04/07/2008 01:09. It looks a lot like the outgoing model, but BMW says 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, though the new 7 can best be described as evolutionary rather than revolutionary as the last generation 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,... // AutoWeek