It’s not often that we get to drive a new car almost year before its introduction.
It’s an even rarer occasion when we’re able to test it on public roads rather than in isolation on a test track behind closed doors so long before a planned start of sales. But this is what BMW has invited us to do with its new X7 - the up-market SUV that will slot into its line-up above the second-generation X6 as a luxurious seven-seat rival to the Mercedes-Benz GLS and standard wheelbase Range Rover.
Some twelve months before it is set to reach UK showrooms a team of BMW engineers are busy carrying out a round of validation tests of the new X7, known internally under its codename G07, on a route around the company’s sprawling Spartanburg manufacturing facility in the USA, where it will be produced alongside the BMW X3, BMW X4, BMW X5 and BMW X6. Our test featured a fleet of five prototypes running a range of different engines and chassis set-ups as well as varying interiors set-ups.
Originally previewed in concept car form at last year’s Frankfurt motor show, the X7 is the seventh SUV model to join the BMW line-up, and at launch it is the X7 M50d M-Performance that will initially act as the performance flagship of the range. Other new X7 models planned to be offered from the start of sales being tested by BMW that we get to drive include the xDrive40i, xDrive50i and xDrive30d.
Together with the resurrected 8-series, the X7 forms an integral part of a plan to move BMW further upmarket from its premium positioning today.
“It’s much more than just a long wheelbase X5,” says X7 project leader Joerg Wunder. “We set out to create an SUV that offers the same level of luxury and comfort as the 7 series. At the same time, a great deal of effort has gone into insuring it delivers the sort of driving dynamics and on-road characteristics traditional BMW buyers expect.”
The basis for the X7 is BMW’s CLAR (Cluster Architecture) platform. The body structure uses a combination of aluminium and high-strength steel while the electrical architecture used by the launch models we’re driving are set to use a conventional 12-volt system despite plans to provide the new BMW model with the same driver assistant systems as the 7 Series.
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The elephant in the room
The X7 appears to be an elephant on the road but the first elephant in the room for the JLR fanboys is that despite the apparently “lovely” interiors of Range Rovers and Jaguars is that ergonomically they are behind BMW, Mercedes, Audi and even VW and the infotainment system used by JLR is years behind Mercedes COMAND and VAG’s MMI used in Audis and even further behind BMW’s iDrive. I have taken long test drives in all these manufacturers cars large, small and medium and the seating, dash layout and multimedia systems in JLR products is simply not as good as the competition. For example JLR products including the Velar do not offer extendable thigh supports on the front seats but the Audi A3 in S-line trim or even the Mini do. The second elephant in the room is the build and reliabilty of JLR products. A lot has been written about how much better JLR reliabilty is getting (for the prices JLR charge reliability should not need to “get better”), but a short example from my own knowledge - a neighbour has a 67 plate Range Rover Sport. He uses it mostly at weekends as he works in the city where we live. I have a 5 Series which also gets used infrequently after changing jobs and commuting on public transport. He has to charge his battery every couple of weeks or it goes flat. He was told to do this by the dealer and apparently in my building he is not the only JLR owner doing this. I leave my 5 Series idle for up to 8 weeks at a time. I have even left it for 4 months doing nothing due to a combination of travel for work, holidaying and illness. It starts first time every time. JLR products are not all that good. On economy, emissions, build, infotainment etc JLR need to do much better than sticking leather all over the interior and pretending it is “premium”. The reason BMW, Mercedes etc still “compete” against JLR is because in terms of worldwide sales they outsell JLR many times over.
Apparently the end is nigh for BMW...
....and they have no chance against the might of Land Rover.....well, at least that's what the likes of Roadster and TStag keep tellig us on a regular basis, living in their alternate universe, as they do!
I have to agree BMW interiors
TStag wrote:
Not just BMW's interiors that look cheap (and actually feel cheap too), but also Audi's, VW's and Mercedes'. All look cheap, dull looking and are made from cheap feeling materials. The total opposite to Land Rover interiors which are not only top quality, but they look expensive and inviting. As you say, an Evoque's interior is like a cheap Bentley. Something that could never be said about the woeful interior of the X1/X2, the Evoque's rival. And it's the same when comparing the GLA, T-Roc or Q3 to the Evoque.
Been banging this drum for a few years
It's time car journalists caught up - lower end BMWs have nasty and badly designed interiors. There's a "one design fits all" about them too. My F10 5 series was magnificent inside, but my last 3 series was awful for both quality and design. Both fantastic to drive, and both 100% reliable though.