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The first BMW Skytop sold for 500,000 euros

When BMW unveiled the Skytop Concept back in 2024, most of us assumed it was one of those beautifully bonkers ideas destined for the design archive—like a wearable kidney grille or a six-wheeled iX. It looked sensational, of course, but production? Not a chance. And yet, in a rare case of Munich losing its collective mind in the best possible way, BMW decided to actually build it.

Just 50 examples, they said. Each one to cost upwards of €500,000, they said. And then — poof! — all fifty were gone before you could even say Verkaufsabteilung. The entire run was reserved “at the speed of light,” which is the sort of phrase that makes PR people sweat but accountants grin.

And now, a year later, deliveries have begun. The first lucky customer? None other than Italian racer and serial supercar hoarder Andrea Levy, who picked up his glittering new toy at BMW Welt — the Bavarian equivalent of a Wonka factory for grown-up petrolheads.

A Familiar Beast in Designer Clothing

Underneath, the Skytop is essentially an M8 Competition that’s gone through an haute couture makeover. Same chassis, same 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 with 626 horsepower, same eight-speed Steptronic gearbox, same xDrive all-wheel drive system. In other words, it’s as fast and furious as ever: 0–100 km/h in 3.3 seconds.

But that’s about where the similarities end. The Skytop trades the M8’s coupe roof for a targa-style setup, featuring two removable leather-clad panels that turn the whole affair into a sun-drenched grand tourer for the Riviera set. The car is drenched in silver paint, matched with jewel-like, multi-spoke wheels, while the interior—swathed in brown-red leather—looks like it was upholstered by Hermes on a good day.

It’s a masterclass in restraint and excess all at once: elegant, decadent, and just a little bit mad.

Half a Million Euro Question

Of course, half a million euros is a lot of money for what is, technically, a re-bodied M8. You could buy two M8s, a villa in Tuscany, and still have cash left over for a vintage Z8 to park beside them. But that’s missing the point.

The Skytop isn’t about rationality. It’s about craftsmanship, rarity, and that intangible aura of want. It’s the sort of car BMW builds to remind people that it still can — that behind all the i4s, hybrid SUVs, and software subscriptions, there’s still a pulse of old-school, V8-powered lunacy beating in Bavaria.

And Then Came the Speedtop

As if the Skytop weren’t enough of a collector’s fever dream, BMW doubled down a year later with the Speedtop — a sleek, shooting brake variant limited to just 70 units. Think of it as the Skytop for people who want to bring along luggage, a Labrador, or perhaps a slightly less indulgent conscience.

The BMW Skytop is the sort of machine that reminds us why we fell in love with cars in the first place. It’s extravagant, irrational, and completely unnecessary — which, ironically, makes it utterly essential.

It’s also proof that sometimes, when a carmaker decides to go off-script, magic happens.

Source: BMW

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BMW 7 Series Protection: The Chancellor’s New Shield

For decades, if you were a German Chancellor being whisked through Berlin traffic with a briefcase full of state secrets and a convoy of flashing blue lights, there was really only one acceptable choice of wheels: the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Guard. A rolling fortress in a three-pointed star suit. But times change — and apparently, so do political bodyguards.

According to Der Spiegel, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) — the outfit that protects Germany’s top brass, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier — has awarded its latest armored limo contract to BMW. Specifically, Munich’s new 7 Series Protection, internal code G73.

Yes, you read that right: the country’s most powerful people are swapping Stuttgart for Munich. That’s like the Royal Family trading in their Bentley for a Range Rover. Quietly seismic.

Not Just a Beefed-Up Beemer

You might think this is just a regular 7 Series that’s been down to Halfords for some bulletproof glass and a few Kevlar panels. You’d be wrong. The 7 Series Protection is built from the ground up as an armored car — no bolt-on bodge jobs here.

At its heart lies BMW’s “Protection Core,” a self-supporting cocoon made from high-strength steel that’s baked directly into the chassis and roof frame. This gives the car a 360-degree shield against high-caliber gunfire and small explosives. It’s less “reinforced limousine” and more “luxury tank with massage seats.”

The glass alone could probably stop a rhino in full charge, while the underbody armor laughs in the face of grenades and drone-dropped explosives. The result meets VPAM 10 certification, which, if you’re not fluent in ballistic ratings, is about as high as it gets for civilian vehicles. It’ll shrug off fire from 7.62 × 54 mm R rounds — the sort you’d normally associate with Russian sniper rifles.

Fire and Fury, V8 Edition

While BMW also builds an all-electric i7 Protection (for heads of state who like their eco-credentials as bulletproof as their doors), the BKA has opted for something a bit more… traditional. The 760i Protection. Under the bonnet sits a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8, mildly electrified and producing a healthy 544 horsepower.

