FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: BMW X7 leaked

BMW’s highly-anticipated new flagship SUV, the X7, has been leaked days out from its official reveal.

Photos obtained by BMW blog bimmerpost.com provide some revealing insights into the big new seven-seat SUV’s styling inside and out, plus some of the technology that will be on offer.

Teased back in March, the X7 Concept is due to be revealed on September 8 in Europe, before an on-stage roll-out at next week’s Frankfurt motor show.

The leaked pics come the same day BMW revealed a cryptic aerial photo of the X7 Concept via social media.

The X7 Concept, the production version of which has been spied previously and goes on sale globally next year, promises to debut a new design language for the BMW brand.

The futuristic front-end is punctuated by a gaping version of BMW’s iconic kidney grille, pinched headlights and aggressive front air intakes.

An upright glasshouse structure is likely to endow the X7 will acres of interior space, the rear avoiding the heavily-tapered profiles seen on the likes of the smaller X3 and X5.

At the rear, a prominent horizontal strip runs atop the tail lights and across the flank, accompanied by two vertical design flourishes on either side.

Typical concept flourishes including monstrous wheels and scant side view mirrors will likely be toned down on a production X7.

The US-built X7 will ride on BMW’s latest ‘CLAR’ platform that underpins the new 5 and 7 Series sedan, which also donate their advanced autonomous, safety and multimedia technologies.

The X7 is also likely to share their range of petrol and diesel four, six and eight-cylinder engines, as well as a plug-in hybrid powertrain, which is depicted in these photos by a power charging outlet behind the front left wheel-arch.

Further up the food chain, there’s talk of the 7 Series’ 6.0-litre V12 slotting into the engine bay of a possible M-badged X7 to rival the Mercedes-AMG GLS 63.

To help keep weight down to around 1900kg for the heaviest model, the seven-seat X7 will come with not only an aluminium-intensive structure, but with some body panels and parts made entirely of carbon-fibre.

Expect power-folding third-row seats, an eight-speed automatic transmission and air suspension to be standard on the X7, which looks set to become the biggest, most luxurious and expensive BMW production model ever created, apart from the M1 supercar.