Large and in charge
This grand SUV is a calm cruiser that offers plenty of room for all your hauling needs
Large luxury sport utes handily outsell their car equivalents, by almost two-to-one last year. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, given consumers’ unabated infatuation with crossovers and SUVs. But it helps explain why BMW — already flush in the crossover department with the X1 through X6 — has added the X7, the “pinnacle” of the company’s Sport Activity Vehicle lineup.
The new X7 comes standard with three-row seating for seven, or optional second-row captain’s chairs for those seeking a more exclusive six-seat arrangement, as well as a full air suspension and advanced driver-assistance systems. The U.S.-built flagship, says BMW, “lives up to expectations of style, driver engagement, passenger comfort and all-weather and all-terrain capability.”
It takes a company confident in its product to make that statement, and judging by the size of the kidney grille — the largest ever to appear on a BMW product and offset by slim twin headlights — there’s boldness to the X7. It’s a grand vehicle, imposing and formal as are so many of its rivals, with large windows and a long, flowing roofline. Its rear doors are longer than the fronts, making it even easier for passengers to get in and out of the second- and third-row seats.
The all-wheel-drive X7 will arrive in Canada and the U.S. with a choice of two updated gasoline engines. The base model is the X7 xDrive 40i ($92,500 to start), powered by a turbocharged 3.0-litre in-line six-cylinder pushing out 335 horsepower. The top-line X7 xDrive 50i ($110,100 to start) has a 456-hp, twin-turbo 4.4-L V-8. Both engines are linked with an improved version of BMW’s eightspeed automatic transmission, now with a wider ratio spread and new control electronics to help increase overall powertrain efficiency.
Driving the X7 along the Gulf Coast from Tallahassee, Fla. to Baton Rouge, La. was less about the “ultimate driving machine” and more about the ultimate calm cruiser. That’s not to say the X7 lacks off-road bona fides (there is an available Off-road package with four terrain modes, a locking rear differential and underbody protection) or legitimate performance, but the 700-plus-kilometre route was over topography flatter than a pancake. So, as unaccustomed as I am in leading with comfort when it comes to any BMW, let me say when it comes to finding a quiet, smooth-riding and family-oriented crossover capable of eating up serious miles on a long-distance sojourn, the X7 would be on a very short list.
High among the X7’s attributes is its air suspension system with automatic self-levelling. The suspension’s air supply is controlled individually for each wheel, allowing it to balance out an uneven load. It also works in tandem with the dynamic stability control system; the vehicle load registered by its sensors can be factored into braking calculations.
Speed-dependent Integral Active Steering turns the rear wheels either the same direction as the front, to enhance stability in high-speed manoeuvres such as lane changes, or in the opposite direction to the front wheels, to aid low-speed manoeuvring by decreasing the turning radius. Even with this, it’s impossible not to feel the X7’s heft — 2,436 kilograms for the xDrive 40i and 2,548 for the 50i — when making lane changes or rounding corners.
Despite its full-bodied avoirdupois, the crossover boasts good acceleration when pushed. BMW says it goes from zero to 100 km/h in just 6.1 seconds for the 40i and 5.4 seconds for the 50i.
Fully contented and with a clean and functional dash layout, both the 40i and 50i versions tested were fitted with the optional captain’s chairs. Trying to cram three rows of seats into anything smaller than a Chevrolet Suburban often ends up compromising legroom for the middle-row passengers. Not so in the X7: Even with the driver’s seat set back for my six-foot-two frame, I could easily get into the second row and not have my knees touch the front seatback.
The backrests of the seats in the second and third rows can be folded down and raised electrically via switches on the driver’s side as one enters through the rear doors, and in the cargo area. When all seats are in use, the X7 offers 1,376 L (48.6 cubic feet) of cargo capacity, increasing to 2,560 L (90.4 cu. ft) when the seats in the second and third rows are folded down.
Large luxury SUVs do not generate a large number of sales in Canada, but the X7’s spaciousness, versatility and agility (for its size) offer those who like their vehicles large and in charge something new to consider.