[Wild Blue]

I've followed the X7 since first announced. Was somewhat disappointed with some initial specs and design when they were first released, but a few months ago when I first saw an X7 in person, my opinion really slid towards the positive, particularly after learning that the X7 2nd row seats can slide back, to give more 2nd row legroom. I'm pretty set now, on an upcoming X7 purchase.

See my initial X7 impressions in this thread here: https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=24438360

This week, I got the opportunity to explore multiple X7's, of varying options, build levels, colors, and features. Test drove both 40i and 50i models. Here's my personal thoughts.

- Big picture, I'm loving the X7. Great quality, great luxury finish, both inside and outside. BMW overall did it right, making the X7, and I'm pretty set on the X7 as my next vehicle, likely a 2020 model.

- Biggest takeaway I got from the testing this week, the 40i is PLENTY good enough for me. It had plenty of smooth, strong engine power pull, and driving performance. Not anywhere close to underpowered, even before selecting the Sport mode. If it was good enough for me, as a discriminating car lover, I'm sure it will be good enough for 95% of X7 shoppers. The 50i's will definitely sell--hell, if I had that kind of money, I'd buy it too. For one, any towing is always better with a V8. But that $19,000 model jump cost is huge. Buyers will still get the 50i for those who just have to have the extra power, those who have to have the best of the best for any given model, or those who just have the extra money. BMW gets plenty of those kinds of buyers.

- Haven't found an interior or exterior color that looked bad. Everything looked good, some better than others, and you really do have to see them in person, not just pictures. My personal exterior preference is Mineral White, which suits the big X7 very well, and nicely shows the X7's body lines. There's a reason so many of the pre-production press models were Mineral White. Black looks great too, although yes, it'll be hard to keep clean. Inside, the fineline brown trim is beautiful, as is the piano black. The BMW Individual grey trim is stunning. My personal favorite there is the black matte wood with bronze effect. The matte finish nicely offsets the interior, and the satin silver edging around the trim, which also gives a nice effect. I'm not a brown guy, but both the Coffee and Tartufo leathers looks nice. The white and blue two-tone leather is beautiful, but I'm concerned about the white getting dirty and wearing. I'm still leaning towards black, although that's the one X7 leather I haven't seen yet in person.

- The big X7 front grille is growing on me, like the G05 has, but it's still big. Just SO MUCH freakin' chrome on the front. Yes, it needs to be blacked out.

- On that note, yes, other features on the car would also look good blacked out, such as exhaust surrounds, the big horizontal trunk chrome strip, and/or badging. Some owners here have already started to do this.

- Every wheel option looks good, although the 22" style 757 with multiple spokes I like less than others. I prefer the 21" style 752 all black wheels, which unfortunately are only available on non-sport models. I definitely prefer the sport models for multiple reasons, primarily the aggressive, athletic body styling aesthetics. Looks like I'll have to look at aftermarket/OEM wheels, to get rid of the crappy run-flat tires and get a winter wheel set.

- Strangely enough, one of the 50i models I looked at had the small cargo cover behind the 3rd row in a canvas-like material, instead of the velour material I've seen on every other X7. (see pic at end of this novel)

- Loving the captain's chairs, although the floor center cupholders are a cheap plastic that doesn't fit as well with the X7 luxury cockpit finish, and I think the arm rests should be beefier and thicker. The bench seats are nice as well.

- I do wish BMW would add new features, catering to 2nd row occupants, the way they have for the 7er sedan. Make an option to delete the 3rd row, and slide the 2nd row back for even more legroom and luxury comfort. Offer ventilated massage luxury 2nd row seats. Maybe a refrigerated box between the 2nd row Captain's chairs.

- Yes, I saw some wrinkles in the 2nd and 3rd row bench seats, but nothing like the sloppy quality I've seen in some of the G05 bench seats. I still think BMW and Magna need to improve bench seat production quality.

- Both the 40i and 50i handled very nicely. Great, smooth ride with the air suspension. None of the cars I test drove had DHP, so I can only imagine that would make the drive that much better.

- Tried out the lane keeping assistant. I'm still very skeptical, and not sure whether I'd order this. It was interesting on the short test drive, but I'm concerned about it malfunctioning on lane splits, poorly or temporarily marked painted lanes, and/or snow covered roads. Multiple G05 owners have reported this causing accidents or near misses.

- I did like the automated parking assistant. Did a good job of finding and parking the big X7 in a tight 90 degree parking spot. Can do parallel parking too. I'm a pretty skilled driver and parker, but see how this could benefit my wife.

