We just showed you spy shots of a heavily disguised 7-series a couple of weeks ago, but here is an artist's interpretation of the new 7 in the raw. With an oh-so-sexy 6-series nose grafted to the formidable sedan, it makes quite an impression. Losing some of the flame-surfacing that Chris Bangle has made into a household joke name, at least among car geeks, the more subtly styled 7 appears to be taking the more conservative road, leaving rival Mercedes alone on the cutting edge, or the cutting room floor depending on your perspective. Indeed, with the new S-class now more closely resembling its big brother Maybach, this 7-series update might actually appear old-fashioned to some.

On the market since 2002, with a nip tuck in '05, the current 7-series has been praised for everything except its looks, and BMW has decided 2008 is the time to change that. Everybody seems to refer to this redesign as a toned-down shape for BMW, but the truth is that it is at the same time sexier and more elegant, making the 7 look more like the new 3- and 6-series, which isn't a bad thing at all. Click the read link for more photos and info.

[Source: Auto Express]