Is It Finally Happening? BMW Files Trademark for M7

BMW looks to be eyeing an even more performant 7 Series. AutoGuide’s sister site Bimmerfest has uncovered a trademark application for the M7 nameplate filed by the Bavarian automaker.

That said, it’s not like BMW doesn’t already offer a potent 7 Series. The M760i already packs a 600 hp V12 under its impressive hood. That gets it up to highway speed in a scant 3.6 seconds and Car and Driver described it as “a powerplant with the gravitational pull of a neutron star.”

Ringing in at $156,000, too, it’s not like it’s cheap. But apparently BMW believes that there’s an appetite for more.

While 600 hp is nothing to sneeze at, there are at least 25 more horses to get out of M760i’s V12, as a production version of the Rolls-Royce Wraith currently churns out 625 hp. In the Dawn, meanwhile, it makes an impressive 605 lb-ft of torque (though it only makes 563 hp for that application), which would also be a bump for the 7 Series.

SEE ALSO: 2018 BMW M760i vs Porsche Panamera Turbo Comparison

Alternatively, BMW could decide to go the (rumored) M8 route and uprate the M5’s 4.4-liter V8. In the 8 Series, the engine is already rumored to make more than 600 hp and would work well in an M7, too.

One of the big advantages of the smaller engine would be the low weight. That’s an area where it could get a leg up over the M760i, which is largely the same as any other 7 Series, apart from the big engine.

A few chassis and aero mods might also go a long way to making an M7 distinct form the M760i and the Alpina B7. What it wouldn’t distinguish it from is an M8 Gran Coupe, though. So perhaps the Wraith’s V12 could be the M7’s raison d’etre.

A version of this story originally appeared on Bimmerfest.