While BMW has told us multiple times that its new flagship SUV, the X7, is still some way away, it’s wasting no time in getting its prototypes out for testing. We’re hardly surprised, as we can imagine that these cars will be subject to incredible tests over the next 10-months or so. While most X7’s will enjoy a comfortable life as the high-riding limousines of many a dignitary or captain of industry, these prototype models have nothing but torture ahead of them.
BMW has released images of the X7 coming down the production line at the company’s Spartanburg factory, in South Carolina. It’s the biggest factory that the marque maintains, and produces some 1400 cars a day, many of them crossovers and SUVs bearing the ‘X’ badge. When it launches, the X7 will serve as a flagship for the marque and be the cherry atop BMWs SUV range, and promises to deliver all the luxury of a 7-Series limousine with the capabilities of a true SUV.
(Not that anyone’s been complaining in the back of an X5 all these years.)
Interestingly, the images that BMW released were of totally undisguised X7 prototypes, offering us the first unobstructed glimpse at what very well might be a full production-spec car. From the slim lights all round, the engorged kidney grille, the ‘Air Breathers’ behind the front wheels, and the wide chrome element across the tail.
Of course, these prototypes won’t be roaming around looking this way as they go about testing. Camouflage will be applied before leaving the factory, which will keep the final form under wraps while the X7 goes for homologation testing, among other things.
When production does begin, the X7 will be the fifth model like to roll out of the enormous Spartanburg factory, which has produced 3.9-million vehicles since it opened its doors in 1994.
“We are proud to produce the BMW X7 here in Spartanburg, the home of our X models. This is a very special vehicle and our employees are looking forward to yet a further member of the X family. Together with the BMW X7, a total of five BMW X models will be exported from Spartanburg to all four corners of the globe.” - Knudt Flor, BMW Group Spartanburg
When it arrives in the second-half of 2018, the BMW X7 will be taking the game up to cars like the Mercedes-Benz GLS, Bentley Bentayga, and the Porsche Cayenne.
For more information on BMW, check out our Showroom.
