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Why Harry and Meghan were riding around in an old BMW

Tuesday, 30 October 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at Wellington's Maranui Cafe on Monday morning.

While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's royal tour of New Zealand may be entrancing a large percentage of the country at the moment, BMW obsessives and dedicated car nerds may have been bothered by one detail about their transport around Wellington.

Mainly, why exactly were Harry and Meghan driven around the nation's capital in a six year-old previous-generation BMW 7 Series? You might wonder why the latest royal glamour couple aren't being driven around in one of the new-generation governmental BMWs that were updated in early 2016?

This seems particularly obvious when you realise that the other BMWs in the official motorcade are the newer 2016 models that are easily identifiable by a more aggressive front end that features a broader double kidney grille and slimmer headlights.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are riding around Wellington in an old BMW. A hint as to why can be seen in the small wheel/large tyre combo behind Meghan
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are riding around Wellington in an old BMW. A hint as to why can be seen in the small wheel/large tyre combo behind Meghan's head.

The answer lies back in 2016 when government rolled over 32 of the BMW 730Ld limousines that were purchased in 2011 for the then-new version. Something that was little-mentioned at the time is that they actually had 34 BMWs on fleet at the time and two were being retained.

**READ MORE

The larger heavy duty tyres are a giveaway, but the thicker window frames just visible through the front glass also hint at heavy armour.
The larger heavy duty tyres are a giveaway, but the thicker window frames just visible through the front glass also hint at heavy armour.

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A current 2016 ministerial BMW 730Ld is easily distinguishable from the older car thanks to its sleeker looks.
A current 2016 ministerial BMW 730Ld is easily distinguishable from the older car thanks to its sleeker looks.

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Why? Well, while no-one will actually officially confirm or deny this for the obvious security reasons, the two old cars are actually heavily armoured high-security versions of the big BMW 7 Series.

No badge on the boot, but this is a twin-turbo V8-powered 750Li. Despite the more powerful engine, it still isn
No badge on the boot, but this is a twin-turbo V8-powered 750Li. Despite the more powerful engine, it still isn't quick, with a 0-100 time of 7.9 seconds.

The obvious visual giveaways are the fact that the older cars have obviously larger window frames behind the side glass and are clearly running on smaller wheels with special heavy duty run flat tyres (they are pretty much truck tyres) that are fitted as standard to the BMW 750Li High Security.

That's right, this isn't a diesel-powered 730Ld like the rest of the government fleet - the High Security 7s were only available with a choice of two petrol engines; the 750Li with its 300kW 4.4-litre twin turbo V8 and the 760Li with a 400kW 6.0-litre V12.

A quick search of publicly available information on the registration of the car Harry and Meghan were driven around Wellington in shows that it is indeed a 2012 750Li, with the listed weight explaining the need for the heavy duty tyres - at 3,755kg it is more than 1,500kg heavier than the current heaviest standard long wheelbase 7 Series.

This is because of all that armour.

BMW is understandably vague about the details of the High Security cars, but on its international media website states that the reinforced vehicle-specific armour plating is made from 'special steel as well as newly developed safety glazing protect the passenger compartment in particular from attacks of all kinds.'

The 'special glazing' is a 6cm thick multi-layer laminate used on all windows, with a special polycarbonate coating on the inside to prevent shattered glass particles from 'penetrating the interior'.

When it was first launched in 2009, the 7 Series High Security was the first vehicle to be certified to the then-new ballistic vehicle resistance standard BRV 2009, meeting the VR7 protection level, although the actual armour (ie; not the glass areas) met the requirements for the higher VR9 level.

A range of extra security options are available as well, including an intercom system with concealed microphones and speakers on the exterior of the car, an integrated fire extinguisher system, gas sensors with an internal fresh air supply and a gun case with compartments for two machine guns in the centre console.

Of course, BMW New Zealand not only declined to comment on whether the 750Li was fitted with any of these options, it also declined to comment on whether or not the cars even existed, offering a definitive 'No comment' on the entire subject. As, again, you would expect.

While the royal couple may have been ferried around our nation's capital in an old BMW, we still put on a better ride than our cousins over the ditch who drove the couple around Sydney in a Holden Caprice that was, at its newest, a 2012 model as well.

This is despite the fact that the Australian government runs a fleet of High Security 7 Series BMWs it purchased following the retirement of the Caprices in 2013.

The last vestiges of national pride in its now-extinct vehicle manufacture industry? Or they just happened to have it lying around? Either way, there doesn't seem to be any official requirement for the royal couple to be transported in an armoured vehicle - they also used Range Rovers in Australia, while in Fiji the royal transport was a Toyota Land Cruiser 200 and in Tonga it was a Prado.