Yahoo Autos 2019 BMW X7 Is Serene, Swift, and Soft
It's not that we think the world wants a seven-passenger Nürburgring shuttle, but we did expect the BMW X7 to drive like the nine-inch-longer, 2.1-inch-taller, heavier, and more-expensive X5 that it is. Instead, it behaves more like a lifted and softened 7-series. Wallow and roll this dramatic show just how far BMW's North Star has drifted.
This was with the standard 21-inch low-grip all-season tires on the V-8–powered 50i that can muster only 0.80 g—that's pickup-truck territory—rather than the optional summer tires or the Dynamic Handling package. It adds larger brakes, rear-wheel steering, active anti-roll bars, and, on V-8 models, the electronically controlled rear differential. The 40i on all-season rubber was similarly unimpressive, circling the pad with 0.81 g of lateral stick. Just like the 7-series sedan's, the X7's Sport mode stiffens the standard adaptive dampers and trims much of the excess slop, and it feels like a perfectly appropriate default setup.
Underhood is all excellence, however. We found the familiar and sweet 335-hp turbocharged inline-six in the xDrive40i to be more than sufficient, but it's the 456-hp twin-turbo V-8 engine in the xDrive50i that provides wonderfully excessive thrust and a lusty (but appropriately muted) bellow for a near-$20,000 upcharge. It's hard to get a fix before the speeds get reckless, though, as 60 mph arrives in a mere 4.6 seconds. That's the same time we measured in the last Porsche 718 Boxster we tested, with the quarter-mile flashing by in 13.2 seconds. Both data points are 0.9 second quicker than the xDrive40i. Rounding out the superlatives, both engines exceeded their EPA highway fuel-economy ratings in our 75-mph test by 3 mpg, the 50i averaging 24 mpg and the 40i, 28 mpg.
Second-row space is adequate but barely larger than the X5's unless the seat is motored back, which eats into third-row legroom. If adult-size second- and third-row space is your priority, know that the Mercedes-Benz GLS has more. It might sound luxurious that all three rows of seats are power operated, but the second row takes 15 seconds to dawdle forward when you want to access the third. In a vehicle that so wishes to pamper owners that the doors automatically unlock and the lights turn on as you approach, this is unacceptably slow.
The $3700 blue-and-ivory interior in our 50i test vehicle was the biggest contributor to its $106,995 bottom line, but it is an impressively upscale combo. The 20-way-adjustable multicontour front seats, with that all-important articulating backrest to dial in the perfect fit, are among the best in the business. But while buyers of lower-series cars might appreciate that theirs have the same digital gauge cluster, HVAC controls, and center-console switchgear as vehicles costing $80,000 more in BMW's lineup, in those more expensive vehicles, the bits don't feel sufficiently special.
The M Sport brakes will bring the 5650 pound 50i to a halt from 70 mph in just 169 feet, but we'd skip the $650 binders which are touchy and make it difficult to be smooth in stop-and-go commuting. The lighter 40i equipped with the standard brakes required 15 more feet to complete the task. But when you're cruising, the X7's insanely hushed interior makes the miles pass peacefully. At 70 mph, the outside world intrudes upon the cabin with just a 64-decibel whisper, which is quieter than the last Mercedes-Benz S-class and Lexus LS we tested. Beware of the aggressive steering of the driver-assist system, though, which is particularly unnerving when attempting to cozy up to the outside of a two-lane road (the system is optional on the 40i and standard on the 50i). Efforts to give a wide berth to an imposing oncoming vehicle resulted in the X7 swerving toward it instead, almost as if it to say, “Who you calling soft now?”
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