‘Presidential’ BMW X7 to target luxury SUV segment

CONTEMPORARY luxury and supreme diversity are the catch phrases the BMW Group has pulled together to describe its latest and, apparently, greatest SUV, the all-new BMW X7. It’s certainly shaping up to be the biggest, strongest and toughest-looking vehicle from the German marque – and has earned itself an impressive in-house moniker as a result.

‘The BMW X7 is next-level, and will become the “halo” vehicle for the X range.’

While the wildly popular X5 has always been considered the “boss” of the brand’s X range, a local spokeswoman says some are calling the X7 the “President”.

“The X7 is next-level, and will become the ‘halo’ vehicle for the X range,” she says. In fact, Germany’s calling it not just another SUV but a “sports activity vehicle” with features and appointments which have it armed and dangerous to take on the flood of new luxury SUVs such at Bentley’s Bentayga, Maserati’s Levante and Lamborghini’s Urus. 

Camouflaged prototypes of the X7 like the one seen in the accompanying video were trialled in diverse global testing grounds – from the snow and ice on the edge of the Arctic Circle in Sweden, to endurance tests over long distances along South African desert and gravel tracks. Driving characteristics and dynamics got a city workout in peak-hour city traffic, while load testing was conducted on winding country roads and highways. 

The vehicle’s interior is described as “generous” with a “sophisticated ambience”, and its size and appearance as “impressive”, as you’d expect. The preproduction vehicle seen here gives a sense of the X7’s imposing dimensions and proportions, and we’d say the company has certainly nailed its aim of creating “a unique entity”. Whether it has delivered a vehicle seamlessly combining luxury, diversity and sportiness as claimed remains to be seen. But it is a BMW, so, you know, the expectations are high.

The first BMW X7s will roll off the production line at the end of this year and will start arriving in Australia in the first half of 2019. Pricing will be announced sometime before April, the spokeswoman says.