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BMW Open to Ultra-Luxurious Variant of Upcoming X7

BMW announced back in 2014 that it’s time to take things to a new level and offer their customers a car that, according to them, has been asked for by quite a numerous crowd. Yes, we’re talking about a model that is bigger, longer and wider than the X5, care to guess its name?
BMW X5 Design Sketch 1 photo
Photo: BMW
The X7 will be coming out in 2017 and until then rumors about it will start spreading like the plague. The only things we know at the moment are that it will be using the new CLAR platform, it will be built in Spartanburg and that it was officially confirmed by BMW. Nothing more is sure at this moment, but we can make assumptions about it, though.

First of all, 3-liter engines might not be used for the new flagship as it may be too big for them alone to do well carrying it around. However, they could be used for a plug-in hybrid that’s a near-certain possibility right now. A 340 HP mill with a 100 - 150 HP electric motor next to it could provide 450 HP for this monster on wheels, that could be called X7 xDrive50e. This is just a supposition, though.

We’re pretty confident that the 4.4-liter V8 will be powering most of these cars with outputs between 450 and 500 HP while a 6-liter V12 is also rumored at the moment. Unfortunately, due to the stringent emission laws that will come into effect in the next few years, the future of this legendary mill is in danger.

According to Drive, though, the X7 could have two versions: one luxurious barge for regular people that want a rival for the Escalade and one ultra-luxurious one that would have just four, huge seats.

This latter version was admitted as a possibility by BMW Interior Design Chief Oliver Heilmer during an interview as he said: “as a company, we are open-eyed, and we are having a close look at our competitors, and this is where we are actually dealing with it in an intelligent way. From a design perspective, any new concept is attractive from our point of view, and every niche could be something new.”

The main problem though is that this may be reading between the lines. He’s obviously referring to more expensive rivals of the X7, like the Mercedes-Maybach version of the GLS or the Bentley Bentayga, but the problem is, Rolls-Royce will be taking care of those.

The British BMW-owned brand already announced that they are developing an all-terrain vehicle that will cater to the most demanding tastes out there. This will be a car with its own chassis and DNA, separate from what BMW is doing now or in the future. At the same time, this should be the natural rival for the Bentayga for example.

The X7 in the meantime will be taking on the likes of the Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator, and Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class.
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