NEW DELHI: There are times when you just want to indulge yourself and you need to have the best SUV in a certain price bracket. Enter BMW’s X7, one of the largest you can buy in India. With a length that stretches well over five metres, and a width that touches 2.2, you can be sure there is plenty of space for all that you want to do. We took the revised X7 on a spin to tiger land Ranthambore, and here are our observations.
In the looks department, she is really a stunner. The DRLs and headlights are now separated, and this gives a mean look that was evident from the stares of passers-by. Those 21-inch alloys look menacing, and since the X7 comes with a M-Sport package, the blue painted brake callipers with the ‘M’ logo on them look the part. The brake discs themselves would outsize most dinner plates and the massive 285 rubbers actually give a good ride, though the 45 side profile might claim otherwise.
However, it is on the inside that the changes are far more visible. Gone are most of the button functions, all replaced by the massive 14.3-inch screen that controls all functions of the vehicle. The display is gorgeous and the colours are sharp, but it also comes with the simple fact that you need a degree in applied sciences to operate it.
For example, if you need to turn down the fan speed of the AC, and you are enjoying wireless CarPlay, you have to call up a sub-menu from the main screen to then touch the appropriate space. You do get ventilated seats up front though and you can have up to five different temperature zones with even the last row passengers getting their own aircon vents.
The last row of seats is electrically operated and you can lower the rear air suspension to load things more easily into the boot. There is a 464 W Harmon Karon sound system playing through 16 speakers that offers superb acoustics.
We had BMW’s creamy 3.0-litre straight-six petrol motor famed for its smoothness and here it offers 381 horses with 520 Nm, to give it a 0-100 km/h time of 5.8 seconds, for a car that weighs nearly 2.5 tonnes! Assisting the main powertrain is a mild hybrid 48-volt setup that also plays a role in the vehicle’s performance.
Like all modern vehicles, you get the most irritating start-stop system, which means the vehicle switches off when you are stationary for sometime. Wish there was a way to permanently disable this stuff in all cars. Power delivery, of course, is silky smooth, with the 8-speed steptronic sport transmission never missing a cog. Now, of course, you get some ADAS features on the car, so all your lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, etc. are new things you can play with.
Overall, this vehicle is for a large family that loves driving. With the ever expanding highway network in India, it has become a pleasure to drive vehicles like this with effortless performance and a bevy of latest technologies for your motoring pleasure. That start-stop system though…