2023 BMW 7 Series Review: Stunning in Every Way But One

Sedans may not have the market share they used to, but there’s one market segment where they still carry plenty of cache: the large-and-in-charge luxury market. America has largely given up on this segment, and Japan and England have slashed back on it as well (unless you’re looking to spend the really big bucks on a Bentley or Rolls-Royce), but the Germans are still battling it out with their big, imposing uberraketenschlitten.

Mercedes-Benz may have pioneered this segment with the S-Class, but for the last few decades, rivals BMW and Audi have endeavored to keep pace with the 7 Series and A8, respectively — all of which possess similar qualities of supple ride, prodigious power, top-tier tech and enough legroom to please a giraffe. Whenever an all-new one of these arrives, it’s a big deal — and that’s even more true today, when companies are under immense pressure to electrify and future-proof their lineups but not abandon the customers who still love their big gas-powered beasties.

So, for the 2023 model year, BMW has rolled out not one but two new full-size range-topping luxury sedans — one powered by gasoline, the other by electricity. For all intents and purposes, however, they’re the same car: the 2023 7 Series.