der Bayerische September/October 2020 - 31

(Above Left) The X7 rear hatch opens nice and wide. (Above Right) Wonder when the X7 key will just be an iPhone app.
provided sure, short stops.
I'm pleased to say that as with
the rest of the product line, the BMW
engineers successfully created a
vehicle that drives like a BMW should,
regardless of the driving environment
or road conditions. In its class, the X7
is indeed the "Ultimate Driving
Machine". New for 2020 is the X7
M50i, which adds more "M-ness"
(525 horsepower, M-differential, Mtuned suspension and M-tuned
exhaust) to the X7.
Again, the technology from the
Dynamic Handling Package allows
the X7 to operate in the urban driving
environment as if it were a smaller
vehicle, while having the open road
refinement expected from a premium
performance luxury vehicle. Even
when I used the automatic parking
assist, I always felt as if we were in
control of our driving destiny.

September I October

The final question: is the 2002
X7 xDrive5.0 worth $121,000 fully
loaded, starting from a base MSRP of
$92,600? If you're one who only
wants to drive flagship vehicles which
can carry at least three passengers in
comfort, the answer is yes. Putting
things into perspective: the BMW
M5's starting MSRP of $102,000, the
M8 Gran Coupe's starting MSRP is
$130,000, the Mercedes G-class'
starting MSRP is $127,000, the
Range Rover's starting MSRP is
$90,000, and the Cadillac Escalade's
starting MSRP is $75,200. When
these competitors are equipped
similarly to my evaluation vehicle,
one finds that the X7 is actually one of
the lower-priced vehicles in its class.
In terms of long-term durability,
using our 2007 X5 (purchased new
from Passport BMW - thanks to
Raine) as an example, this vehicle

now has been driven over 153,000
miles. Yes, we've had some
unexpected repairs (some of you may
remember my article on having to
replace the differential at 95,000 -
for which BMW NA helped defray
the cost of the repair), and the
maintenance costs are, well, typical of
a modern BMW (replaced the water
pump, oil filter housing, rear airsuspension bladders, and, despite the
"lifetime" designation, all the fluids),
but our X5 still drives like new. In
fact, it now drives better than new,
since we replaced the Bridgestone run
flat tires with Michelins. Based on our
experience, there is no reason why the
X7 should not last well over 200,000
miles.
If you have a family and are
seeking a family vehicle that will last
at least 10 years, and find that the X5's
third rear seat is a bit small, then the

X7 would be an ideal option. Keep in
mind that when you're driving an X7,
you will be noticed.
From a business perspective,
BMW is now at a crossroads in terms
of their "flagship" vehicle. In my
opinion, the X7 and the 8 Series Gran
Coupe are clearly BMW's "flagships".
This leaves the future of the 7 Series
in a bit of a limbo. As the new BMW
CEO continues to wrestle with the
conflict between product proliferation
and margin contributions, hard
decisions will need to be made.
In the meantime, don't be
surprised that when you're driving or
riding in the 2020 X7, you have the
urge to open your window and ask the
people in the vehicle next to yours,
"Verzeihung, aber haben Sie einen
Senf von Grey Poupon?"

der Bayerische September/October 2020

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