Cars
I met the BMW X7 in October 2024. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about this car before seeing it at the dealership. I had no knowledge of the model’s features, its appearance, its performance—in short, nothing. After two test drives, I decided to buy it, and so far, I’ve had a total of 6 months and 5,000 kilometers of experience with it. It’s not a very long time, but still, I wanted to share my experiences for those who are considering buying it or are simply curious.
As working parents, we need two cars because commuting to work isn’t the only concern—there are also things like picking up the kids from school and mismatched work schedules. Of course, we don’t see these as problems, but we need to adapt to the natural flow of our lives somehow. Previously, we had bought three brand-new Peugeot vehicles. After our family’s primary car, a 2024 hybrid Peugeot 5008, I started looking for a second car to commute to work.
The best thing about brand-new cars is that they come with a warranty. I never had to open the hood of any of our previous three cars. They only needed standard annual maintenance. While researching, I started looking at things from a different perspective. Instead of sticking to my initial budget for a new car, I reevaluated it and began searching for a slightly older but higher-segment vehicle. On a friend’s recommendation, I started browsing cars on the website of a well-known car dealership. At first, I couldn’t decide because there were so many different models—from Mercedes to Audi, Volvo to BMW. However, the dealership’s focus was generally on the three major German brands.
When I realized I couldn’t figure things out online, I went to the dealership. That’s where I first saw the X7. This 2019 model, a pure white car, was the largest vehicle I had ever seen in my life. I mean, there are plenty of cars around us—we get in and out of friends’ and family’s cars—but I had never been in a vehicle this massive, neither as a passenger nor as a driver. Naturally, as soon as I sat in the driver’s seat, I tried to comprehend the car’s width and sheer size. Usually, you can’t see the hood when you’re inside a car, but this vehicle is so tall that the first thing I noticed was how much of the hood occupied my field of vision.
Before buying, I checked the car’s CarFax report. No accidents, no issues. No insurance claims or entries. The car was originally bought brand new in Sweden, and then I bought it.
The exact model of the car I bought is the BMW X7 xDrive30d Shadowline M-Sport Package. Its chassis code is G07. Instead of copying the car’s entire spec sheet here, I’d like to list its features briefly and clearly for people like me who aren’t professional car enthusiasts or overly technical about cars.
Before taking the car for its first test drive, I told myself I needed to check if it would fit in our garage. After all, no matter how much I loved the car, there’d be no point in buying it if it didn’t fit in our garage. Maybe it’s because our garage is small, but we never had this issue with our other cars. I’m not exaggerating—I have to fold the side mirrors to get it in, and there’s only about 4-5 fingers’ worth of space on either side. After successfully fitting the car into the garage, I went ahead and bought it.
The adjustment period is the same as with any car. You learn and get used to things like the placement of the buttons, the steering, and the driving experience over time. But what caught my attention from the very first drive was the 360-degree parking assistant and the quality of the cameras. The front and rear cameras really stand out after driving French cars. Additionally, the collision reflexes are excellent. It automatically brakes to prevent collisions while parking.
The car can park itself. I’ve tried it many times. Naturally, you need to constantly monitor the controls, but I haven’t had any issues so far. Another great feature related to parking is the automatic park exit. The car exits the parking spot the same way it parked. This is especially useful after vertical parking, but it’s not always practical for me because the surrounding cars often change.
I’ve had the chance to take it on two long trips. The BMW X7 has air suspension. After switching from spring suspension, we felt like we were inside a long-distance bus. No matter how long you drive, it doesn’t physically tire you out extra. You only feel tired from the time spent on the road.
Another feature I love is the ability to remotely heat or cool the car. This function can be activated both from the key fob and the My BMW app. Plus, there’s heating for both the front and rear seats. We were thrilled about this for our kids because, in sub-zero winter temperatures, while we’re comfortably warm in the front, it used to upset us that our kids would be cold on the leather seats in the back.