- Pretty cool 3-D surround view.

- Does anybody really find the "soft-close doors" useful? Even if you don't slam the door shut, I think almost all of us close our doors solidly enough that we don't need the closing assistant. If you TRY to make the soft-close happen, I could just see me not getting the door shut to the point it would actuate, and it'd be annoying to turn around and have to go back to close the door again.

- Cool that the car auto-unlocks when you walk close enough to it, and vice versa when you walk away.

- The glass controls are growing on me. At first, I thought they were too "blingy", like I would expect on the head of a pimp's walking stick. However, the start-stop button and the top surface of the iDrive knob in the non-glass standard finish is rather plain. The Swarovski crystal is nice. I just wish there was something in the middle, that was a little more classy than standard, but not quite so ostentatious and "in-your-face" as the blingy crystal controls they're offering.

- I like the blue M-sport brake calipers offered with the DHP package. Adds a nice small color accent.

- Great acoustic glass. The X7 cockpit is nice and quiet, whether sitting at a stoplight, or at speed. Eliminating outside driving environmental noise reduces persistent stress, just like eliminating background environmental noise when flying. Very relaxing.

- I love the comfort massage chairs, and how they prevent "sore long sitting butt". They're must-haves for me.

- I still find the various controls for the 2nd and 3rd row seats non-intuitive. Trunk, driver's door, and then various locations on the 2nd row - hip, side, and shoulder.

- I also like the heated seats, arm rests, and steering wheel in the Cold Weather Package. Being in a cold climate, this also is a must-have. My only critiques would be that the steering wheel gets a little too hot, and the heating element in the arm rests seems to be a little too small and localized. It would be nice if the arm rests were more evenly heated along their length. Very cool that even the 3rd row seats are heated, and have their own private climate controls!

- Nice Heads Up Display. Although it takes a little learning curve to understand what extra little widgets BMW puts in the HUD and front instrument console display, I find them useful and worthwhile.

- Digging the Skylounge. Although it's really just appearance bling, and not something I'd use all the time, I think it adds a nice touch, and I envision sometimes working late, driving home when dark, and getting a nice, long, soothing drive home on the highway, with soft dash and Skylounge lighting.

Loving the heated and cooled cupholders. If nothing else, just loving that I can do something to keep a cold can of Diet Coke chilled to any degree while I drink it. I'm not a hot liquid drinker.

- I still can't find the Ambient Air package on any USA X7 models. Available on overseas models. I think it's a hidden option you have to specifically request, for USA orders. See further details here: https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1594231

- I don't like the running boards. They give the exterior a nice look, but they interfere with getting in and out of the car, where you have to step further out. They scrape the back of your calves and leave dirt on your pants, every time you drive. Thankfully, they're not even available on the sport model I'm going for.

- I also still don't like how the 3rd row seatbelts are always hanging down the sidewalls, even when the 3rd row is folded down. I appreciate the little clips BMW put on the sidewalls, which will reduce their tendency to snag on stuff in the cargo trunk, but they're still going to do so. (see last pic below)

- The Auto Stop-Start function got a little annoying on a short test drive. I can see this getting really frustrating with extended ownership and driving, and it's not good enough to turn it off every single time you start the car. Definitely needs to be disabled/coded off.

- Big thanks to one of the dealers I visited, BMW of Fairfax, Virginia, USA. They were incredibly helpful and accommodating, especially considering that I'll be purchasing from another avenue. Awesome service. Contrast that with another unnamed US dealer I visited, who was helpful, but quite stand-offish, particularly when they learned I wouldn't be purchasing. To be fair, I don't expect anything from a dealer, if I'm not going to be spending money there.

- A few sample pics included below from some of the various cars I looked at. Note the fineline brown trim. The Individual grey trim. The available black wheels. In the last picture, note the canvas material of the small cargo cover I mentioned, and the sidewall clips for the 3rd row seatbelts.

[OtisX7]

Great stuff. Agree with most all of it.

Those of us with small children who finally fall aslee for a nap in the car seat, when someone needs to get out of or into the car, can appreciate at least that one more advantage to the soft close doors

[Wild Blue]

Originally Posted by OtisX7

Great stuff. Agree with most all of it.

Those of us with small children who finally fall aslee for a nap in the car seat, when someone needs to get out of or into the car, can appreciate at least that one more advantage to the soft close doors

Ah, I get it! Yes, didn't think of that. I just haven't had little ones that small for many years.

[Gdwheel]

Thanks and good job. I, too, agree with almost everything you said.

