2022 BMW 7 Series

2022 is the final model year of the sixth-generation G11/G12 (the G70 debuted in April 2022 as a 2023 model), so the volume 740i carries over the LCI-spec B58 3.0L twin-scroll turbo inline-six at 335 hp — 40 hp less than the mild-hybrid B58 that replaced it in the 2023 G70.

The G12 740i's B58 delivers 330 lb-ft across a broad plateau from 1,500 rpm, which is what gives the car its unhurried in-town gait despite carrying over 4,600 lb.

BMW's own estimate for the 2022 740i is 5.3 seconds to 60 mph, with xDrive shaving about two tenths; independent testing of this generation's 740i beats the factory claim, averaging roughly 5.0 seconds.

The B58 is among the smoothest six-cylinder engines sold in 2022 — turbo lag is essentially absent thanks to peak torque arriving at 1,500 rpm, and the engine is close to inaudible at cruise in a car this heavily insulated. It sits just below the 2023 G70 car only because the G12 lacks the 48-volt starter-generator that smooths restarts and fills torque in the newer version.

Every 2022 7 Series uses the ZF eight-speed Steptronic, the segment's reference automatic: unobtrusive in Comfort, decisive on kickdown, and never hunting between ratios. It gives up only outright shift speed in Sport mode to a dual-clutch, which is the sole reason it isn't scored higher.

xDrive all-wheel drive is a factory option on the volume 740i and standard on every trim above it — 745e xDrive, 750i xDrive, Alpina B7 and M760i xDrive — so a buyer can have all-wheel drive at any point in the range, unlike the 2023 G70 where the six-cylinder car was rear-drive only. The system is a competent rear-biased on-demand setup with variable torque split, but it is pavement hardware: no low range, no terrain modes, no locking differentials.

The G12's send-off year offered four genuinely distinct powertrains — the 335-hp turbo inline-six, the 389-hp 745e plug-in hybrid, the 523-hp twin-turbo 4.4L V8 (600 hp in Alpina B7 tune), and the 600-hp twin-turbo 6.6L V12 in the M760i xDrive, whose 'The Final V12' run of 12 US cars ended V12 production in June 2022. Only the absence of a full battery-electric option (which arrived with the i7 the following year) keeps it out of the top band.

EPA rates the 2022 740i at 25 MPG combined — the best figure in the gas lineup and creditable for a 4,600-lb full-size luxury sedan, but two MPG behind the 48-volt mild-hybrid G70 that replaced it and ordinary against the gas-sedan field the band normalizes to.

22 MPG in the EPA city cycle. Without the 48-volt starter-generator that the following generation added, the G12 leans on conventional stop-start alone, and the car's mass shows most in urban driving.

29 MPG highway, where the tall gearing and a lightly loaded turbo six work in the car's favour — but a large frontal area and near-2.1-ton kerb weight cap the cruising figure well short of a mainstream sedan's.

The G12's 20.6-gallon tank at the EPA combined 25 MPG yields an EPA-published 515-mile range — genuine two-tank-free long-haul capability and one of the car's quieter strengths, comfortably above the sedan-band midpoint even though the fuel economy behind it is not.

EPA estimates $3,050 a year to fuel the 740i at standard assumptions. Mid-20s combined economy multiplied by a mandatory premium grade puts it near the top of the sedan cost band — this is the single figure that drags the category down.

EPA lists premium gasoline as required, not merely recommended, for the 2022 740i — the B58 needs 91 AKI and there is no sanctioned regular-fuel fallback, which is a standing cost premium of roughly 60–80 cents a gallon over a 20.6-gallon tank. The upside is simplicity: no plug, no charging logistics, and a large tank that keeps fill-ups infrequent.

NHTSA has never crash-tested any model year of the G11/G12 generation (2016–2022), so there is no star rating to report; the 4.5 figure is the segment-norm estimate this framework applies to untested large-luxury flagships, consistent with the Audi A8 and BMW i7 scorecards.

