Warning!
We have 15 years of archives. Links older than a year may have been updated to point to similar cars available to bid on eBay.
This site contains Ebay partner affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.
BMW has traditionally taken large measures to set its biggest sedan platform apart. In the case of the first 7, the E23, BMW offered an ultra-luxury oriented version replete with full leather accoutrements inside. Dubbed the “L7″, it was an expensive and very exclusive model. When BMW moved on to the E32, it distinguished the large lineup with an extended wheelbase model which added 5” of legroom. This matched the long standard extended wheelbase S-Class models, but Audi had outdone BMW and Mercedes-Benz with their D11 chassis Lang V8 quattro, which added a full foot (30 cm) to the wheelbase of the normal V8 quattro. Having also stepped up the motor in the E32 to the double-six 5 liter M70 V12, BMW was left with a few options when it came to the next 7; they took all of these items and combined them into one ultra-luxurious, ultra-long wheelbase 750iL:
While it seems to be a bit odd to consider in light of the proliferation of long-wheel base versions of German luxury cars (especially in the Asian markets), for Audi with the D11 stretching the wheelbase was a complicated proposition. After all, the D11 was a complicated car, combining for the first time all-wheel drive and an automatic transmission. The V8 had already been strengthened over the standard Type 44/C3 base, but increasing the wheelbase necessitated more bracing and a longer center driveshaft to maintain the all-wheel drive system. Of course, the simple solution would just have been to produce the car in front or rear drive only, but Audi’s specialty was the unique all-wheel drive system – so that was maintained in the new Lang version to help differentiate it from the already long-wheel base versions of the S-Class and 7 series:
