The Forgotten BMW That Scared Everybody — E32 7 Series

Name the car that forced Mercedes-Benz back to the drawing board. Most people say the Lexus LS400. Good answer — wrong answer. Three years before Lexus existed, a car came out of Munich that terrified Stuttgart, made Jaguar's brand-new XJ40 look a decade old overnight, and gave the world xenon headlights, double glazing, and Germany's first V12 in fifty years. It even had a fax machine. This is the full story of the BMW E32 7 Series (1986–1994) — the second-generation 7 Series, the most overlooked flagship in modern automotive history, and the car that ended the Mercedes S-Class monarchy. We cover everything: the mid-80s luxury "monarchy" ruled by the W126 S-Class, and how BMW's first 7 Series was so lightly regarded the press compared it to Mercedes' mid-size cars. The seven-year development under designer Ercole Spada and Claus Luthe. And the incredible gamble: how chief engineer Wolfgang Reitzle convinced BMW to scrap already-manufactured bodyshell tooling — an estimated 300 million Deutschmarks — to widen the car 40mm and engineer it for a V12, delaying launch by a year. The engines: the M70 5.0-litre V12 in the 750i/750iL — 300 hp, the first German production V12 since the 1930s Maybach Zeppelin, so smooth you could balance a coin on it — and the first car ever fitted with the famous 250 km/h gentleman's-agreement limiter. Plus the M60, BMW's first V8 since 1962 (Nikasil caveats included), and the secret Goldfisch V16 prototype with its radiator in the boot. The world firsts: projector-lens headlamps (1986), series-production xenon HID headlights (1991, on the 750iL), and double-glazed windows (1991 — beating Mercedes by months). BMW's first traction control and Electronic Damper Control, dual-zone climate, heated washer nozzles, pressure-adaptive wipers for autobahn speeds — and the legendary Highline package with walnut tables, a cool box with two crystal glasses, an integrated phone and fax, plus a second battery AND second alternator to power it all. Then the fallout: how the E32 pushed Mercedes into the anxious, over-budget W140 program, buried the Jaguar XJ40, and — with the Lexus LS400 arriving from the other flank — blew apart the old luxury order in three years. Finally, why nobody talks about this car (its successor, the E38, inherited its V12, xenons and double glazing — and got the movie deals), and why every modern flagship lives in the world the E32 made. Everyone copied its homework. Nobody remembered its name. Consider it remembered. ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Cold open: it wasn't the Lexus 01:10 — The monarchy: the S-Class rules the world 03:02 — The 300 million mark gamble 05:38— The V12 and the gentleman's handshake 08:35 — The gadgets: a spaceship with walnut trim 11:25 — The fallout: panic in Stuttgart, despair in Coventry 14:06 — Honesty corner + why nobody talks about it 15:55 — Where it all lands #bmw #7series