The 7 Series carries no IIHS award because IIHS has never tested it — not because it performed badly. That leaves a genuinely unverified structure rather than a documented weakness, so it sits in the middle band: no award to credit, but no Marginal or Poor result to penalize either, and the Carbon Core body shell shared with the rest of the generation gives no cause for concern.

Standard Active Driving Assistant on the volume 740i covers frontal collision warning with city collision mitigation, Active Blind Spot Detection, lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert and automatic high beams, and every 2022 7 Series adds a surround-view camera with front and rear parking sensors — but adaptive cruise control and any form of lane keeping are locked behind the $1,700 Driving Assistance Professional Package. Charging extra for ACC on a car opening near $90,000 is what keeps this out of the top band, where the guidance requires the full suite standard.

There is no IIHS front crash prevention result for the 7 Series in either the vehicle-to-vehicle or pedestrian test, so the score rests on system specification and the generation's shared hardware rather than measured performance. Standard AEB includes city collision mitigation with daytime pedestrian detection, and BMW Night Vision with pedestrian detection is available, but nighttime pedestrian capability is unverified and optional rather than demonstrated.

Active Blind Spot Detection and rear cross-traffic alert are standard on every 2022 trim, which clears the availability bar comfortably, but the standard system is warning-only — steering-wheel vibration and mirror icons. Active intervention (side collision avoidance) and front cross-traffic alert require the optional Professional package, which holds it below the band that expects intervention as standard.

Only lane departure warning is standard; Active Lane Keeping Assistant with side collision avoidance and the Steering and Lane Control Assistant that provides actual centering are both inside the optional package. When fitted the centering is competent on well-marked highway but is the pre-G70 calibration, which reviewers found less settled than the newer system that replaced it a year later.

Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go is a genuinely refined full-speed-range system — smooth closing rates, clean stop-and-restart in traffic, and well integrated with the Traffic Jam Assistant that layers on top of it. The score is capped by the fact that it is not standard equipment: a 740i buyer who skips the $1,700 package gets conventional cruise control only.

Hands-free driving exists on the 2022 car but only as Extended Traffic Jam Assistant, which disengages above 40 mph and works solely on mapped divided highways with an infrared camera watching the driver's eyes. That is a real hands-off capability and more than rivals such as the Audi A8 offer, but it is a congestion aid rather than a highway system — the 85-mph Highway Assistant belongs to the G70 that replaced this car for 2023, not to the 2022 model year.

IIHS has published no headlight rating for the 7 Series, so the hardware has to speak for itself: adaptive full-LED headlights with cornering function and automatic high beams are standard across the range, and BMW Laserlight extends high-beam throw to roughly 600 metres as an option. Good equipment on every trim, but unverified by the one organization that measures it.

Natural sightlines are ordinary for a full-size luxury sedan — a high beltline, substantial rear pillars and a long deck make judging the back corners hard, and the car's sheer 206-inch length works against it in tight spaces. Camera compensation is the saving grace and it is thorough: the surround-view system with 3D view plus front and rear parking sensors is standard on every 2022 trim rather than optional.

Two complete sets of lower anchors in the outboard positions plus a top tether for the centre seat, combined with roughly 44 inches of rear legroom and unusually wide-opening rear doors, make a seat easy to get into position and easy to work around once it is there. It falls short of the top band because BMW hides the lower anchors behind leather cushion flaps that take some digging, and the centre position is narrow over the transmission tunnel — while the optional Executive Lounge rear seating deletes the middle seat altogether.

The 2022 740i is the final model year of the G11/G12 generation and seats five on a standard rear bench, the maximum a sedan is graded against.

Near the top of the sedan band despite the standard panoramic roof, which is what a flagship's tall greenhouse buys you.

The only middling passenger dimension in the car — the G12's long wheelbase is spent almost entirely on the back seat, leaving front legroom merely ordinary for a full-size sedan.

Effectively at the ceiling of the sedan band, so a six-footer sits behind a six-footer without ducking.

44.4 inches is beyond the top of the sedan band and is the single strongest number on this scorecard; BMW deleted the short-wheelbase car from the US lineup, so every 2022 740i has limousine-grade rear room.

18.2 cubic feet is a big, squarely-shaped trunk that swallows four large cases, though it is a fixed box — the rear seatback does not fold in the long-wheelbase car.

Everyday storage is competent rather than clever: a deep covered console with wireless charging, large door bins and a rear centre armrest, plus the removable 7-inch Touch Command tablet and optional fold-out rear tray tables. Against that, the rear seatback is fixed (a ski pass-through is the only route into the trunk), there is no underfloor cubby and no household outlet — a Sorento does more with less money.

20-way power multi-contour front seats with heating are standard, ventilation and massage arrive with the Executive and Luxury Seating packages, and the rear chairs get their own power adjustment, heating, cooling and massage — reviewers consistently single out the driving position's adjustment range and the long-haul support.

Two-axle self-levelling air suspension with adaptive dampers is standard equipment, and the optional Executive Drive Pro adds active roll stabilisation; the consensus on the G12 is a plush, road-flattening ride that still keeps its body in check, which is the thing this car is built to do.

Laminated acoustic glass around the cabin, extensive underbody sealing and a B58 six that is close to inaudible at cruise make this one of the quietest cabins sold in 2022; only the class's electric entrants are meaningfully hushier.

Four-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, heated front armrests, a panoramic moonroof, soft-close doors and remote start are all standard on the base 740i; ventilated front seats, the Panoramic Sky Lounge LED roof and power rear sunshades are package options rather than standard, which is what keeps this out of the 90s.

The rear-drive 740i is the entry point to the final-year G12 lineup at $86,800 plus $995 destination — roughly $6,500 below what the succeeding G70 740i would ask a year later, but still far above the sedan normalization band's $55,000 ceiling, so purchase-price economics score at the floor.

The 740i is the volume configuration — the only six-cylinder gas trim and by far the cheapest way into the G12 — and it left dealers optioned: the $3,000 Premium Package (head-up display, power rear sunshades, Nappa leather), the $2,500 Executive Package (ventilated front seats, Panoramic Sky Lounge roof, ceramic controls), and xDrive at $3,000 are all extras that most retail cars carried.

Even with the first three years of scheduled service covered by BMW Ultimate Care, a G12 flagship's consumables — four-corner air suspension, 19–20-inch tires, big brakes, active roll stabilization — put running costs well above the $9,000 sedan band ceiling once the 4-year/50,000-mile warranty lapses, and slightly above the newer G70 because the G12 lacks its 48-volt ancillary simplification and is a generation further from current parts supply.

Full-size German flagships are the market's worst depreciators, and a 2022 car is at the bottom of even that group because the radically new G70 was revealed in April 2022 — mid-model-year — instantly dating the car a buyer had just taken delivery of. A first owner absorbs roughly $59,000 of loss on a ~$94,000 car over five years, which is what drags this category down far more than any maintenance bill.

BMW's New Vehicle Limited Warranty runs 4 years/50,000 miles on all 2022 models including the 7 Series — a year longer than mainstream 3/36 coverage but short of the 5/60 terms Genesis offered on the rival G90, so mid-band.

BMW provides no separate extended powertrain coverage — the B58 inline-six and 8-speed Steptronic are covered only by the same 4-year/50,000-mile basic term, below the 5-year floor of the sedan band and roughly half what Genesis (10 yr/100,000 mi) gave a G90 buyer.

The 2022 740i includes BMW Ultimate Care — 3 years/36,000 miles of complimentary factory-scheduled maintenance (oil, filters, fluids, spark plugs, wiper blades, brake fluid, inspections) — alongside 4 years of unlimited-mileage 24/7 roadside assistance and BMW ConnectedDrive service trials. That is multi-year included maintenance plus real perks, ahead of Lexus (1 yr/10,000 mi) on the LS, though coverage is non-transferable to a second owner and wear items such as brake pads and discs require the paid Ultimate Care+ upgrade.

$94,000 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (37% retained, or about $34,780) leaves about $59,220 in depreciation. Add the projected $13,000 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $72,220 in total.

2022 is the seventh and final model year of the G11/G12 generation, so the volume 740i carries none of the launch-year risk that drags the redesigned 2023 G70 down — J.D. Power rates it 78/100 on quality and reliability, average-to-good for the class, and enthusiast consensus is that G11/G12 is the most dependable 7 Series generation. It stays mid-band rather than higher because Consumer Reports has no statistically valid sample for this year, and the generation's documented failure clusters are the expensive ones: air-suspension compressor and strut leaks, and iDrive head-unit blackouts/reboots from eMMC storage degradation.

BMW is the strongest European marque on dependability without being a top-5 brand outright: Consumer Reports' recent brand report cards place it first among luxury brands and around fifth overall, and it took six segment awards in the 2026 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study. It still trails the Toyota/Lexus/Subaru tier in long-run dependability studies, which is what keeps this in the upper half of the mid band rather than the top one.

The 2022 model year is remarkably clean by NHTSA count — two campaigns across the entire nameplate, and the volume 740i itself has zero. The one that reaches a gas 7 Series is the September 2025 starter-motor recall (fire risk after repeated cranking) covering 2020-2022 740Li at 11,893 units; the other is a high-voltage battery campaign confined to the 745e PHEV, a different powertrain. That is a fraction of the 2023 G70's nine-plus campaigns, and nothing here touches brakes, airbags or steering. Points come off only for unrecalled but well-documented generation-wide service patterns — air-strut failures serious enough that BMW extended front and rear strut coverage to 8 years/80,000 miles, plus iDrive head-unit replacements.

The volume 740i runs the B58 3.0L turbocharged inline-six at 335 hp / 330 lb-ft through the ZF 8-speed automatic — the best-proven pairing BMW sells. The B58's closed-deck block, single twin-scroll turbo and integrated water-to-air intercooler give it a genuine high-mileage record, with owners routinely reporting 150,000+ miles on regular servicing, and the ZF 8HP is a decade-proven unit across dozens of applications. Held below the top of the band by known wear items rather than design flaws: timing-chain tensioner wear at high mileage, VANOS solenoid and valve-cover-gasket oil leaks, and the plastic oil-pump drive ring used on pre-2022 B58 builds.

The materials themselves are genuinely luxury-grade from the base 740i up — fine leather, real open-pore wood, aluminum and gloss-black accents, and reviewers note the low-touch plastics don't feel cheap either. What keeps it out of the class-leading band is that by 2022 this cabin was seven years old against a freshly redesigned S-Class, and reviewers grade the ensemble as competitive rather than segment-setting for the money.

Seven model years of Dingolfing production had wrung the assembly problems out of this body by 2022 — reviewers cite attention to stitching and panel fitment as expected of the brand, and there is no analogue here to the door-panel rattle epidemic and Touch Command screen failures that dog the first-year G70. Owner complaints on this generation are overwhelmingly about electronic hardware failing over time (head units, air-suspension modules), not about how the car was screwed together.

BMW runs roughly 350 US centers — dense in every metro and along interstates, thinner than a mass-market brand in rural areas but among the best of the German luxury makes — and service satisfaction backs it up, with BMW third in the premium segment of the J.D. Power Customer Service Index behind only Porsche and Lexus. A 2022 car is now outside the 3-year/36,000-mile BMW Ultimate Care scheduled maintenance that came with it, so a second owner pays for everything, but network access itself is not the constraint.

Availability is fine — after seven years of production the G11/G12 has deep OE distribution, a real independent-specialist trade and aftermarket alternatives for the common failures — but the cost is the problem, and this generation's characteristic failures are the expensive ones. Air-suspension compressors and struts, iDrive head units, self-leveling pumps and the twin-axle chassis hardware are four-figure jobs each, and RepairPal puts the 740i's annual maintenance near $850 against roughly $650 for the average luxury sedan, with a per-visit range topping $4,000. That is what the bottom band describes for an out-of-warranty flagship.

