Big limo Beemer designed to leave a smaller footprint

A seventh generation of the fabled BMW 7-Series is a launching pad for a raft of new technology.

Undoubtedly the most significant addition is an electric motor, delivering blinding performance and unprecedented refinement and serenity.

But the driver’s seat isn’t the optimum position in this limo.

The German thoroughbred was designed and built to carry the most important people in the back seat.

The incredibly cozy, adjustable, lay-back bucket seats in the rear cabin show why it’s the place to be. They are amazing, adjusting in any and all directions, are heated and ventilated, and fold flat like the business class seats on a Qantas 787.

Each has its own little pillow to help the occupant get perfectly comfortable.

Then there are little iPhone-sized screens on the rear passenger doors, which allow occupants to do all sorts of things just by dabbing the device. Like turn up the audio, or turn down the air conditioning.

There are blinds that automatically move into position and amazing mood lighting like one of those fancy hotel suites.

But here’s the headline act: the back seats have a television. And it’s no ordinary television.

This one measures 31.3 inches. Almost as big – and possibly even bigger – than what’s in most lounge rooms.

So big that when the screen retracts it lays flush against the cockpit roof, just behind the big sunroof.

Driver and passenger seats need to be nudged forward slightly to allow the screen to fully extend.

It’s amazing, and definitely not there to keep a couple of scruffy teenagers entertained.

The i7 is one of only two variants of this dreamy, all-new 7-Series limousine. One of them runs a conventional, twin-turbocharged, mild hybrid-assisted, six-cylinder engine called the 740i. And then there’s the futuristic new model tested here, the all-electric, silent-running i7.

Both cars are offered exclusively in the long wheelbase format (yet more evidence that this is a backseat driver’s machine) meaning this seventh-generation 7-Series is the biggest ever – 131mm longer than its predecessor, 48mm wider and 65mm higher.

Yet it more than passes the head-snap test. That is, the number of people who almost fall over getting a look at this alluring, substantial machine.

The 7-Series is the car that for a couple of decades was built to transport the great and the good, and has become a pin-up child for the electric vehicle community. Once it used its sportiness to take on its arch-rival, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Now, it is unashamedly pointed at the luxury segment.

The two companies get even further apart when it comes to electric versions.

Benz’s flagship, called the AMG EQS53 is an electric-only affair which is as fast as it is beautiful, and purpose-built by AMG.

BMW on the other hand, have stuck with the more conventional format of the donor 7-Series except it’s available in electrified form. Which helps make it about as clean, quiet and quick as a car can get.

While more conventional than the Benz, The i7 is by no means lacking in the wow factor.

With its two electric motors, delivering a combined 400kW and 745Nm this mammoth-sized machine (it really could pass for a Rolls Royce from some angles) will scamper to the speed limit in a brisk 4.7 seconds.

The 7 is imposing, pitting design against dynamics. The test vehicle, painted in a dark grey with matte finish, could be mistaken for a Virginia Class submarine. And the new ultra-sharp front-end design of the 7 wouldn’t look out of place on a stealth fighter.

That new BMW front-end treatment features two split laser main beams, aggressive restyling of the air dams and, of course, the two biggest signature kidney-grilles ever seen.

But it’s inside where the i7 makes the biggest impression.

The electric doors are clever and rather posh, even if they perform a task that’s always been quite happily done manually. They open with a button on the armrest and close to one on the dash. It all happens with what BMW calls a “grand entry” light sequence.

The daytime running lamps feature Swarovski crystals.

The dash departs from the norm and is called an “interaction bar” which has done away with conventional air vents. Cool air just seems to appear when the right button is pressed.

“Cloth” seats are actually merino leather blended with Cashmere wool.

The so-called “theatre screen” is the winner, though, as the coolest look-at-me feature seen for a long time. When deployed, it acts as a TV or computer screen that runs the width of the cabin, for the viewing pleasure of the car’s owner, or their kids. It also makes a decent privacy screen.

A couple of hours could be happily sitting in the big, plump seats (preferably the ones in the back) tinkering with the options, gizmos and gadgets that make up this extraordinary vehicle.

Each becomes more head-scratchingly clever and more technologically sophisticated. The funny thing is, as autonomous driving gets inexorably closer, these big mobile billboards for technology will effectively do themselves out of a job.

But just because the electronics and gadgetry are best-in-class, it doesn’t make these cars any easier to drive. It must take weeks to learn. But of course, that’s the chauffeur’s problem.

BMW i7 X-DRIVE 60M

* HOW BIG: It’s the biggest rendition of the 7-Series ever – and this one even more so with its long wheelbase and beefy design.

* HOW FAST: That a car so large can reach 100km/h in 4.7 seconds is impressive. More impressive is how instantaneous that delivery of 400kW and 745Nm can be.

* HOW THIRSTY? BMW says the i7 has a range of 625km on a single charge. Electric buyers get their car delivered with BMW wallbox and five-year ChargeFox subscription complimentary.

* HOW MUCH? The “entry level” 740i costs $268,900; while the i7 tested here feels like a bargain at $297,900. Both prices are before on-road costs.