2022 BMW X7

BMW is still new to the large SUV game, but being fashionably late to the party can have its advantages. While the BMW X7 is only in its first generation—having been released in 2018 and thus mid-way through its life cycle—the 203.3-inch Bavarian truckster already tops its competitors in the luxury three-row SUV market. These include stalwarts like the Mercedes-Benz GLS, Audi Q7, and Lexus LX, all of whom have much longer histories.

All X7s offer standard all-wheel-drive, and a seven-seat layout—with two seats up front, three in the middle bench, and two in the rear. A six-seat configuration is optional and features two power-adjustable captain’s chairs in the second row. The X7’s competitors offer similar confines, but what’s exciting about the X7 is what’s exciting about many contemporary BMWs: great powertrains, high-quality interior appointments with delightful touches, and a comfortable but sporty ride. 

Its size does mean compromises. The X7 is not an ultimate driving machine, but it is a cruiser, capable of devouring highway miles, and keeping occupants isolated, particularly useful if some of these are children (or pets.) Regardless of how many chairs are present, the base X7 makes a great case for itself on value. 

Starting at $75,895, less than most of its premium competitors, the Xdrive40i includes BMW’s famously smooth twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine, putting out 335 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque, allowing this 5,337-pound ingot to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds. 

The next step up adds a steep $20,000 leap, to the $95,395 Xdrive50i. Its 456 horsepower and 479 pound-feet twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 is more obstreperous, and heavy—the model weighs over 300 pounds more—but the extra power brings the 0-60 time down by 1.3 seconds. Beyond that is the wallet-bending $142,295 Alpina XB7, with finer luxury trimmings, tuner car cred and a walloping 612 horsepower.

As expected in premium SUV, BMW makes lots of goodies available, but features such as cabin-spanning sunroof, power-operated tailgate and four-zone climate control are standard. The $3,450 Dynamic Handling package is half-appealing: a rear-wheel steering system aids in dynamism at all speeds, but its roadway-scanning camera does little more than provide needless warnings that resemble an aphoristic poster in a shrink’s office: “bumpy pavement ahead.” Plenty of safety features come bundled too, but the nicest ones are part of yet another $1,700 package.

Performance: 14/15

The X7 is a delight to drive in any configuration. All-wheel-drive is standard, as are the option to adjust a myriad of performance features just by clicking the SPORT, COMFORT, or ECO PRO drive mode switches on the center console. A 335 horsepower and 330 pound-foot 3.0-liter twin turbocharged inline six is standard. A 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 is available in both of the upper trim models, making 456 horsepower and 479 pound-feet in the M50i.

The base six is the value choice. It provides plenty of power, silky smoothness, and superior fuel economy compared to the eight-cylinder motors. The V8s give much more shove, especially in top Alpina XB7 trim, but they also cost much more. Six-cylinder models can tow up to 5,400 pounds, while V8’s can manage 5,950.

The XB7, created by BMW-affiliated tuner Alpina, tunes the aforementioned V8 to provide 612 horsepower and 590 pound-feet, and provides a concomitant increase in luxury and performance. 60 mph arrives in fewer than four seconds, and its incomprehensible top speed is 180 mph. With (optional) 23-inch thin-spoke Alpina wheels, it stands out against its (standard) 21 or (optional) 22-inch cousins.   

Fuel Economy: 11/15

The X7 range, which comes standard with all-wheel-drive across all models (like its competitors) achieves an 18.33 mpg EPA rating overall. This is better than the Mercedes GLS line, which averages a clean 18, but slightly worse than the Audi, at 18.5 and the new-for-2022 Lexus LX, which achieves 19. Notably, the V6-only Lexus lacks both a V8 and a high-performance option, which all of the Germans offer. Among domestic competitors, Cadillac’s diesel-powered Escalade does better, but its gas-powered variations fare even worse than the Alpina XB7.

Safety & Driver Assistance Tech: 11/15

The BMW X7 lacks crash ratings from either the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), but. On mass alone, it would probably crash well, but the X7 is also built on a stretched version of the same architecture as the smaller X5, which earns a Top Safety Pick designation from IIHS for 2022. There’s no reason to believe the X7, which like many high-end vehicles may not ever get tested, would fare any worse.

BMW also equips the X7 with a strong suite of driver-assistance safety features including: nine airbags, forward collision warning, automated emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance, lane centering, automatic high beams, and adaptive cruise control. The $1,700 Driving Assistance package adds even more automation to the X7’s ability to start and stop itself, hold speed, and avoid crashing.

