BMW Group Bringing i7 M70,"Very Special" M Car And More To Villa d’Este

A special one-off two-seater built as a homage to motoring will also debut at the esteemed show in May.

By: Christopher Smith

Mar 17, 2023 at 5:26pm ET

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BMW has been heavily involved with the annual Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este event in Italy for several years as a sponsor, and 2023 is no different. In a recent announcement, the automaker shared details of this year's activities including vehicle categories, dates, and all the tidbits one would normally expect regarding such an event. However, BMW also dropped a few teasers for new vehicles amid the discussion of classics.

Specifically, there are three new Bimmers referenced, though only in passing and without specific names. We can safely guess one of them, described as "a new all-electric M Performance model of the BMW 7 Series" with a neat two-tone finish. All-electric means i7, and it's almost certainly the i7 M70 mentioned during the debut of the 7 Series/i7 in April 2022. Called the future flagship model for the series, BMW stated it would be its most powerful production model ever with more than 600 horsepower. It was also slated to debut in 2023, lining up neatly with Villa d’Este in mid-May.

Gallery: 2023 BMW i7

Of course, that announcement came before the debut of the BMW XM, which is BMW's current power champion at 644 hp in standard guise. Yes, there's also the XM Label Red with 738 hp, but technically speaking, it's not on sale yet and has only been seen in previews. In any case, the i7 M70 is shaping up to be quite the super sedan, provided that's the special electric 7 Series BMW is talking about.

Actually, Villa d’Este might be the backdrop for the amped-up i7 and XM Label Red to get acquainted. The other new BMW mentioned for the show is "a very special BMW M car" with no other context given. We've been racking our brains and revisiting old spy photos to get a clue on the identity of this car, leading us to speculate on everything from an enhanced Z4 to something properly new. These are valid possibilities, but mid-May could also fit with a full reveal or production launch of the XM Label Red. It's a stretch, but one might consider that to be a new, special M car.

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As for the third teaser, this one could be tricky. BMW simply calls it "an elegantly sporty, one-off homage to motoring for two." Being a one-off, this could be a concept vehicle completely unrelated to anything else in the automaker's lineup. But here's the tricky part – it may not even be a BMW at all. It's important to note that the announcement for this year's Villa d’Este comes from BMW Group. That means other brands like Mini or Rolls-Royce are in the mix. And we all know how much Rolls-Royce loves to build one-off vehicles.

In any case, expect more teasers to come as we approach the 2023 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Held on the western shore of Lake Como in northern Italy, this year's event runs from May 19-23.