BMW X7 Prototype 2018 Review - International
Oversized, over-sexed and over here in 2019, the BMW X7 takes the Bavarian brand into new territoryBMW was one of the first into the luxury SUV marketplace with its X5. Promising handling and performance true to the brand, the big five-seater quickly carved more than a niche. But it’s taken almost 20 years for the Bavarians to extend the X5’s envelope to embrace the demand for even larger, more luxurious SUVs with space for seven adults. With standalone styling, the choice of six or seven seats and what’s expected to be a very high level of standard specification, the BMW X7 is that car. But the marketeers don’t want you to think of the new BMW X7 as a stretched version of the brand’s big SUV – think a 7 Series wearing hiking boots…
Seven up
The BMW X7 could very easily have been co-developed with its distant cousin and Rolls-Royce’s first SUV, the Cullinan.
For at its heart, the X7 is far less about being an oversized seven-seat X5 and much more focussed at being the uber-capable, high-riding wagon equivalent to the 7 Series. Or at least that’s what BMW’s marketeers would have you believe.
In the end, the Rolls and BMW programs are entirely separate. Cullinan is constructed on Roll’s own bespoke platform, while the all-new BMW X7 has a fully air-suspended, specced-up version of BMW’s latest CLAR vehicle architecture at its core.
In a world that is becoming ever more obsessed with SUVs, the new BMW X7 is very much tasked as a new co-flagship for the BMW brand -- if not in price and equipment levels, then at least in terms of its visibility and expected adoption in markets like the USA, China and even Australia.
And the good news is, after a drive of both turbo-diesel and turbo-petrol prototypes, the big three-row SUV appears to have both the poise and pace to pull it off.
<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/14_bmw_x7_predrive_tkk4956.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-242937" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/14_bmw_x7_predrive_tkk4956.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>
Shared hardware, different theme
The new G07-series BMW X7 shares much of its hardware with the all new G05-series X5 – a car we also saw at the X7’s prototype drive on the roads around BMW’s Spartanburg production and development facility near Greenville, South Carolina (USA).
Alas a separate embargo doesn’t allow us to talk in any detail about the X7’s partner car.
The X7’s panels are entirely unique – from the tip of its enlarged double kidney grille to the end of its squared off rear, complete with two-piece auto tailgate.
In between, there’s hard-points shared with X5 underneath. Larger offset wheels gift the X7 a wider track than the X5 and the wheelbase is obviously longer. BMW isn’t saying how much but our guess is 100mm or so.
You can expect that when the BMW X7 does arrive Down Under after its stablemate in the first half 2019 (the X5 is due here by December this year), it will be at a substantially higher starting price.
That chiefly is a measure of the additional equipment that’s likely to come standard on the X7, as any ‘positioning’ premium.
The X7 will arrive with two-axle air-spring adaptive suspension, an eight-speed auto and all-wheel drive, panoramic roof, seven seats (with an option of 2+2+2), iDrive 7.0 infotainment with twin 12.3-inch touch-screens and a full suite of active driver safety aids, all as standard.
No rear-drive X7 is offered ex-factory, nor are any four-cylinder versions on the horizon.
Eventually plug-in hybrid variants will join the line-up. And, a la the iX3 just debuted in concept form in China, so too could there be pure-electric models in the X7’s medium-term future. The new CLAR architecture allows for both.
Initially, the BMW X7 will offer a choice of conventional powertrains, perhaps the most exciting of which is the quad-turbo 3.0-litre turbo-diesel featured in European-market 7 Series models.
The muscular oiler pumps out no less than 294kW and 760Nm -- numbers that could be further boosted in the generational change the X7 promises.
BMW Australia won’t confirm its X7 engine range just yet. Petrol six and twin-turbo V8 are a Monty, and a base turbo-diesel will also likely be offered.
Fit and finish is claimed to be 7 Series-level, with high-quality metal and timber detailing, quilted leather seats and high-spec surfaces.
The cars we drove only hinted at the finished item, with no shortage of ungrained plastic on display. Most surfaces were shrouded, infotainment systems were very much in Beta mode and there was more than a few glitches.
The options list for the X7 is expected to be encyclopaedic. Key boxes to tick will likely include the abovementioned second-row captain’s chairs (sourced from the front of upcoming 8 Series coupe), rear-seat entertainment systems, high-end audio and up to five-zone climate-control.
What is likely to be standard is the next generation of BMW’s driver assistance systems. The X7’s digital instrument cluster features a driver-facing eye-scanning camera that can tailor autonomous functions to your level of awareness and eventually will incorporate facial recognition functionality for things like seat and climate-control adjustment.
Gesture control and other ‘smart’ systems will almost certainly be part of the high-spec X7’s offering.
An M Sport-equipped X7 is also likely to be on the cards for Australia – although program boss Jorg Wunder (yes, that’s his name!) stopped short of confirming BMW M would eventually launch its own X7 variants. Don’t bet against it…
<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/37_bmw_x7_predrive_kpk3359.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-242944" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/37_bmw_x7_predrive_kpk3359.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>
Like a BMW should
We drove pre-production prototypes of the new X7 – not representative of the finished products but dynamically close to complete.
