Usually, as the size of cars increases, my interest decreases. It turns out that the BMW X7 M50d (G07) is not a normal car. This gigantic seven-seater SUV was the exception to the rule. All because BMW's M Performance department has done it again.
Taking a seven-seater SUV and giving it a notable dynamic isn't for everyone. Keep him comfortable after disciplining more than two tons of weight even less. But as we'll see in the next few lines, that's exactly what BMW did.
BMW X7 M50d, a pleasant surprise
After having tested the BMW X5 M50d and being somewhat disappointed, I sat in the BMW X7 with the feeling that I was going to repeat the experience in a less intense way. More weight, less dynamic upright, the same engine… in short, an X5 M50d but in an XXL version.
I was wrong. The BMW X7 M50d can practically match the dynamic “dose” of its “younger” brother, adding more space, more comfort and more luxury. In other words: I didn't expect that much from the X7.
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The truth is, the BMW X7 M50d is really a big surprise — and it's not just the size. This surprise has a name: cutting edge engineering.
Bringing up 2450 kg of weight in order to complete a lap of the Nürburgring in less time than a BMW M3 E90 is a remarkable achievement.
It is «cannon time», without a doubt. You can't get a Nobel Prize in Physics because, as a rule, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences usually distinguishes between those who study physics, not those who make a living trying to contradict it. That's what we feel behind the wheel of the BMM X7 M50d: that we're breaking the laws of physics.
All the luxury of BMW in an SUV version.
In a car of this size you are not supposed to brake so late, accelerate so early and turn so fast. In practice this is what happens - more often than I would like to admit.
How to counteract physics by BMW M Performance
The technology employed in the BMW X7 M50d gave a book with more than 800 pages. But we can reduce all this information in three points: platform; suspensions and electronics.
Let's start at the base. Underneath the X7's robes is the CLAR platform — also known internally as the OKL (Oberklasse, German word for something like “luxury as far as the eye can see”). A platform that uses the best materials BMW has available: high-strength steel, aluminum and, in some cases, carbon fiber.
With extremely high levels of rigidity and a very controlled weight (before adding all the components) it is on this platform that the responsibility to keep everything in its proper place falls. On the front axle we find suspensions with double wishbones and on the rear a multi-link scheme, both served by a pneumatic system that varies the height and stiffness of the damping.
Suspension tuning is so well achieved that in more committed driving, in Sport mode, we can go after many uncomplicated sports saloons. We throw almost 2.5 tonnes of weight into the curves and the body roll is impeccably controlled. But the biggest surprise comes when we've already outgrown the corner and got back on the accelerator.
Did not expect. I confess that I did not expect! Crushing the accelerator of a 2.5-ton SUV and having to back-up because the rear gradually loosens up… I didn't expect it.
It is at this stage that electronics comes into play. In addition to the suspensions, the torque distribution between the two axles is also electronically controlled. This is not to say that the BMW X7 M50d is a sports car. It is not. But it does things that shouldn't be within reach of a vehicle with these characteristics. That's what blew me away. That said if you want a sports car, buy a sports car.
But if you want seven seats...
If you want seven seats — our unit only came with six seats, one of the many options available — don't buy a BMW X7 M50d either. Before taking home a BMW X7 in the xDrive30d version (from 118 200 euros), you will be very well served. It does everything it does at the speed that an SUV of this size is supposed to be driven.
The BMW X7 M50d is not for everyone — financial matters aside. It's not for anyone who wants a sports car, nor for anyone who needs a seven seater — the right word is really need because no one really wants a seven seater. I pay dinner to anyone who brings me someone who has ever said the phrase: “I would really like to have a car with seven seats”.
Do you know when this happened? Never.
Well then. So who is the BMW X7 M50d for. It's for a handful of people who simply want to have the best, fastest, most luxurious SUV BMW has to offer. These people are more easily found in countries like China than in Portugal.
Then there is also a second chance. BMW developed this X7 M50d just because… because it can. It's legitimate and it's more than enough reason.
Speaking of the B57S engine
With such amazing dynamics, the in-line six-cylinder quad-turbo engine almost fades into the background. Code name: B57S . It is the most powerful version of the BMW 3.0 liter Diesel block.
How good is this engine? It makes us forget that we are behind the wheel of a 2.4 ton SUV. A portent of power that provides us with 400 hp of power (at 4400 rpm) and 760 Nm of maximum torque (between 2000 and 3000 rpm) at the slightest request from the accelerator.
The typical 0-100 km/h acceleration takes just 5.4s. The maximum speed is 250 km/h.
As I wrote when I tested the X5 M50d, the B57S engine is so linear in its power delivery that we get the feeling it's not as powerful as the datasheet advertises. This docility is just a misperception, because at the slightest carelessness, when we look at the speedometer, we are already circling a lot (even a lot!) above the legal speed limit.
Consumption is relatively restrained, at around 12 l/100 km in regulated driving.
Luxury and more luxury
If in sporty driving the X7 M50d is what it was not supposed to be, in more relaxed driving it is exactly what is expected of it. An SUV full of luxury, technology and critical-proof quality.
There are seven places, and they are real. We have enough space in the three rows of seats to handle any journey with the certainty that we will reach our destination in maximum comfort.
One more note. Avoid the city. They are 5151 mm in length, 2000 mm in width, 1805 mm in height and 3105 mm in wheelbase, measures that are felt in their entirety when trying to park or drive around in a city.
Otherwise, explore it. Whether on a long highway or — surprisingly… — a narrow mountain road. After all, they spent more than 145 thousand euros . They deserve it! In the case of the version we tested add 32 thousand euros in extras. They deserve even more...