Comfort & Room: 14/15

BMW has really upped its interior game, and nowhere is this on better display than in the immense cabin of the X7, with its luscious leather seating surfaces. The $1,600 Luxury Seating package offers more power adjustments for the already-comfy front seats, as well as the capacity for them to ventilate and massage occupants. Controls for a fifth climate zone in the third row are an $800 to $850 option on all three models, they come bundled here, along with heaters in every seat.  

It bests all competitors except the Mercedes-Benz GLS on second-row legroom. (Mercedes’ second row has a whopping four additional inches of legroom.) The third row is kind of small for adults and smaller than the Mercedes or a Cadillac Escalade, but actually quite a bit roomier than Audi or Lexus. The catch? The power-folding second row of seats is lethally slow and seems to have a mind of its own. A simple one touch release lever, as seen on the Kia Telluride, would be far superior.

Infotainment: 13/15

BMW’s infotainment system is intuitive, so long as Apple CarPlay (or Android Auto) is initiated. Then, the 12.3-inch central screen becomes just a nice-sized iPad. Getting CarPlay synced up to the system is more difficult than it should be, requiring a strange connection to BMW’s in-car Wi-Fi, but this is the kind of thing that is only suffered through once, after which it’s automatic. The digital gauge cluster is clear, but is obviated by the head-up display, which provides all the information a driver needs. Carmakers might be better served by ceding all this redundancy to CarPlay and Android and doing away with the rest. 

Something that’s less delightful is BMW’s gesture control system, which is supposed to read and interpret certain hand movements, but which, in practice, is about twenty times more cumbersome to use for adjusting the stereo volume, or music track, than the buttons on the steering wheel or dashboard. Buttons for tertiary features like seat heaters and massagers are a welcome relief, as are knobs for volume and adjusting the climate.

Cargo Space & Storage: 14/15

The BMW has plenty of little cubbies and storage areas in every row, so many that you might just forget one of your occupants in there—if they’re a small stuffed animal or cellphone. With its seats down, it sports more far space than any of its core competitors, 90.4 cubic-feet, besting the GLS, Q7, and Lexus LX. With only the third row folded, there are 48.6 cubic-feet, which is also near the top of the class. With all its seats in place, however, it has the second smallest cargo space behind the third row, with its 12.8 cubic-feet beating only the Lexus’ 11 cubes.

Style & Design: 9/10

It is difficult to make a pretty or elegant large three-row crossover, but the BMW X7 is both, taking the best of the brand’s current design language, excising any baroque touches, and stretching it into a large two-box shape, like a giant luxury station wagon. BMW offers to sport up, rather than gild, this lily with a $4,350 M-Sport package, but it’s mostly cosmetic and doesn’t contribute much. 

Everything in it feels expensive (except that glacial power-opening feature that allows access to the third row) and delightful materials—rich woods, knurled and brushed metals, quilted leathers, even cut crystal—lend to this royal treatment. Nowhere is BMWs sense of delight more active than in the layers of optional LEDs integrated into the X7’s panoramic glass roof, lights that can change color at the touch of a button.  

Is the 2022 BMW X7 worth it? Which X7 is the Best Value? 

The base X7 xDrive40i is the proper choice, and when outfitted properly, can offer a lot of fanciness for the money, providing 7-Series levels of luxury, van-like seating capacity, and Jeep-like all-season utility, for the price of a well-outfitted 5-Series sedan. Apart from the Audi, its $75,895 starting MSRP is also several thousand dollars lower than its import competitors. The myriad of option packages can sharply increase the price, but the Luxury Seating and Driver Assistance packages are worthwhile additions.

Despite its scale, the X7 somehow does an excellent job of looking like a BMW, a claim that cannot be made for the Audi, which looks like a Volkswagen, the Lexus, which looks like a Basilosaurus, or the Benz, which looks like a river rock after one billion years in a stream. BMW also offers a range of exterior paints in shades of greens and blues that offer joyous relief from seas of blacks, silvers, and whites. Finding a full-size, three-row BMW SUV stylish is not something that could have been anticipated a decade ago, but preferences adjust to market realities.

How Much Does it Cost to Insure the 2022 BMW X7? 

The six-cylinder BMW X7 isn’t cheap to insure, but is about average compared to its peers. According to our data, a typical 30-year-old female driver with clean record can expect an average annual premium of $2,626, though this averages all 50 states. Costs go up steeply for the Alpina, however, running to $4,052 annually. That compares to $2,395 for the Audi Q7, $2,483 for the GLS-Class Maybach and $2,866 for the Lexus LX. To get a more accurate picture of your potential insurance expenses, visit our car insurance calculator.