BMW 740e iPerformance arrives as BMW’s first ‘iPerformance’ sub-brand car

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The BMW 740e iPerformance has been revealed ahead of a Geneva 2016 debut with new ‘iPerformance’ badging and a plug-in hybrid powertrain.

BMW adds additional glitter to its more mainstream models by tagging them with M Performance badging and a bit of DNA from the M Brand. And now it’s doing the same with a new badge – iPerformance – which denotes mainstream models with a plug-in powertrain from BMW’s ‘i’ cars – step forward the new BMW 740e iPerformance.

Heading for a debut at the Geneva Motor Show in a week or two, the 740e iPerformance gets the same plug-in hybrid powertrain as the X5 xDrive 40e, which means a four-cylinder 2.0 litre turbo petrol with 245bhp and an electric motor adding torque and horses for a total of 322bhp and 369lb/ft of torque.

As you’d expect from a plug-in hybrid, the official economy figures bear no relevance to real life, but at 134.5mpg and 49g/km they’ll make your accountant smile if you pay BIK.

You’ll be able to have your 740e with either rear-wheel drive or BMW’s xDrive 4WD (with a slight drop in economy if you go all-wheel drive), with both versions getting an eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard. You can even have a LWB version, perfect if you’re grabbing a 740e to be an ‘Eco’ chauffeur.

BMW reckon the 740e will do 25 miles in pure electric mode (reckon on more like 15 miles in the real world) after a four hour domestic charge, and it’s lively too – 0-62mph takes 5.6 seconds.

The BMW 740e iPerformance will debut at Geneva and go on sale in the UK in the summer (prices are yet to be revealed – but think top-end of the 7-Series price range), and you can expect to see more iPerformance models launched in the coming years, as well as existing plug-in BMWs – like the 330e and 225xe – getting the new iPerformance badges soon.