Maybe you like to live dangerously. Like, James Bond dangerously. Well, we won’t judge, but we will pass this along — BMW has created the ultimate driving machine for shootouts and war zones.
Rather than having aftermarket anti-ballistic bits and bobs attached at a later date, this BMW 7 Series is born anti-ballistic and explosion-resistant, built from the ground up with armor steel. They call this the BMW Protection Core.
By building it this way, there are many advantages like more cabin space, lower curb weight, and better handling, which is exactly what you’d want if you were under these types of attacks.
For starters, the car has chunkier A-pillars and door/window frames meant to withstand the damage pictured here. The car has special armoring in the roof and undercarriage to withstand explosions. And the fuel tank is self-sealing, so you have a chance at getting out of there if the thing takes a bullet.
Can’t afford this ballistic-grade beast? You could always roll your own armored vehicle.
Almost bought a 740iL (2001) with the protetion package for fun as well. They are quite a bit quieter inside which was the buying point for me.
The doors are a chore tho, and then the cost of replacement glass, and the perpetual suspension issues due to the vehicle weight. They are cool, but too rich for my blood!
The biggest problem with expensive cars (resale expensive) is that they are usually expensive in maintaining them. Always kept me off of buying a nice car.
Export market: Russia
If the war over there has taught us anything, it’s that armor is overrated. Is this car drone-proof?
Good point, a medium sized drone with a shaped charge would cut a hole right through anything BMW have to offer. This product is at best intended to protect against civilian criminals, not warfighters.
Is the turn signal optional?
It seems to be on all their other models, I don’t see why this would be any different
Should also be popular in Los Angles.
Road rage insurance. Combine with gun ports for the 2nd amendment mandated weapons everyone has.
“roll your own armored vehicle”
Killdozer, anyone?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer
By Killdozer i think about the film from 1974, today most cars have enough processing power to make that happen.
Become ungovernable
electric?
;-P
doubtful, but does get 6gallons to the mile..
https://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/1446119_81_125788_qaOlU6yv3.jpg
Have they considered it might be seen as a challenge ?
Russia not for the moment. Brazil maybe…
Armored limousines for when you have a lot of money and very few friends.
Good for democratic countrys…
Finally I can drive through Detroit in a fancy car
Leave it sit on a random street in Oakland, CA…. it will be like that scene in The Super where he goes out to his car and it’s just the frame sitting on blocks. He touches it and the alarm goes off….
Normal car – drive away from the threat.
BMW – keeps you safe when your BMW inevitably breaks down.
Are you in the United States? Never understood why BMW’s have such a bad rep there, I’m in the UK and my 302,000 mile 530d rolls along just fine.
My X3 35i blew the rod bearings just for fun at 86k 🙄
N55? Not BMW’s strongest engine for sure but generally hold out, only one I’ve seen in that was clearly maintained well had oil pump failure due to rocker arms failing. Debris then got into the oil pump as the rollers from the rocker are thin enough to fit through the strainer. Pump died and bearings spun. Engine got new rockers, pump, s55 crank, 2 replacement rods n out the door. I chalked it up as a freak occurrence. I’ve seen the n55 and 54 go through hell and , again while not the strongest engine ever, there far from weak. Imho.
Cuz over here getting them fixed is a total nightmare. IF you take it into any dealer or shop expect to have it gone for months. No parts availability what so ever. Other places they are used for taxi cabs. Out here they are considered luxury vehicles. You will never see a BMW taxi cab over here.
Good to know, yes here in the UK there taxis, police cars , and generally very common. Parts availability is superb and almost every city has Independent specialists. In contrast I needed parts to rebuild a 300c with MDS lifter failure and ended up having the customer have a friend bring the parts home from the states in his luggage (fortunate timing) .. now jeep dealers in the UK will get me Chrysler parts but for a while they were almost impossible to get!
In many cases OEM parts actually cost less than garbage quality aftermarket parts. Maintaining a BMW in th USA isn’t so bad as long as you are able to perform maintenance yourself, and know where to get parts.
Oh great! An armored vehicle that costs twice as much to fix.
Who has more money than sense? You do, performance car enthusiast in a warzone who’s probably a corrupt oligarch!
Let’s not pretend to whom BMW is marketing these vehicles.
People way cooler and happier than you
Needing an armored vehicle to drive around makes you cool?
Then I’m glad to be uncool. Knowing that I don’t need one, that’s what makes me happy.
That’s all good until someone blocks you in, busts out the headlight, accesses the CAN bus and rolls down your window.
(Chuckle!)
Nice callback
yall get paid for this? you probably should have been
If this car is caught in a gun fight, it will probably load some software and then fake itself through it.
I used to have an old Mercedes 300SD with the W126 chassis. Both that and the W123 could be fitted with bulletproof doors and 3″ thick windows if you wanted.
It was reasonably fast (with the 560), and the chassis could already take as much weight as a small pickup so they really didn’t have to do much to make it work.
As long as the tires are not bullet proof, this is just a waste of money. Puncture even just one tire and the entire car is disabled. From there you can just access the CAN bus from the turn signal and open all the windows.
“Run flat” tires [tyres -Jenny] exist.
turn signal? It’s a BMW ;)
That picture of the interior is such a mind hack. It shows the luxury interior and the windows being smashed but remaining in tact. That basically says “you can be as cool as James Bond. Classy and chilled while cruising through explosions and gunfire”. It triggers a dopamine response where we imagine ourselves as action heros.
The reality is that if somebody is trying to blow you up, that isn’t cool at all.
John Wick’s car?
Another no hack AD…
If you consider how rude and pushy most of the drivers of new BMW’s are imagine what someone driving one of these is going to be like on the road.
Now a safe way to move your children to and from American public schools
Land Rover / Range Rover do a lot of this from the factory too – over the years various brakes & suspension components from the armoured + police spec variants have been popular upgrades.