If big is beautiful this must be the best looking car around.
Dwarfing even a Range Rover, BMW’s new X7 will be the company’s flagship SUV when it arrives in the UK next spring.
Measuring a gargantuan 5,151mm long, 2,000mm wide and 1,805mm tall, with a wheelbase of 3,105mm, BMW says the X7 will seat seven adults in comfort over three rows. It can also be specified with six seats in three rows of two to for even greater luxury.
The most striking part of the X7’s appearance is a gigantic double kidney grille at the front.
Also on the car’s nose are new Adaptive LED headlights, front fog lights, and extra-large air intakes.
The side is boxy, as is necessary to give seven adults full headroom.
At the rear there’s a two piece electric tailgate, with the bottom half opening as a flat shelf that can support 150kg.
Up top there’s a full length panoramic sunroof with three fixed-pane sections of glass.
Inside the car, the design is refined and well finished with premium materials. The dashboard consists of a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation panel and a large infotainment screen in the centre.
There is also a myriad of controls fitted in the centre console including the iDrive Controller, newly designed gear selector and drive control buttons, which can be finished in a number of different materials.
The panoramic glass roof – which BMW has grandly named the “sky lounge” – can be translucent by day, while at night thousands of LEDs hidden in the glass turn it into a starlit sky.
BMW has fitted a four-zone automatic climate control as standard and additional air vents for the third row of seats.
There is also an interior lighting system which has six different colour options and can even change colour when the door is open or when a call is incoming.
As standard, there are three rows of seats allowing space for seven adults with two full-size seats on the third row. BMW says rearmost passengers have 9cm more legroom than in an X5.
Even with all seven seats in play there’s a 326 litre boot. With five seats used you get 740 litres and with both rows folded there’s 2,140 litres.
Engine-wise, there’s a 335bhp 3.0 litre six-cylinder petrol that does 0-62mph in 6.2 seconds and 32.5mpg. There’s also a 3.0 litre V6 diesel with a 7.0 second 0-62mph time and 43mpg.
Finally, there’s the M50d version that fits the 3.0 diesel engine with no fewer than four turbochargers to achieve 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds. Its combined economy is still a claimed 40mpg.
All X7s come with four-wheel drive and an eight speed automatic gearbox. Prices start at £72,155 for the 3.0 litre diesel and first deliveries are scheduled for April.