Anyone else notice new 6 is "E63"?

I noticed that too. And, of course, since neither of us work for BMWAG, we can only speculate. But my theory is that the E65 is NOT the original 7-series replacement for the E38. I suspect an earlier E number (lower than 63) was the original 7-series replacement that got scrapped and the "new" replacement (the E65) got the priority treatment to make up for a late start as it needed to be the next main product line replacement. Everything else got back-burnered until it was complete.

I'll dig around and see if I can find the references I recall reading about an aborted 7-series replacement and the resulting E65.

Okay, I found EXACTLY what I recalled seeing years ago, and in record time.

There are a lot of "interesting" references in this article including how, prior to Reitzle leaving BMW, the 7-series was going to be conservative. This design was thrown out when he left and work on the current atrocity began then.

Here's the link- http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/9323/new7.htm

Even this spy pic from the article would have been better than what actually ended up being built-

Interesting quote from the page :

The opinion of the delegation from ((the German town of)) Bad Homburg: A representative car, but not necessarily a perfect BMW. Above all the high front of the car and the squared rear let the flagship look bulky and fussy.
The critics fell on fertile ground. In the second half of the year 1999 the model with the project number E65 was revised in record time.

Click to expand...

Imagine, the first represented prototype was much more bulkier than the final car :yikes:

TD said:

Okay, I found EXACTLY what I recalled seeing years ago, and in record time.

There are a lot of "interesting" references in this article including how, prior to Reitzle leaving BMW, the 7-series was going to be conservative. This design was thrown out when he left and work on the current atrocity began then.

Here's the link- http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/9323/new7.htm

Even this spy pic from the article would have been better than what actually ended up being built-

Click to expand...

I really hate geocities; the site has exceeded its bandwidth limits. TD or Alex, do you have the site cached and can you post the text?

JST said:

I really hate geocities; the site has exceeded its bandwidth limits. TD or Alex, do you have the site cached and can you post the text?

Click to expand...

I'm trying.... Stay tuned....

And YOU (out of all of us) would most appreciate the content.

eargh...

I don't like any of those prototypes--Too wierd or too conservative. Of course I'm one of "those people" that like the new 7. Those old versions just look too wimpy and... well old.

http://members.roadfly.com/Holden/E65spy.jpg

Looks just like the current one, except it's missing the wierd (even to me) eyebrows and flat trunk. The lights look too big and oversimplified though.