I have the black 752 wheels and love them. They are easy to keep clean and look good, but not flashy.

I find very little that I do not like on the X7. It is going in next week for the front camera fix that is being done on the X5s and X7s to correct a problem where the adaptive cruise control and assisted driving package will just shut down for 5-10 minutes, and also to get updated software, which will hopefully add, among other things, the ability to use the remote start option from the Android app on my Samsung phone.

Other than those two small issues, it has been great.

[LittleJoe]

I also agree with many of your observations. I bought 50i because of the great deal they offered on that specific X7 but the 40i hits the sweat-spot and if this X7 treats us right, we will likely replace it with a 40i in the future. And I definitely agree with you about the running boards. If they get your pant leg dirty getting out, why bother unless you have small children or an elderly family member that needs the step up. Mostly personal taste but so important when plunking down this much cash. Well done.

[LittleJoe]

Oh, the big grill, I'm new to BMW and have read the many comments about it but thought many of the past grills looked to small so for me the X7 grill (and the new X5 grill) is the first to look proportionately correct. Honestly, a smaller grill on this huge truck would look silly.

[aas5]

I just test drove x7 m5.0 with dynamic handling when my car was in service. Here are a couple of things I noticed but I didn't get a chance to do a comprehensive review:

- Very sleek design and the car doesn't look as big as expected. Almost looks like a slightly longer version of x5. I prefer the M package with blacked out chrome but think non-M would also look nice on white.

- I drive an x6M and am worried that x7 5.0 won't be as fast. I got to push the car a bit on the test drive. Overall impression is that it is fast with V8 and probably satisfies ~80% of my driving needs but it is certainly not as responsive or happy to go fast as my M. I was not surprised and I know it's a lot to ask from a car that's designed with a different purpose in mind. I would actually say that althought I wasn't 100% happy with it, I can see myself getting into 5.0 when my lease is up.

- Mineral white looks nice. Not sure if it will hold up well with time

- Captain chairs look good and help reduce any claustrophobic feelings for those seating in the back; although I want to check out the 7 passenger configuration as well. Not convinced that the captain chairs is the way to go with yet. The plastic of the cupholders in the second row seat didn't bother me.

- 22's 755s looked awesome on the car; I was disappointed by how small the rear disc brakes are as they looked too small for the car.

- I enjoy soft close and it's a nice feature

- The HUD looked smaller than in my x6 and felt too small for this car. Not sure if there are ways to increase the size of the HUD in x7.

[Wild Blue]

Ha. I think I know what you're talking about, aas5 that the HUD could be larger. Doubtful it can be adjusted like that, but couldn't say for sure.

I agree with you. The X7 doesn't look or drive as big as it is, even with the 40i engine.

[groove1]

I agree about the soft close doors I think it’s a useless feature along with the heated and cooled cup holders.

[ppagiga]

Originally Posted by groove1

I agree about the soft close doors I think it’s a useless feature along with the heated and cooled cup holders.

I thought same til i had it, now I won't not get it if available. Same with the HUD on these vehicles.

Massaging seats, you guys can have those. What I would love is dynamic bolstering seats. I've had that in the past and loved it.

[mpop302]

How about the leather vs non leather dash? Share more pics if you got em

[mpop302]

Originally Posted by aas5

- Very sleek design and the car doesn't look as big as expected. Almost looks like a slightly longer version of x5.

Agreed about this, not sure how reviews can claim this to be a “massive” vehicle. I took a pic of it next to our qx60 and they are a similar size and length. I think it’s very well sized for the average family

[Johnhanson]

Originally Posted by mpop302

Agreed about this, not sure how reviews can claim this to be a “massive” vehicle. I took a pic of it next to our qx60 and they are a similar size and length. I think it’s very well sized for the average family

I'd like to see it next to a QX80 - I'm sure it would look even more "normal".

And yes agree with soft close. So awesome. At first it's like "well why". Then you get used to them, especially with the kids. Never slamming a door ever is great. Then you get back into your plebeian Audi and have to slam the doors and say "dammit".

I honestly feel that after 5 years in my X5, these doors never slamming is one reason there are no creaks or rattles in the car.

[LittleJoe]

Originally Posted by mpop302

Agreed about this, not sure how reviews can claim this to be a “massive” vehicle. I took a pic of it next to our qx60 and they are a similar size and length. I think it’s very well sized for the average family

Good point and it drives smaller than it looks. In fact, best driving full-size, 7-passenger SUV (I know, SAV in BMW world) I've ever driven.