-8 engine that powers the two 745 models, in that the
two engines share key technologies and overall engineering architecture; yet it
also introduces groundbreaking new technologies of its own.

The V-12 configuration has long been recognized as an ultimate power plant
concept, suited for top-class vehicles. Its physics are ideal: 12 cylinders
arranged in a 60° "vee" of two cylinder banks are perfectly balanced; combined
with the relatively even power pulses of so many cylinders, this results in a
supremely smooth propulsion unit.

This V-12 is also a supremely powerful unit, delivering a monumental 438
horsepower and 444 lb-ft. of torque; for perspective, compare this to the 325
hp and 330 lb-ft. that give the 745i its 0-60-mph capability of 5.9 seconds and
you can easily envision the performance potential of the V-12!

Let's take a look now at the most significant new technology in this new
engine: direct fuel injection. Indeed, this is the first direct-injected
gasoline
V-12 engine ever offered in a production automobile, and the first
direct-injected gasoline engine to meet contemporary expectations regarding
emission control.

Direct fuel injection means injection of the fuel directly into the combustion
chamber, rather into the intake port as is the norm; it has been chosen and
developed by BMW's power train engineers to boost power output and fuel
efficiency to higher levels than could be achieved with conventional fuel
injection. BMW's system operates on a stoichiometrically optimum fuel-air
mixture (( = 1) and can be emission-controlled by conventional, proven 3-way
catalyst technology. By contrast, other direct-injection concepts currently
under development in the auto industry (such as lean-burn or stratified-charge)
can achieve greater fuel-efficiency gains than the concept chosen by BMW, but
these depend on unproven "deNOx" catalyst technology and require sulfur-free
fuel, which is not universally available. Thus BMW has deployed a technology
that is actually usable in the real world at present.