Bentley Bentayga W12 (1st Gen)

Scope of this guide

This guide is scoped to the first-generation Bentley Bentayga W12 in its original form: the 6.0L twin-turbo W12 petrol engine with 600 bhp (608 PS), an eight-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive, in the four-door, five-seat SUV body that Bentley built at Crewe from 2016. It is not a guide to the Bentayga Speed, which had a more powerful W12 from 2019, to the V8 petrol, V8 diesel or plug-in hybrid cars, or to the redesigned Bentayga that Bentley announced in June 2020. Where those cars differ we say so below, because an advert that says only "Bentayga W12" can describe more than one of them.

We have not driven this model for this article. Everything here comes from three cited sources: Bentley's own Heritage Collection specification sheet for the first production Bentayga, PistonHeads' used buying guide by Tony Middlehurst (October 2021), and the government recall checker. We also read two Bentley press releases from March 2017 and February 2019, a Bentley release of June 2020 and two PistonHeads reports from the autumn of 2015, and we flag where a point rests on them. Where sources disagree we say so rather than pick a winner quietly. We give no prices, because they date quickly and are not valuations.

The figures at a glance

• Engine: 6.0L twin-turbo W12 petrol. Bentley prints 5950 cc, which is the figure we store, and describes a W12 TSI with two parallel twin-scroll turbochargers, 48 valves, 10.5:1 compression, combined port and direct fuel injection and cylinder deactivation. PistonHeads prints 5,952 cc, a rounding difference.
• Power: 600 bhp, which Bentley also prints as 608 PS, at 6,000 rpm. The two numbers are the same engine in British and metric horsepower: 608 PS multiplied by 0.9863 is about 599.7 bhp. We checked that conversion ourselves. PistonHeads prints 600 hp in its buying guide and 608 hp in its 2015 reports, so you will see both.
• Torque: 900 Nm, which Bentley gives as 663 lb ft in a 2017 release and PistonHeads gives as 664 lb ft in 2021. Our conversion of 900 Nm is about 664 lb ft, so those two differ only by rounding.
• 0-100 km/h: 4.1 seconds. Bentley's 2017 release prints "0-100 km/h in 4.1 seconds" and also gives 0-60 mph in 4.0 seconds, and its specification sheet prints 0-100 km/h (62 mph) as 4.1 seconds. PistonHeads quotes 4.1 seconds for 0-62 mph, which is the same benchmark.
• Top speed: 301 km/h, which Bentley prints as 187 mph (301 km/h). Our conversion of 187 mph is about 300.9 km/h.
• Drive: all-wheel drive, which Bentley calls permanent four-wheel drive, with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and a choice of eight drive modes including an off-road setting.
• Weight: 2,440 kg on Bentley's sheet and in PistonHeads' guide. PistonHeads' 2015 reports on the pre-production cars gave 2,422 kg. Options change the number.
• Size: 5,141 mm long and 2,992 mm between the axles, according to Bentley.

Checking the power and torque numbers

The headline numbers agree across Bentley and PistonHeads, but the details around them do not. Bentley's own sheet gives torque as 900 Nm from 1,250 to 4,500 rpm in its text and as 900 Nm at 1,500 rpm in its table, so even the manufacturer's document is not consistent. PistonHeads' guide says 1,350 to 4,500 rpm, and its 2015 drive report says 1,250 to 4,250 rpm with 5,250 to 6,000 rpm for peak power. We store only the peak figure, 900 Nm, and treat the rev ranges as approximate.

The power rating also moves with the badge. The standard car makes 600 bhp. The Speed, which Bentley announced on 14 February 2019, makes 635 PS (626 bhp), 900 Nm, 3.9 seconds to 100 km/h and 306 km/h. If an advert quotes anything above 600 bhp or 301 km/h, it is describing a different car, and the Speed is outside this guide. Bentley's 2020 release gives no W12 figures at all, so we do not use it for any number here.

PistonHeads warns that weight and power data in its guide should be treated as relative rather than definitive, and that is a fair view of all published figures for a car that was sold with a long options list. They are claims made by the maker, not measurements of any individual car, and we did not test one.

Dates: reveal, deliveries and the 2020 end point

Bentley revealed the Bentayga at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2015, and PistonHeads reported the car on 9 September 2015. Bentley's specification sheet says production began in 2016 and that the first production car, chassis number 00001, was finished in Anthracite and kept for the Heritage Collection. It also says the whole 2016 production volume sold out in advance. PistonHeads' guide gives the sales window as 2016 to 2020. Bentley's June 2020 release says the original car arrived in November 2015, which does not match the Frankfurt date, so we do not use it. We changed the catalogue start year from 2015 to 2016 because that is when production and sales began; 2015 is the reveal year.

The end year of 2020 needs a careful reading. In June 2020 Bentley launched a redesigned Bentayga, first as the V8, with the W12 Speed to follow, so 2020 marks the end of the original body, not necessarily of the 600 bhp car. PistonHeads says the Speed was the only W12 Bentayga sold after late 2019. We therefore read 2020 as the end of the first generation, and we cannot say exactly when the last 600 bhp cars were built. Check the build date on the car and not the model-year label.

How the cars differ

The first cars were the W12 alone: PistonHeads' 2015 report describes the W12 as the only engine and says diesel and hybrid versions would follow. Later in the first generation Bentley added a V8 petrol, a V8 diesel, a plug-in hybrid and the Speed, all of which are outside this guide. The 600 bhp car also appeared in special builds. Bentley's March 2017 release shows the Bentayga Mulliner with the same 608 PS (600 bhp), 900 Nm and 187 mph. Bentley's sheet lists a five-seat body, and PistonHeads mentions four-seat cars and a third row that became an option on V8 and W12 cars from late 2019. Treat seat count as an option to confirm on the car.

