Car review: More power, more luxury for BMW X7

PALM SPRINGS, California – The BMW X7 seven-seat sport utility vehicle (SUV) was introduced to the international press in early 2019, when terms such as lockdown, safe-distancing and mask fatigue were unheard of.

Three years on, the world is ready for a new normal and a fresh start. And so is the X7, which has been given an extensive facelift to widen its appeal. 

The car is still a hulking mass of metal, but softened by sparkly, slim daytime-running lights set above new LED headlamps, a shinier grille with optional illumination and 23-inch wheels. These wheels, the largest offered by BMW yet, are the automotive equivalent of stiletto heels – attractive but often murder on comfort.

Behind, 3D tail-lamp clusters are joined by a chrome strip. And beneath the car, an adaptive air suspension – unchanged from the pre-facelift version – to mitigate the havoc from those 23-inch wheels, which are a cost option in Singapore.

Inside, the car gets the panoramic curved integrated display found in the latest high-end BMWs. Super slim air-conditioning vents, which may be adopted for future BMWs, make their debut here, complete with metallic directional adjusters that look like a jeweller’s tool.

It is a very polished interior for an SUV, made shinier with fancy 3D trim, ambient lighting, a three-part panoramic sunroof and a new centre console with refreshed iDrive dial and controls, which access, among other things, a slew of new driving aids.

The variant available in Singapore is the X7 xDrive40i, which is essentially the same as the previous 3-litre inline-six engine and eight-speed auto combo. But this time, it is aided by a 48-volt mild hybrid system with a powerful motor incorporated into the transmission.

A first for BMW, the hybrid system supplied by German components maker ZF is a compact and clever contraption which incorporates an electric motor in the transmission housing. It allows the motor to drive the first and reverse gears at low speed, powered by the 48-volt 20kg lithium-ion battery sited beneath the boot. This system helps to overcome inertia, and takes some load off the engine at this most taxing and inefficient stage of travel. 

Output of the engine goes up to 380hp at 5,200rpm (from 340hp at 5,500rpm) and 520Nm from 1,850 to 5,000rpm (450Nm from 1,500 to 5,200rpm), taking the century sprint down from 6.1 seconds previously to a respectable 5.8 seconds. Top speed is now marginally higher at 250kmh (from 245kmh).

Fuel consumption, however, rises by 18 per cent to 10.6 litres/100km. But the test car averages 10.2 litres/100km in a test route which is 75 per cent highway – still fairly impressive for a car its size.

So is its performance. The X7 xDrive40i displays a palpable beefiness as it hauls its 2.5-tonne kerb weight with an athleticism more associated with smaller, lighter cars.

Give the throttle a squeeze and its eight-speed transmission drops a few cogs to hustle the full-sized SUV along like a hot rod. Hard acceleration is accompanied by a full-throated roar from its straight six engine.

The car is more effortless overall, which is always a pleasant attribute in a vehicle you do not expect to be so brisk. The ride quality is not too shoddy either. But one attribute which you would expect of a big SUV is still there: body roll.

Despite an active anti-roll system – a cost option which all test cars here are equipped with – the X7 betrays plenty of side-to-side body movements in both the Comfort and Sport modes. 

While it is still clearly not a driver’s car, the facelifted X7 does not fare worse than any other car in its niche segment at the wheel. After all, you cannot make an elephant dance like a ballerina, no matter what you do. Wind and road noises at three-digit speeds are also par for the course. 

But at least, the car’s newfound effortlessness sets it apart from the rest. Likewise, its luxurious cabin and modernised cockpit make it stand out. That it does not have a high transmission hump running through the floor is also a plus point.

Alas, another significant change is the car’s price, which is some $100,000 more than before, partly because of rising certificate of entitlement premiums and also because of more features and technology, such as the mild hybrid system.

Other gizmos include Parking Assistant, Trailer Assistant, Reversing Assistant and Manoeuvre Assistant – designed to make parking, driving with a trailer, reversing the behemoth and negotiating tight and difficult paths partially or fully automated. The car’s adaptive cruise control with active steering is also more refined than those found in other cars.

Now, the X7 has never been a huge seller in Singapore. But that was a different world back then. Today, with an influx of wealthy residents, the facelifted car could not have come at a better time.

• Follow Christopher Tan on Instagram @chris.motoring

BMW X7 xDrive40i

Price: From $569,888 with COE
Engine: 2,998cc 24-valve inline-6 turbocharged
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic with paddle shift
Power: 380hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,850-5,000rpm
0-100KMH: 5.8 seconds
Top speed: 250kmh
Fuel consumption: 10.6 litres/100km
Agents: Performance Motors; Eurokars Auto