And the good news is the new X7 (and, by dint of its relationship under the skin, we’d suggest the new X5) is a return to form from the flawed F50 generation.
The outgoing X5 is shaded by the likes of the Audi Q7 in its on-road precision and poise. In contrast, the X7 steers and handles like a BMW should. This dynamic improvement was one of the targets for this generation of big BMW SUVs.
No doubt optional rear-wheel steer systems and active anti-roll control contribute to the dynamic ability of the new X7, but that this is achieved with very high ride comfort and commendable levels of refinement (acoustic glazing is also standard in X7) makes the overall package even more impressive.
Where the outgoing X5 is imprecise and at times crashy, the X7 is on point – and, as cliched as it sounds, it feels like a lot smaller vehicle to drive. We’ll look forward to confirming these first impressions on local roads early in 2019.
Is handling a high priority for buyers of luxury seven-seaters? Perhaps not, but it may be the reason you’d choose a BMW over another SUV brand -- something of which the Bavarians are acutely aware.
<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/21_bmw_x7_predrive_kpk4488-w4ku.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-242938" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/21_bmw_x7_predrive_kpk4488-w4ku.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>
Dirty deeds
A short and not particularly challenging off-road loop was also part of the X7 pre-drive program.
While certainly nothing that would challenge that famous British luxury SUV, it was enough to suggest BMW has substantially improved the overall ability of its XDrive system.
And for those who think this performance is important, BMW will offer global customers a bespoke off-road package for the X7, although it’s not confirmed for Australia yet.
The extra ground clearance afforded the X7 by the air suspension system is an important factor in this extra capability.
There’s been a previously absent level of attention delivered to the new BMW X7’s useful towing capacity. In the USA, a factory fitted two-inch towing hitch receiver will be offered – with reasonable towball down weight capacity.
No word on the final figures – BMW’s USA-based engineers were talking about boat sizes, suggesting a 3000kg capacity. This is a feature BMW Australia is also hoping to offer.
Horsie types also take note…
<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/37_bmw_x7_predrive_kpk3359.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-242944" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/37_bmw_x7_predrive_kpk3359.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>
Extra bottoms
But the X7’s raison d’etre is its seven seats. A quick sit in the rearmost row makes it clear the two seats back there are better than the 5+2 arrangement in the current X5, but they are still not all-day-comfortable for adults.
Up to tweens will be happy back there for much longer. At last there are face-level air-vents in both the second and third rows, and climate-control.
A peak under the interior shrouding suggests there’s even an additional glass panel for the pano roof to brighten up the third row.
We do have a question mark over the functionality of the third-row access, however.
The electric slide and tilt ‘easy access’ feature wasn’t working well on the 40:20:40-split second row of our test vehicle. BMW will fix that no doubt and, importantly, promises the access will be changed to suit our RHD market.
<a href="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/35_bmw_x7_predrive_kpk3290.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-csn-inline-image wp-image-242943" src="https://motoring.pxcrush.net/motoring/general/editorial/35_bmw_x7_predrive_kpk3290.jpg?height=427&width=640&aspect=fitWithin" alt="" width="640" height="427"></a>
Big Beemer time
Even on American roads, and in camo, the BMW X7 looks big. Not Cadillac Escalade-big, but a chance encounter during the drive with a Volvo XC90 gave the BMW’s dimensions some context.
It rides on a longer wheelbase than the X5, has wider tracks front and rear and is taller and wider — it also gets bigger wheels. There are staggered sportscar-like 22-inch wheels with 275- and 315-section tyres for top-spec models.
BMW is yet to release any dimensions of the X7’s unique body-in-white. Using the MkI Eyeball as our measure, however, the extra centimetres, proportions and styling should set it apart from the new X5.
BMW is also at pains to separate the X7 from its (on the surface) most logical competitors, the Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS. Given the car will only arrive at a high specification level, this is probably a reasonable position.
Two customer groups as likely to emerge, BMW Australia sources suggest. Buyers with a genuine need for seven seats and those who are looking for the highest-spec SUV with a badge.
BMW has christened its new X5 ‘The Boss’. That the Bavarians have chosen ‘The President’ for the X7’s nickname is instructive.
Clearly they’re out to trump the opposition…
How much is the 2019 BMW X7 xDrive 50d?
Price: From $120,000 (estimated, plus on-road costs)
On sale: By mid-2019
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder quad-turbo-diesel
Output: 294kW/760Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic and single-range xDrive all-wheel drive
Fuel: TBC
CO2: TBC
Safety Rating: TBC
- Steering and chassis poise
- Quad-turbo diesel torque and refinement
- Low wind and road noise
- Third-row access still to be assessed
- Will it be different enough from X5?
- Yet another big SUV…
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