The G11/G12 kept its 10.25-inch control display to the end of production even after the 2020 facelift moved it to iDrive 7.0, so BMW's flagship went out with a smaller centre screen than a 2022 Camry's rivals were fitting — the clearest place this car shows its age.

iDrive 7.0 was widely rated the best system in the class on logic and speed: five parallel inputs (rotary controller, touch, voice, gesture, steering-wheel), tiled home screen, no perceptible lag, and — unlike the touch-only rivals it faced — a full bank of physical climate and audio keys underneath. The small screen limits how much the tile layout can show at once.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are both standard on every 2022 trim, and BMW's earlier CarPlay subscription fee had been dropped by this model year — there is no wired option and none is needed.

The BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant takes natural-language commands ('I'm cold', 'take me to the nearest charger') and controls climate and vehicle settings as well as destinations, and the cloud-based navigation with live traffic is good enough that owners have a reason not to default to their phone.

There is no weak base system here — a 16-speaker, 464-watt Harman Kardon surround setup is the standard fit, and the optional Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround system is one of the two or three best factory audio installations of the era.

A crisp 12.3-inch fully digital cluster is standard across the range and changes layout with drive mode. It loses points only for iDrive 7's much-criticised gauge design — the counter-rotating tachometer and hollow dial centres draw complaints, and the cluster is less configurable than Audi's Virtual Cockpit, which will put a full map behind the wheel.

BMW Remote Software Upgrade covers real vehicle software, not just maps — updates arrive over the air through the My BMW app and have added functions to iDrive 7 cars in service. Scope is narrower and cadence slower than Tesla's, and the car predates the Digital Premium / à-la-carte feature store of the G70.

The My BMW app handles remote lock/unlock, remote start and climate pre-conditioning, vehicle locate, status and send-to-car, and BMW Digital Key lets a compatible iPhone open and start the car — a strong package by 2022 standards, with the usual caveat that connected services run out after the included subscription term.

Wireless phone charging and a Wi-Fi hotspot are standard, and rear passengers get two USB-C ports at 3 A each in the rear console — genuinely useful, and better than most 2022 rivals managed in row two. There is no household AC outlet, and front-row port count is modest for a car at this price.

Comfort Access keyless entry, push-button and remote start, a hands-free power trunk lid and soft-close doors are all standard, Digital Key turns a phone into the key, and the 7 Series is one of the few cars to offer the touchscreen BMW Display Key. Only the absence of remote parking on the volume trim keeps it off full marks.

Parking Assistant Plus is standard, not optional — a surround-view system with 3D and top-down views, front and rear sensors, automated parallel and perpendicular parking, and the Backup Assistant that retraces the last 50 metres of steering. In a segment where 360-degree cameras are usually a package, standard fitment on the base car is worth real credit; image resolution is the era's, not today's.

BMW's full-colour HUD was among the largest and best-rendered of its generation, but on the 2022 740i it is not standard — it comes bundled in the $3,000 Premium Package. It is at least reachable on the volume trim rather than gated behind the V8 cars.

The long-wheelbase body gives enormous rear door apertures and 44.4 inches of legroom, so a rear-facing seat goes in without shoving the front passenger forward — but it is still a low-slung sedan you lower a toddler into rather than lift one across, the trunk is a fixed 18.2 cu ft box that a full-size stroller crowds, and the outboard LATCH anchors sit under leather flaps.

Active Driving Assistant (forward collision warning with city braking, blind-spot detection, lane-departure warning) is standard, but adaptive cruise with stop-and-go and lane centring live in the optional Driving Assistance Professional package, and neither NHTSA nor IIHS crash-tested the G12 7-Series — a family buying on safety credentials has no published crash data to look at.

Four adults travel about as well here as in anything of the era: four-zone climate, heated rear seats, a near-silent cabin, rear power adjustment and available massage, an optional rear entertainment system with twin 10-inch screens and the Touch Command tablet, and a trunk that holds the luggage for all of them at once. Only the five-seat limit and the fixed rear bench keep it below the top band.

The B58 six and ZF eight-speed make low-speed progress effortless, the standard air suspension absorbs city surfaces, and the seat and climate equipment take the edge off a commute. What it never stops being is a 207-inch car in traffic, and stop-and-go adaptive cruise is an option rather than standard kit.

22/29/25 mpg on premium fuel, an EPA annual fuel bill above $3,000, and consumables — tyres, brakes, air-suspension components — priced for a six-figure German flagship. As a commuter this is one of the more expensive miles a buyer can drive.

207.4 inches long on a 126.4-inch wheelbase with a 42-foot curb-to-curb turning circle — it needs a full pull-forward in garages that a mid-size sedan takes in one bite. Standard Parking Assistant Plus with surround view and automated parking is the only reason this is not lower.

No US tow rating, no bed, a sealed 18.2 cu ft trunk and a rear seatback that does not fold. Nothing about a luxury sedan is aimed at hauling work materials.

The B58 six is genuinely durable, but everything around it — air springs, adaptive dampers, soft-close door mechanisms, Nappa leather and open-pore wood — is built for pampering, not abuse, and out-of-warranty repair costs on this platform are punishing.

No onboard AC power, no tie-downs beyond a trunk net, no roof rails, no factory hitch and no washable surfaces anywhere in the car. There is no upfit ecosystem for a 7 Series.

This is what the car is for: roughly 515 miles between fill-ups, a cabin quiet enough to hold a conversation at 80 mph, 20-way front seats that stay comfortable for a whole tank, an air suspension that flattens interstate expansion joints, and adaptive cruise available to take the load off. Only the extra-cost status of the full driver-assistance package holds it back from the very top.

xDrive all-wheel drive is available and the air suspension can raise the body slightly, which covers a snowy driveway or a graded gravel road. Beyond that there is no ground clearance, no tow rating, no roof rails and no camping provisions — and the standard 18-inch wheels wear low-profile performance rubber.

18.2 cubic feet is a large trunk in absolute terms and takes four big suitcases, but it is completely inflexible — the long-wheelbase car's rear seatback is fixed, with only an optional ski pass-through into the cabin, and there are no roof rails or hitch to add capacity outside the body.

For a 207-inch, 4,244-lb sedan the G12 corners with genuine composure — standard two-axle air suspension with adaptive dampers, and optional Integral Active Steering plus Executive Drive Pro active roll stabilisation that shrink the car noticeably. It is tuned toward isolation rather than engagement, so the sharper end of the class stays ahead of it.

Accurate, consistently weighted and easy to place, but heavily filtered — this generation is where BMW's flagship stopped pretending to talk to the driver. Owners describe the steering as effortless, which is the compliment and the criticism at once.

Big four-wheel vented discs sized for the 600-hp versions of this chassis, with a firm, progressive pedal and no fade in normal use; stops are short for the mass and repeatable. No published instrumented figure for the 2022 G12 740i specifically, so this is a band rather than a number.

The B58 turbo six and ZF eight-speed are one of the best-calibrated pairings of the decade — peak torque from 1,500 rpm means no perceptible lag, and shifts are close to undetectable. It sits just short of the 2023 car because the G12 has no 48-volt starter-generator to mask stop/start restarts.

Inaudible at cruise and pleasantly smooth-voiced when pushed — an inherently balanced inline-six behind a fully insulated bulkhead, with no vibration reaching the wheel or pedals.

A 126.4-inch wheelbase without rear-wheel steering produces a 42-foot circle — past the top of the sedan band and the clearest everyday penalty for the long-wheelbase-only US lineup.

20-way power seats and a power tilt/telescoping wheel give an adjustment range that fits nearly anyone, and iDrive 7 keeps physical climate and audio keys below the screen with the rotary controller at hand — the layout does not force a driver into the touchscreen. Rearward visibility over the high tail is the weak spot, offset by standard surround-view cameras.

Satisfying rather than exciting: quick enough at 5.1–5.3 seconds to 60, beautifully smooth, but deliberately insulated and quiet, with none of the involvement a 3 Series trades on. The character in this range lives in the Alpina B7 and M760i, not in the 740i.

The 740i arrives well equipped for $87,795 — adaptive air suspension, adaptive LED headlights, panoramic moonroof, four-zone climate, heated leather power seats and heated wheel, remote start, Harman Kardon audio, a 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless CarPlay/Android Auto, gesture control, 360-degree camera and Wi-Fi are all standard. What keeps it mid-band is how much of the flagship content is charged for: head-up display and rear sunshades sit in the $3,000 Premium Package, ventilated front seats in the $2,500 Executive Package, and massaging seats, Driving Assistance Professional, B&W Diamond audio and even all-wheel drive ($3,000) are all extra — while the rival Genesis G90 shipped nearly all of it standard for over $10,000 less.

At $87,795 the 740i was the cheapest entry into the German flagship class — a 335-hp turbo six, air suspension and a genuinely limousine-grade long-wheelbase cabin for tens of thousands less than a comparable S-Class — and reviewers rated the package highly. Against that, the Genesis G90 undercut it by roughly $12,000 with standard AWD and more standard content, and buying the last year of a generation whose replacement had already been shown means paying full flagship money for a car that dates the moment it leaves the lot. Fair value, not a bargain.

The G12's send-off year offered the widest lineup the nameplate has had in the US: 740i, 740i xDrive, 745e xDrive plug-in hybrid, 750i xDrive V8, ALPINA B7 and M760i xDrive V12 — four distinct powertrains spanning $87,795 to $158,795, with all-wheel drive available at every price point and a deep standalone option list (Premium, Executive and M Sport packages, rear executive seating with a 7-inch console tablet, active steering, B&W Diamond audio). The 2023 G70 that replaced it launched with only three variants and no AWD on the six-cylinder car.

The 7 Series managed 7,362 US deliveries in 2022, down about 4% from 2021 and less than half the Mercedes S-Class's 15,056 — a steady but clearly second-place showing in a shrinking segment, and a run-out year in which supply of the outgoing G12 was deliberately winding down. It comfortably outsold the Genesis G90, Audi A8 and Lexus LS, which is what keeps it mid-band rather than low.

BMW is among the most aspirational global luxury brands and led the traditional US luxury field in 2022 on 332,388 deliveries, ahead of Mercedes-Benz and Lexus (Tesla took the overall crown that year). The G12's 2020 facelift enlarged the kidney grille and drew some criticism, but nothing close to the polarization the G70's split headlights would provoke — owner sentiment on this car stayed strong.

Two forces pulled in opposite directions. 2022 was the peak of the semiconductor shortage, when luxury inventory was thin, factory cash was scarce and dealers were more likely to add market adjustment than take money off. But this was also the run-out year of a generation whose successor had already been shown, and the 740i's weak residuals made it the most discountable car in the lineup, so real negotiating room existed on remaining stock late in the year. Net buyer benefit is modest rather than good.

This is the worst freshness position a buyer can occupy: 2022 is the final model year of the sixth-generation G11/G12, on sale since the 2016 model year and last facelifted for 2020, with no changes at all for 2022 — and the all-new G70 replacement was publicly revealed in April 2022, in the middle of the model year, bringing a new platform, iDrive 8 and the first electric 7 Series. Anyone buying a 2022 car knew a far newer one was weeks away.

The G12 was consistently well reviewed for its engines, ride, cabin quality and rear-seat space, and reviewers still rated it near the top of the class in its final year — but by 2022 it was being measured against the all-new W223 S-Class, which took the comparison-test and award honors, and the aging infotainment and dated cabin tech cost it points. Well regarded, rarely the outright pick, and no major 2022 hardware.