BMW i7 xDrive60 2023 Review

Pricing for the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 starts at $297,900 plus on-road costs – a $29,000 premium over the petrol-powered BMW 740i.

But the i7 also comes with more equipment, so specced like-for-like the two models are virtually identical in price.

Regardless of the 7 you select, you’re getting much more car for your money. Existing customers apparently wanted a more imposing machine, so BMW’s latest limo has expanded significantly in all directions. And it wasn’t exactly a supermini before.

Only one wheelbase is now offered, which has been stretched 5mm beyond even the old long-wheelbase variant to 3215mm. Overall length is up 131mm, width has increased 48mm and height 65mm, so this is now one massive motor car.

The other factor that adds to the new i7’s presence is its distinctive styling. It features the large kidney grille and two-piece split headlights that are now a design signature of BMW’s range-topping models, including the X7 and XM SUVs, and are bound to split opinion.

Obvious rivals include the freshly-updated Audi S8 ($273,400 plus ORCs), Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 (from $328,400) and Porsche Taycan Turbo (from $280,300), though the latter are more sporting in their approach and significantly out-grunt the BMW.

A little further upstream, the Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid (from $456,000) also swims in the same pool.

If the 2023 BMW i7 was a serving of chips it would be a loaded fries with all the trimmings. There are a few options which will be covered in a moment, but the standard equipment list is almost as long as the i7 itself.

Mechanically there are 21-inch wheels, air suspension, adaptive dampers, rear-wheel steering and active anti-roll bars.

The doors are automatic, opening at the press of a button, the front and rear seats are powered, heated, ventilated and massage (though the latter two functions are optional in the back), there’s a choice of leather or Wool-Cashmere upholstery, Swarovski crystals in the headlights, quad-zone climate control and some jaw-dropping entertainment gear that we’ll get to in detail shortly.

The i7 also includes five years of complimentary Chargefox charging and six years of servicing as well as a third-generation wallbox for home charging with domestic and public charging cables supplied.

Most colours are standard, though a pair of matte ‘frozen’ greys are an extra $2600. New to the 7 Series is two-tone paintwork with the roof available in black or grey and a limited colour palette for the lower body which attracts a $17,500 premium.

Four wheel designs are available, all at no cost, likewise the M Sport Pro pack which includes M Sport brakes with black high gloss brake callipers, a rear spoiler and high gloss black exterior trim.

Inside there are five leather colours or two for the merino wool/cashmere combination as well as three trims: carbon-fibre and ash or oak wood. An extra $9000 adds reclinable ‘Executive Lounge’ rear seating with the aforementioned ventilation and massage.

Despite this, where the new 7 Series lags behind ‘upper luxury’ rivals like Bentley and Rolls-Royce is the degree of personalisation on offer.

Order a Flying Spur or Ghost and as long as you can pay for it there is an almost unlimited number of exterior and interior options – which admittedly send the price tag to two or three times that of the i7 – and this tier of buyer might find the 7 Series a little too… production.

BMW’s standard five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty applies and condition-based servicing means the car will inform you when it requires maintenance.

It’s probably theoretically possible to crash a 2023 BMW i7 but you’d really have to have your mind set on it. There is no official Euro NCAP or ANCAP rating for such an expensive model, but there is as comprehensive a list of active safety equipment as you’ll find on any car.

The forward collision system includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection and crossroads warning and adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go functionality, as well as lane departure and lane keep assist.

Helpfully, the steering wheel now has sensitive pressure sensors in it preventing the need to frequently wiggle the steering wheel to keep cruise control functioning – the car knows you’re holding the wheel, even if only lightly.

Speed signs and traffic lights can be read, there’s rear cross traffic alert and rear collision avoidance as well as an exit warning system, which not only warns of approaching traffic or cyclists but will stop the automatic doors opening if they have been triggered.

The satellite navigation can display an augmented reality view in the digital instruments, the feed from the camera overlaid with arrows and signals showing precisely where the car needs to be placed and directed to follow the sat-nav.

One of the i7’s real party tricks, however, is its advanced parking assistance features. Forget the 3D 360-degree camera, that’s amateur hour.

Not only can the i7 park itself and be moved remotely using a smartphone, steering itself around obstacles in the process, the reversing assistant can ‘remember’ the last 50 metres driven at speeds of up to 36km/h and reverse itself along the same route, for example a tight driveway that may have limited or no visibility.

Likewise, the car can store up to 200 metres of steering manoeuvres at up to 10 locations using GPS data. When those locations are reached, the car will carry out the procedure autonomously, including steering operations and moving between forward and reverse.

Science fiction stuff.

Get comfortable, this could take a while. The 2023 BMW i7 sets new standards for in-car technology with a jaw-dropping array of equipment.

The drama starts when unlocking, the crystal headlights shimmering in a light display, while one or all of the doors can be programmed to open automatically at the touch of a button.

Hop inside and the giant curved display fires up, incorporating the iDrive 8 infotainment and the highly configurable digital instruments. Full-screen, high-resolution smartphone mirroring is available while iDrive 8 offers the ability to customise every possible vehicle function, from seats to lighting to locking to temperature to driver profiles and much more.

Unlike in the BMW iX, an iDrive controller remains in addition to the touch-screen, but such is the depth and complexity of the system that you’re usually better off just asking for what you want and taking a punt the computer will sort it out for you. Chances are it’ll be able to help you out.

For example, during our drive the prompt “Hey BMW” was followed by requests to increase or decrease vehicle speed, adjust the climate control temperature, change the drive mode, select a different radio station, open and close the sun blinds and more. All requests were answered accurately and promptly.

