BMW go big at Frankfurt with X7 iPerformance

BMW’s shock of the new is officially the Concept X7 iPerformance, but be in no doubt it’s past the conceptual stage. BMW says the production version will make its debut in 2018.

When it does appear in showroom trim it will take its place as more than just the X family top model. X7 is the spearhead of what BMW is billing as its biggest-ever offensive on the luxury segment.

For ultimate driving machine read ultimate luxury car; there’s even a new logo, with Bayerische Motoren Werke spelt out in full as it was 100 years ago, to distinguish the new luxury lineup. That line-up will comprise X7, 7-Series saloon, 8-Series coupe and i8 sports coupe and roadster, each personifying what the company says is a “whole new take on luxury for the BMW brand.”

We’d better all like this new concept then. And there’s certainly a lot about the X7 to take in, including its size (no dimensions yet but it’s Range Rover/Mercedes GLS big), and cliff face-like front and back ends emphasised by strong vertical styling elements and a traditional off-roader’s height and ground clearance.

For BMW’s design chief Adrian van Hooydonk the look of the X7 concept is achieved by few but “intently focused” lines, combining “horizontal dynamism and vertical solidity”. The result is unlike anything else in the range – Adrian’s Chris Bangle moment? – but also as expressive a BMW as any. Perhaps even more so.

Inside, BMW is promising an interior experience unmatched by any BMW past or present. It certainly offers the largest interior of any BMW under that vast panoramic glass roof. It’s a three-row car with three pairs of seats, the individual mid-row chairs offering all the functionality and adjustment of the front two. For production it’s likely there would at least be the option of a seven-seat version.

It’s a very minimalist design inside with, as BMW says, everything “pared down to the essentials” but with masses of discreet technology – the firm says the car is brimming with connectivity and will offer seamless integration with the owner’s digital world – and high-class materials.

The modern-luxury aesthetic here is characterised by olive-bronze leather with gold pigmentation, Smoke White leather, open-pore ash wood in a dark-stained, matt finish and both matt and polished aluminium elements.

For the driver, there’s the promise of a new operating concept based around the interactive use of twin dashboard displays. 

Adrian van Hooydonk says: “The BMW Concept X7 iPerformance has a luxurious and sophisticated feel to it, thanks to its understated use of forms and incredibly precise details.” 

It is unthinkable a car of this type could be launched these days without some form of electrification and the X7 concept obliges with a turbocharged petrol/electric plug-in hybrid drivetrain which BMW says will “excel in all driving situations.” It will offer some short-distance running capability with zero local emissions.

When it arrives in 2018 the BMW X7 will be in a luxury, high-tech space race not just with existing giants of the SUV world but also with a big new rival in the shape of the Audi Q8. Just like BMW, Audi (which unveiled its concept at Detroit earlier in the year) sees a large and high-riding flagship as its ticket into the fast-changing luxury car market where SUVs are displacing sedans.

BMW’s global sales boss Ian Robertson, says: “Since BMW founded the Sports Activity Vehicle segment with the X5 in 1999, every subsequent X vehicle has broken new ground. The BMW X7 continues this tradition: the X family’s new top model extends BMW’s offering in the luxury class and redefines the concept of luxury for the BMW brand and beyond.”