PARIS PREVIEW: 2009 BMW 7 SERIES; BANGLE STYLING EVOLVES IN FIFTH-GEN MODEL.

Byline: WES RAYNAL

It looks a lot like the outgoing model, but BMW says that the fifth-generation 7 Series is all new.

The car, which will make its world premiere at the Paris motor show this fall, takes styling cues from the CS concept BMW showed in Shanghai in 2007 ("China Dolls,'' May 7, 2007), though the new 7 can best be described as evolutionary rather than revolutionary as the last one was. The new car is slightly larger than the outgoing car and is distinctively edgier, with flatter surfaces and tauter forms. Up front, the kidney grille looks more exaggerated, and in the rear, the tail lamps, spoiler and decklid look far more integrated than the hideous (but aerodynamically functional) tail on the previous model.

A new V8 will power the 7 Series (750i and 750Li) when it goes on sale here in spring 2009: the 4.4-liter, 400-hp, 450-lb-ft twin-turbo V8 introduced in the X6. A 3.0-liter, 326-hp twin-turbo six and a 245-hp diesel won't come to the States initially, but "Never say never,'' said a BMW source. The engine is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.

There's also a rumored gas-electric hybrid model using the two-mode system developed with General Motors and Daimler. Although not part of the launch lineup, it could be on sale in the next year, kicking off what BMW sources said will ...