All the seats in the car are automatic. The upper and lower tailgates are also automatic. You can control the seats and tailgates from the cockpit. There are also two buttons in the trunk: one for maximum passenger mode and the other for maximum cargo mode. When you press these buttons, the car automatically adjusts the seats by either folding or unfolding them.
We don’t have a caravan yet, but the BMW X7 comes with a tow hitch as standard. You can hide the tow hitch with a button.
I usually use the ECO PRO mode to save fuel. There are also SPORT and COMFORT modes. In the city, I can get up to 800 km on a single tank. On highways, I’ve seen 1,000 km. These are the distances with a full tank of diesel.
The car’s sound system is Harman Kardon. It’s phenomenal. There are also X7 models with Bang & Olufsen systems. I get pretty uncomfortable when I turn the volume all the way up because it’s not a sound you can easily tolerate.
I can’t emphasize this enough, but I’ll give an example to highlight the car’s sound insulation. In a place where construction machines were breaking things apart, closing the windows resulted in zero noise inside the car—it really impressed me. It’s also very quiet on the road.
The autonomous driving feature is quite useful. You need to touch the steering wheel every 5-10 seconds to show you’re still there. Otherwise, the steering wheel lights up with a warning, and the car starts beeping. Additionally, if you drift out of your lane during manual driving, the steering wheel vibrates to alert you.
In terms of safety, I’ve only encountered the emergency braking system once. While turning a corner at low speed, the car’s radar detected a pedestrian and stopped with a sudden brake. At least I got to test that the system works.
Despite the car weighing nearly 2.5 tons, it has a great kick-start, lifting the front slightly for a nice takeoff. I’ve been in 500-600 horsepower cars before, and of course, you can’t compare them to this. Still, for its size, it has good acceleration. But getting into race mode with this car is pointless. I’m not someone who loves speed, so its quick acceleration doesn’t matter much to me.
This model’s sunroof is divided into three sections. It’s a panoramic glass roof. While the buttons for the driver and front passenger are the same, there’s a separate button for the roof above the rear seats in the trunk area.
Since it has the Shadowline package, it comes with extra features. This gives the car a great exterior look. Inside, there are ambient lighting options in blue, red, green, terracotta, and white. You can adjust these LED lights to be dim or bright.
Let’s talk about the pros of the BMW X7:
Let’s talk about the cons of the BMW X7:
I also want to mention something about Apple CarPlay. I think this issue exists in all cars. I first encountered it with the Peugeot 5008, so I initially thought it was specific to them. Let’s say you stop the car after driving. You turn off the car and leave your phone inside. You go to the store to buy a bottle of water and come back. When you return, you can’t control Apple CarPlay from the car. You can’t change songs or make calls. The music plays, but the car loses control over the phone. You need to disconnect and reconnect the phone to the car.
I’m currently satisfied with the car. I bought it without researching chronic issues, relying only on a single CarFax report. It’s not a car I’ll keep forever because I upgrade over time. I paid 6,000 EURO for my first car. That amount gradually increased to 25,000 EURO, then 45,000 EURO, and finally 60,000 EURO for the X7. In the future, I plan to add more money and get a newer, different model. If all goes well.
It depends on the person and their needs. In my opinion, this massive vehicle is more suitable for families with four or more members. But that doesn’t mean a single person can’t buy it. Anyone who loves very large vehicles can buy it and enjoy driving it.
Since I use the 3.0 diesel engine, I don’t spend too much on fuel. It doesn’t burn a hole in my pocket. However, the 4.0 and M50 models have higher fuel consumption.
I’m not at that stage yet. But in my personal opinion, especially German cars and high-end models like the X7 are easier to sell.
Very big. If you want to look down on other cars and feel like you’re climbing a ladder to get in and out, this car is perfect for you.
This website uses cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing to use this website, you agree to the use of cookies. For more information, please review our Privacy Policy.
