► BMW X7 is facelifted for 2022
► Slimline lamps, new tech, extra kit
► UK prices start at £80,980
The 2022 BMW X7 has been unveiled and Munich’s range-topper has come in for a modest makeover to mark its mid-life facelift. You’ll spot the revised car from its slimline headlamps and an array of detailed design and technical changes inside and out.
It’s stuffed with the latest iDrive OS8 operating system inside, which brings the BMW Curved Display and ambient light settings to brighten the cabin. Upgrading the digital heart of the X7 means that new digital services are available and Munich promises the car is better at driving and parking itself in semi-autonomous modes.
The X7 was unveiled four years ago and this represents its major mid-life facelift. The new model is on sale now with first deliveries expected in the summer, priced from £80,980 in the UK.
Read our full BMW X7 review
What’s new on the 2022 BMW X7?
There are, naturally, gadgets galore available on the 2022 X7. Not all of them tasteful, including the standard fitment of the Iconic Glow illuminated grille (below)…
The easiest way to spot the new X7 is the split LED headlamps reframing the face, while other additions include the debut of 23-inch wheels and aluminium satin inlays bordering the lower air intakes (gloss black on M Sport models). At the rear, slimmer lights are enabled by super-bright LEDs.
Choose from three engines and models in the UK, all of them all-wheel drive:
- BMW X7 xDrive40i 375bhp/398lb ft 3.0-litre straight six, 5.8sec 0-62mph, 155mph top speed, £81,600
- BMW X7 xDrive40d 335bhp/531lb ft 3.0-litre straight six, 6.1sec 0-62mph, 155mph top speed, £80,980
- BMW X7 M60i xDrive 523bhp/553lb ft 4.4-litre V8, 4.7sec 0-62mph, 155mph top speed, £103,600
All engines are boosted by 48-volt mild hybrid tech integrated in the ZF eight-speed Steptronic Sport automatic transmission, bringing a small electric motor delivering a gentle 12bhp and 15lb ft boost to proceedings. It’s enough to let the 3.0 petrol X7 creep forward silently at low speeds and energy wasted during deceleration is stored in a separate 48v battery.
CO2 emissions on the new X7 range from 200g/km for the diesel, soaring to a less palatable 303g/km on the V8.
Read on for more background on the first-gen X7.
From the 2019 archive: BMW lets its hair down with an X7 pick-up!
Just when you thought the new BMW X7 was offensive enough, Munich goes one further and shows this – the new BMW X7 Pick-up. A one-off made by factory apprentices in 2019, the ute was shown at the BMW Motorrad Days show in Germany.
Based on the X7 xDrive 40i, it’s a double-cab pick-up with a difference – sporting a BMW F 850 GS adventure motorbike on the flatbed. The teak-lined loadbay is two metres long with the tailgate open, and 140cm with it closed.
The concept was produced in just 10 months; it makes use of lightweight composites in the rear doors, roof and loadbed to trim 200kg from the X7 despite being 10cm longer than the regular SUV. Air suspension is said to be able to cope with heavier loads, although BMW has not quoted a payload for this poshest of pick-ups.
Read on for our full briefing on the regular BMW X7. The addition of a pick-up version might just make you look more fondly on the normal SUV…
How BMW launched the first-generation BMW X7 SUV in 2018
BMW caused something of a furore when it launched the X7. There was nothing particularly shocking about the idea of launching a six- or seven-seater hyper-luxury SUV above the X5 – but keyboard warriors took some offence at the style of Munich’s new range-topper.
That’s quite a snout!
Yes. There’s no getting away from that rather brash front end and piggish kidney grille arrangement on the X7. Which might explain why the 2022 facelift has gone some way to addressing the nose job.
BMW says it ‘gives the car a sense of presence’, much in in the way a bull has presence in a china shop. The X7 is longer, wider but lower than a short-wheelbase Range Rover.
There are LED headlights as standard but the X7 can be specced up to BMW’s new Laserlight units, and comes with 20-inch alloys as standard, with the option to trade up to 21s or 22s. Two main trim levels are available: Design Pure Excellence and M Sport, of which the differences are handily explained in the graphic below.
The interior had better be plush…
Well, first things first, it’s a full seven-seater as standard but you can choose a six-seat option that swaps out the middle bench for two pews with armrests.
It’s just like the X5, 8-series and even the 3-series in terms of overall design with leather- four-zone climate control and a panoramic glass roof as standard. You can spec up all sorts of extra goodies like a Bowers and Wilkins audio system, rear-seat entertainment and five-zone climate control.
Give me engine details
The original 2019 BMW X7 came with three engines in Europe: the xDrive40i petrol, xDrive30d and M50d diesel versions. Check out our quick engine specs round-up:
- xDrive40i 3.0-litre 6cyl turbo, 335bhp/332lb ft, 6.1sec 0-62mph, 152mph
- xDrive30d 3.0-litre 6cyl diesel, 261bhp/457lb ft, 7.0sec 0-62mph, 141mph
- M50d 3.0-litre 6cyl diesel, 395bhp/561lb ft, 5.4sec 0-62mph, 155mph
Every engine is mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox and, as the name suggests, all of the X7 versions have xDrive all-wheel drive with a rear-bias to its power transfer. An electronically-locking M Sport differential for the rear wheels is standard on the M50d model and available for the xDrive40i.
It should handle okay, right?
Well it is a BMW after all. The X7 comes armed with adaptive air suspension and the ability to tweak the ride height depending on your needs even before you get in the car usig the car’s fat Display Key.
Rear-wheel steering and the ‘Executive Drive Pro’ system that scans the road ahead to pre-empt any bumps is optional, as is an off road pack for the 40i and 30d. The system has sand, gravel, snow and rock modes that prepare the car ahead of time for the particular surface.
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