Depending on the drive mode selected, a variety of soundtracks developed by the Grammy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer are played. It’s a bit of a gimmick and can make you feel like you’ve landed in a Batman movie when you’ve pressed the accelerator.

The real treats, however, are in the back. A tip: if you’re going to spend $300K-plus on an i7, shell out the extra $9000 for the Executive seating. A couple of touches on the armrest-mounted digital screen moves the front passenger seat so far forward it basically touches the windscreen to allow the rear seat to recline almost flat.

Another couple of touches lowers the gigantic 31.3-inch theatre screen from the roof. It’s a staggering piece of equipment to have in a car, able to stream from all the major platforms (YouTube, Netflix, Stan, Disney+, etc) thanks to 5G connectivity, though it’s dependent on your personal mobile plan for the data.

Alternatively, devices can be linked via HDMI and an inbuilt camera allows Zoom calls should meetings be required on the move, after which you can play some games.

The star of the show, though, is undoubtedly the 35-speaker (not a typo) Bowers & Wilkins stereo, which offers the crispest, most immersive audio experience imaginable courtesy of exciters in the front and rear backrests that provide a physical accompaniment to the music.

It provides true theatre-level audio for TV or movies and gives a new depth to your favourite music, like it’s being performed live right there in the car with you.

The one fault is that the automatic doors can be quite slow to operate. As cool as they are to watch, there is an element of answering a question nobody was asking, as by the time the door opens you could easily have opened it manually, got in and closed it again.

Except thanks to the electric motors the doors are now so heavy they need assistance. And they don’t work if the car is parked on a slope greater than 10 degrees.

Propulsion for the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is provided by a pair of electric motors that combine for 400kW and 745Nm.

Impressive figures, though their impact is lessened somewhat by the i7’s gargantuan 2640kg kerb weight.

As a result, the 4.7sec 0-100km/h claim is quick but not scorching when compared to the mid-3s offered by the AMG and Porsche.

One of the key contributors to the 2023 BMW i7’s substantial mass is its giant 106kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

The upside of this huge amount of energy storage is a quoted maximum range of 625km. Obviously this will vary significantly depending on driving conditions and we’ll provide a real-world figure when we have more time with the car, but it’s fair to say that drivers won’t necessarily have to plug in each night.

The i7 can accept a maximum AC charge rate of 22kW via a three-phase wallbox, which will fill the battery from 10-100 per cent in around 5.5 hours.

DC charging is capped at 195kW, resulting in a claimed 34min from 10-80 per cent, though 170km of range can be added in 10min.

What the 2023 BMW i7 is like to drive is largely incidental but, as it turns out, also quite impressive.

Electric drivetrains were simply made for this class of car. The i7 is whisper-quiet, incredibly smooth yet with abundant and instantly available torque should it be required.

It’s undoubtedly brisk, especially for such a big, heavy car, but there’s little point to full-throttle antics.

What’s far more impressive is the adaptive regeneration, which uses the satellite navigation to figure out what level of brake regeneration is required at any given time.

On a highway? It’ll turn the regen right down and allow the car to ‘sail’. Plenty of traffic lights coming up? Vice versa. It works very well, though the regen can also be manually adjusted at any time.

The steering is light and accurate and the rear-wheel steering makes what is an enormous car terrifically manoeuvrable, cutting 0.8m out of the turning circle.

Lift the pace and the i7 has remarkable levels of grip and poise, but like its straight-line acceleration there feels little point exploring the car’s dynamic limits.

M Sport kit or not, this is a car that encourages you to relax and enjoy the isolation from the outside world.

Not only is it exceptionally quiet but the ride is superb. Time and again severe pockmarks in the road that are seen by the eyes are barely felt as the wheels pass over them.

It all adds up to an exceptionally accomplished limousine.

One of the best things about the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is that despite being full to the brim with gadgetry you don’t feel like you’re sitting in a fancy JB Hi-Fi, the basics are still sound.

In the front the large screens and preponderance of information they display prevents the driver relaxing too much, which is probably a good thing when piloting something worth $300,000 that weighs more than 2.6 tonnes.

In the rear, however, it truly shines.

There’s still tech galore but it’s not invasive. Watch a movie or binge a TV series, or fold the theatre screen away, close the blinds and sink your head into the marshmallow-soft head cushion.

At no car launch in history would a post-lunch afternoon nap have been more appropriate. The extra size has also liberated extra headroom and allows for a large 500-litre boot.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is that it will be punished for what it is.

Sedans aren’t exactly the hottest ticket in town in 2023 and sitting at the top of the segment doesn’t alter that.

Sales of the BMW iX (477) and X7 (840) SUVs vastly outstripped the 7 (66) and 8 Series (68) in 2022.

If this package were an SUV it might very well set the automotive world alight, but as it is too few people will experience the excellence of this car, though no doubt plenty of elements will trickle into future BMW models.

Traditionally the 7 Series has been the ‘driver’s limo’ and accomplished though it is, the i7 is not a great driver’s car. It’s better than that, it’s a simply wonderful mode of transport.

The best thing about it is the technology in general – which in some respects sets a new standard in the segment – enhances the experience.

Strip away the party tricks like the remote control operation and the Hans Zimmer soundtracks and the augmented reality navigation and you have a car that’s beautifully refined, exceptionally comfortable and, crucially, makes the outside world feel further away.

And that’s really what luxury is all about.

I just want to ride around in an i7 listening to my favourite tunes and watching my favourite movies. Non stop. Every day. Forever.

2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 at a glance:
Price: $297,900 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Two electrically-excited synchronous motors
Output: 400kW/745Nm
Transmission: Single-speed fixed-ratio
Battery: 106kWh lithium-ion
Range: 625km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 18.4kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested