Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-medien
It’s been a bit of a while now since BMW confirmed that it’s working on a flagship sport utility vehicle, and based on spy photos of pre-production prototypes, the Bavarian automaker wasn’t lying. More recently, however, it has come to our attention that BMW will offer the first glimpse of the X7 this September with the help of a concept.
Raising the hype up with concepts is the standard procedure for the Munich-based company, with the X2 Concept and 8 Series Concept serving as perfect cases in point. According to unspecified sources, BMW Blog argues that the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show is where the X7 Concept will be displayed to the public in all its full-sized glory.
The cited publication also argues that Frankfurt is the place where BMW is also planning to showcase “the new 6 GT, i3 S, and X3.” Four debuts from the same brand at the same venue is a bit of an overkill, but then again, the automaker can’t afford to stay behind Mercedes-Benz for too long. 2016 saw the three-pointed start surpass BMW for the first time in over a decade, and as expected, higher-ups are expecting to reverse the current state of affairs with all-new products.
A seven-seat SUV designed to take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLS and, to some extent, the Range Rover, the X7 will be based on the CLAR rear-wheel-drive platform. By using a combination of CFRP, high-tensile steel, and aluminum alloys, the underpinnings should offer plenty of torsional rigidity and adequate handling dynamics for a fairly large vehicle with such a high center of gravity.
An array of six- and eight-cylinder engines will be offered, starting with the 3.0-liter inline-six turbo diesel of the 30d model. The twin-turbo V8 from the X5 xDrive50i should also make the list, as should a plug-in hybrid variant. The latter is expected to borrow the powertrain from the 740e iPerformance, as in a 2.0-liter four-banger and a total output of 322 ponies. It’s not known if BMW’s bean counters can make a case for an X7 M, but common sense says they definitely should.
The cited publication also argues that Frankfurt is the place where BMW is also planning to showcase “the new 6 GT, i3 S, and X3.” Four debuts from the same brand at the same venue is a bit of an overkill, but then again, the automaker can’t afford to stay behind Mercedes-Benz for too long. 2016 saw the three-pointed start surpass BMW for the first time in over a decade, and as expected, higher-ups are expecting to reverse the current state of affairs with all-new products.
A seven-seat SUV designed to take on the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLS and, to some extent, the Range Rover, the X7 will be based on the CLAR rear-wheel-drive platform. By using a combination of CFRP, high-tensile steel, and aluminum alloys, the underpinnings should offer plenty of torsional rigidity and adequate handling dynamics for a fairly large vehicle with such a high center of gravity.
An array of six- and eight-cylinder engines will be offered, starting with the 3.0-liter inline-six turbo diesel of the 30d model. The twin-turbo V8 from the X5 xDrive50i should also make the list, as should a plug-in hybrid variant. The latter is expected to borrow the powertrain from the 740e iPerformance, as in a 2.0-liter four-banger and a total output of 322 ponies. It’s not known if BMW’s bean counters can make a case for an X7 M, but common sense says they definitely should.
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