The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 10: Winter 2018/19 | Page 26
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BMW X7: Eye Of The Beholder
“You will either love it
or you won’t. There can
be no middle way”
Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of
the beholder. Sometimes it has a
face that could launch a thousand
ships; sometimes it has a face that
only a mother could love. This is
the issue with the brand new BMW
X7 that will be on sale from April
2019 with a starting price of around
£70,000. You will either love it or
you won’t. There can be no middle
way. BMW say that this new SUV is
set to redefine automotive luxury.
It’s a 4x4 that offers exclusivity,
spaciousness, superior quality (as
we would expect from the German
brand), strong performance from
a selection of engines and off-road
capability. The company also
reckon that this big car will have
agile handling but the jury is out on
this one until it is thoroughly road
tested.
Big On The Outside
It is the largest model in the
BMW X line-up with three rows
of seats. At the front, Adaptive
LED headlights and front fog
lamps are standard, while
BMW ‘Laserlights’ are optional.
This latter system employs a
spotlight with a selective beam
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THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018
Control Display and a fully-digital
instrument cluster – each with a
screen diagonal of 12.3-inches.
A sports leather steering wheel
is also standard. The iDrive
Controller, the newly designed
gear selector, start/stop button,
the Driving Experience Control
switch controls, electric parking
brake button and the settings for
the air suspension and optional
off-road modes are all located in
the centre console.
that delivers a non-dazzling high
beam range of 600 metres. Useful
on dark country roads.
Viewed from the side, the BMW
X7 features clearly structured
surfaces and a character line that
rises up to the rear end and it is
these elements that are part of
the brand’s new design language
across their range. The rear doors
are longer than the front doors
apparently making it even easier to
get in and out. Fully body-coloured
wheel arches house light-alloy
wheels in formats of up to twenty-
two inches.
Matt aluminium grille bars and
an array of accents in High-Gloss
Chrome highlight the front and
this is the main area of contention.
Is that grille attractive or does it
make the car look like a basking
shark? The M Sport model also
features extra-large air intakes,
M-specific 21-inch light-alloy
wheels in M twin-spoke design
and a distinctive look for the front
apron, rear apron and side skirts.
Big on the inside
The BMW X7 has three rows of
seats that offer space for up to
seven adults. The third row has
two full-size seats with space
between them – a first for a 4x4. A
standard-fit glass roof adds to the
spacious feel while cupholders and
armrests integrated into the side
panel trim offer additional comfort
from what is undoubtedly a luxury
cabin environment.
Boot (trunk) capacity is 326
litres and increases to a maximum
2,120 litres when the backrests of
the seats in the second and third
rows are folded down.
The interior of the BMW X7
has a newly designed display
grouping that comes as part of
the standard-fitted BMW Live
Cockpit Professional includes a
Big on power
Six-cylinder petrol and diesel
engines feature turbochargers
and are aligned to eight-speed
Steptronic transmission, which has
a wider gear ratio spread and new
control electronics. This reduces
engine speeds, particularly in
higher gears, which helps to
increase overall efficiency.
A car that is as versatile as this
one, as long as it drives like a BMW
should, can perhaps be forgiven
if it does not win the automotive
beauty pageant. It’s all in the eye of
the beholder.
By Geoff Maxted
www.drivewrite.co.uk