BMW M760Li xDrive due for Australia

BMW Oz will lock horns with Mercedes-Benz and Audi in the go-fast limo segment with news it will land its M badged 7 Series down under.

After speaking to BMW Oz's product planning department, MOTOR understands the firm is planning to land a small batch of its recently revealed M760Li xDrive to reintroduce a V12 offering and bolster the new 7-Series range with a halo model.

The ‘xDrive’ moniker of course is BMW speak for all-wheel drive, which means the M760Li is currently poised to be Australia's only all-wheel drive sedan offering from the brand. Although a departure from BMW Australia’s allocation of rear-drive only sedans, it’s no conceptual stretch for the maker who already flogs all-paw 3, 5, and 7 Series models overseas.

Plus, extra grip seems only logical with how much power the M760Li’s 6.6-litre V12 will produce. With two turbochargers the powerplant will spin up 441kW and 800Nm, more than anything in BMW’s range.

While it’s called an M ‘Performance’ model, which implies it’s a sort of M-lite, the resulting acceleration figures suggest otherwise. Flicking through an eight-speed automatic gearbox the M760Li is said to crush 100km/h in 3.9sec before storming to 305km/h with a raised limiter.

This places it in direct competition with Mercedes-AMG’s S65 L (V12 twin-turbo, 463kW/1000Nm, rear drive) and Audi’s soon-to-arrive S8 Plus (V8 twin-turbo, 445kW/750Nm, all-wheel drive).

BMW Oz’s expecting to land only a double-digit allocation of the M760Li xDrive after the car first goes on sale in Europe early 2017.

Pricing is yet to be determined, but expect it to lurk around the $400K mark.