That’s not a powertrain you’ll find in your local German dealership — this one’s exclusive to government duty. And while the whole package tips the scales at over 4,000 kilograms, BMW’s engineers have fettled the chassis, suspension, and brakes to ensure that when the sirens blare, the big Beemer can still shift like an express train on the Autobahn.

The Michelin PAX run-flats can keep the car moving at 80 km/h even with no air left in the tires, and the self-sealing fuel tank means that even a direct hit won’t turn the cabin into a fireball. Handy, that.

The Armored Penthouse

Inside, it’s business as usual — if your business is conducted from a mobile five-star suite. Buyers (or rather, federal procurement officers) can spec the same Executive Lounge seats, massage functions, cool box, and Bowers & Wilkins sound system as the civilian 7 Series.

The BMW Curved Display and Protection Command Touch System blend infotainment with intelligence, letting the driver control everything from the intercom to the exterior lights and secure communication links — all from within a cocoon quieter than the Bundestag after budget cuts.

A Symbolic Win for Munich

This isn’t just a sales victory for BMW; it’s a changing of the guard — literally. For decades, Mercedes ruled the corridors of German power, its S-Class synonymous with authority and discretion. Now, BMW’s Dingolfing plant — where the Protection models are hand-assembled alongside the standard 7 Series and i7 — becomes the new nerve center of Germany’s state mobility.

So the next time you spot a sleek black 7 Series silently gliding through Berlin with tinted glass and a convoy in tow, remember: that’s not just another luxury limo. That’s the Federal Republic’s fortress on wheels — faster than fear, tougher than politics, and possibly the most important BMW ever built.

Source: BMW

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Desert Proof — How a Stock BMW X5 Conquered the 2025 Rebelle Rally

After eight brutal days, 1,700 miles, and more dust than a Mad Max set, a nearly bone-stock BMW X5 xDrive40i rolled triumphantly out of the desert — first in the Bone Stock category, second overall in the X-Cross class, and with its Bavarian dignity fully intact.

Behind the wheel (and compass) were Rebecca Donaghe and Rebecca Dalski, BMW of North America’s Product Manager, who spent more than a week proving that luxury SUVs aren’t just for school runs and Whole Foods parking lots. Their X5 — straight from the Spartanburg, South Carolina production line — tackled the 2025 Rebelle Rally, one of the toughest navigational challenges in North America, armed with little more than grit, a few maps, and a very German sense of engineering confidence.

The Rally Without GPS — or Mercy

If you’re picturing a high-speed, flat-out desert race, think again. The Rebelle Rally isn’t about going fast — it’s about not getting lost. Over eight days, competitors navigate via map and compass only, hunting down hidden checkpoints scattered across California and Nevada’s endless desert. GPS? Strictly verboten. One wrong bearing, and you’re not just off route — you’re off the day’s leaderboard.

The X5 faced everything from boulder-strewn washes and gravel tracks to dry lakebeds and treacherous dunes, including the event’s notorious “Dunes Day,” where sand swallows overconfidence whole. Here, throttle finesse and momentum matter more than horsepower.

A Bone-Stock Beast

The rules of the Bone Stock category are exactly what they sound like: no suspension lifts, no trick differentials, no winches the size of small refrigerators. Aside from off-road tires (in factory size), a roof rack, and the mandatory recovery gear, this was your everyday X5 — the kind you could spec online this afternoon.

Power came from BMW’s 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six paired with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, delivering 375 horsepower through the brand’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system. Combined with drive modes like xSand, xGravel, xSnow, and xRock, the X5 proved it could do more than just attack alpine passes and motorway on-ramps.

And it did so with style — because if you’re going to get lost in the desert, you might as well do it from the comfort of leather seats and four-zone climate control.

Two Rebeccas and a Map

While Donaghe handled the driving, Dalski — BMW’s Product Manager by day, desert navigator by necessity — guided their course with nothing but analog tools: a compass, ruler, and paper map. Each day was an endurance test of patience, precision, and teamwork, with the X5 serving as both lifeline and laboratory.

For Dalski, the experience was more than a test — it was a demonstration. “This rally puts our vehicles through conditions most customers will never see,” she explained. “It’s the ultimate validation of the engineering we build into every X5.”

A Desert Legacy in the Making

BMW’s growing Rebelle Rally program is quietly building momentum. In 2023, an X2 M35i finished second in its class; in 2024, an X3 M50 carried the torch. The 2025 X5 represents another confident stride — proof that beneath the polish and performance credentials lies a core of real-world capability.

Because in a competition where there’s no GPS, no pit wall, and no second chances, success isn’t about lap times — it’s about trust: in your co-driver, your compass, and, apparently, your luxury SUV.

The 2025 Rebelle Rally has a new desert queen — and she wears a BMW badge. The X5 didn’t just survive; it thrived. In a landscape built to punish pretenders, this stock SUV earned its stripes — one grain of sand at a time.

Source: Rebelle Rally