Fuel economy was claimed at 22.1 mpg combined and 292 g/km of CO2 on the old NEDC cycle in PistonHeads' 2015 drive report. Treat that as a laboratory figure, since a car of this weight with a twin-turbo W12 will use more fuel in ordinary driving.

How many were built

Bentley's sheet says "1st generation: 19,781". We do not use it as a W12 count, because it covers the whole first generation, including the V8, diesel, hybrid and Speed cars, and the sheet does not say up to which date it counts. Bentley's 2019 release gives no W12 total either. So our catalogue leaves the production count empty, and we would rather say nothing than guess. If you want the figure as context, it suggests a car built in large numbers by Bentley's standards, but that is our inference and not a statement from the sources.

Engine and gearbox

PistonHeads lists the places to look for leaks: gaskets and turbo oil pipes, and also vacuum pipes and water pumps. It describes a reported US water pump bill of more than 8,000 dollars as a bit odd and perhaps not the full story, so ask for an itemised invoice if a car has had one. The same article says the engine's use of both direct and port fuel injection helps avoid an expensive de-carbonising job, which is plausible for this design but is the author's view and not a promise.

Servicing follows a fixed pattern. PistonHeads says interim services are due every 10,000 miles or at years 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13, whichever comes first, and major services every 20,000 miles or in even-numbered years, with spark plugs replaced every third service. The new-car warranty was three years or 100,000 miles. Those intervals come from an October 2021 article, so confirm the current schedule with a Bentley dealer and check that the history shows the right service at the right time. We found no verified running-cost table and we give none.

Bentley says the W12 can shut down cylinders under light load. That is normal operation, but it is one more system that a pre-purchase inspection should check, along with the eight-speed automatic. PistonHeads' 2015 drive report said the gearbox downshifted two or three ratios on a throttle input in pre-production cars and that the writer preferred manual mode. That was an early impression of an unfinished car, not a finding about used ones.

Suspension, brakes and wheels

The Bentayga has self-levelling air suspension with four selectable ride heights, and Bentley describes an electrically activated 48V active anti-roll system. Bentley's text calls it a world-first, while its own table lists the 48V anti-roll bars as optional, so check from the car's specification whether the car has them. PistonHeads' guide warns that air suspension has caused trouble in the past, including leaking legs that leave one side of the car lower than the other. Walk around the car after it has been parked, watch it lift at start-up and cycle through every height setting. A car that sags overnight needs an invoice or a price that allows for the repair.

PistonHeads' 2015 drive report noted that brakes smoked on more than one pre-production launch car and that the suspension was not signed off. We would treat that as history, not a defect list, but inspect the discs and pads and listen for rear-axle noises on a rough road. We could not find a source for the standard wheel and tyre sizes of the 600 bhp car, so check what is fitted, that all four tyres match and that every wheel is free of kerb damage.

Electrics, cabin and body

PistonHeads' guide says window lift systems are complex and that a hissing noise is the start of failure and a large repair bill, so operate every window. It lists no W12-specific electrical fault in the extracts we read. Test the touchscreen and navigation, the soft-close doors, the sunroof, the tailgate and every seat function, because options lists are long and the car should match what it was ordered with.

Bentley's sheet notes the single-piece aluminium side pressing, which was the largest of its kind in the world at the time, which suggests that body repair is a specialist job, although we found no source on repair costs. Look for panel gaps and paint mismatch and ask for evidence of any accident repair. The original headlamp design with four floating LED lamps is easy to tell from the 2020 redesign, which has a different grille and lamps.

What to check before buying

• Confirm that the car is the 600 bhp W12 and not a Speed or another engine, using the engine number and the build sheet.
• Ask for the full service history, with each interim and major service, and any invoices for water pumps, turbo oil pipes and gaskets.
• Test the air suspension at every ride height and look for a car that sits unevenly.
• Check which options the car has, including the anti-roll system, seating layout and sound system, and make sure they work.
• Operate every window, door and tailgate function.
• Run the registration through the recall check described below, and also ask a Bentley dealer to check the VIN.
• Get an independent inspection from a specialist who knows the car, and compare current adverts instead of relying on any number in this guide.

Recalls and the DVSA check

PistonHeads' guide lists several recalls that touched cars of this era, although not all apply to every build: a June 2020 recall of certain 2019 and 2020 cars for a possibly leaky fuel line quick connector, a March 2020 recall of third-row seat belt anchors on some 2018 to 2020 cars, a recall for side curtain airbags on 2018 to 2020 cars, a 2018 rear camera delay, and a recall of early 2016 cars for seat mechanisms and instrument panel joints. We read that list through a summary tool and not line by line, so treat the dates as pointers and check them yourself.

We did not run the government checker, because it needs a registration number or the make, model and year, and we are not looking at a specific car. The page says that with a registration you can see safety recalls that have not been checked or fixed and the MOT history, and that recalls for reasons other than safety come from the manufacturer directly. Absence of a recall from our sources is not a clean bill of health for any individual car.

About the photograph

The picture at the top of this page shows a 2016 Bentayga W12 photographed at the NEC in Birmingham in November 2017. Its number plate was already blanked on the Commons original, and we have not altered it. The Commons title says W12, but we could not see an engine badge, so we use it only to show the shape of the car.

Verdict

The first-generation Bentayga W12 in this guide is 600 bhp, 900 Nm, 4.1 seconds to 100 km/h and 301 km/h, all-wheel drive, with a 6.0L twin-turbo W12 petrol engine and a heavy air-sprung body. It is an expensive car to maintain, so its history matters more than its mileage. If you are shopping for one, make sure it is not a Speed, insist on a complete service record, test the air suspension and electrics carefully, and run the recall check. We have not driven it, so use the sources and a proper inspection to decide.