1/11/2024 0 Comments Escalade v 2023![]() ![]() Generally speaking, I - and many other folks - haven't been a huge fan of BMW's recent design language. (Then again, I still don't get the whole appeal of ChatGPT, so maybe I'm just becoming a dinosaur.) It's a bit of a mixed bag, ergonomically the larger screen is more legible and easier to operate, perhaps, but the disappearance of handy features like the preset buttons and tactile climate controls is irksome, at least to me. BMW is implementing this design far and wide across its lineup these days, while simultaneously swapping out shift levers for electric switches and ditching most of the physical buttons. Unlike the upholstery, you won't have such issues noticing the giant split-screen landscape display that curves halfway across the dashboard, with one side serving as instrument panel and the other as infotainment screen. The fact that Sensafin feels good enough to be worthy of such a high-end model- and one look around the cabin will make it very clear you're in a high-end model - is impressive, indeed. ![]() The X7, though, sits alongside the 7 Series at the top of the range, where customers have more disposable cash and, presumably, want nicer rides. I'm used to seeing other types of fake leather trim in BMW products, but usually it's in the likes of 3 Series sedans and Mini Coopers, where buyers would be more apt to choose leatherette to save a buck. It was actually "Sensafin" - BMW's new vegan leather, which comes standard in the X7 xDrive40i. True story: it wasn't until I checked the window sticker halfway through my test that I realized the supple material coating the seats of my test car wasn't leather. (And on the flip side - if you really use your third row often, odds are good you're looking at an extended-length SUV from one of Detroit's automakers, anyway.) Granted, that makes the third row less usable than the equivalent of larger SUVs it's fine for occasional use, such as the ever-cliché duty of being pressed into transporting a couple extra tweens to soccer practice, but the toll it takes from the cargo bay means you won't be able to carry many balls or bags back there. At 203.6 inches long, it's nearly a foot shorter than an Escalade - even though the Bimmer's wheelbase is two inches longer. But it's also because, well, it is smaller. ![]() Part of that is due to its car-like unibody construction, versus the pickup truck-based body-on-frame build of those other vehicles it lends the X7 (and the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class, which also goes unibody) a bit more of a nimble feeling. Technically, the X7 competes in the same three-row SUV category as the Lexus LX 600, Cadillac Escalade, Infiniti QX80, Jeep Grand Wagoneer and Lincoln Navigator, but it doesn't quite feel on the same scale. While 2023's updates are on the milder side, and the facelift's visual appeal is very much a matter of taste, the interior upgrades have overall made it an even more comfortable and enjoyable place to occupy while driving. Its car-like (at least for a large SUV) performance, ride and handling make it easy, even fun to drive for such a big beast. The X7 is one of the best choices in the large luxury SUV category, especially if that third row of seats will be used more occasionally than regularly. So with the X7 freshly updated for the 2023 model year, I took it for a spin in and around the greater New York area to see how it would handle the urban and suburban chores that the vast majority of these big BMWs will spend their lives performing. But the X7 has been around long enough (and sold enough copies) to earn a mid-life-cycle refresh, clearly demonstrating that, while true Bimmer believers may still cry fowl, the market says otherwise. ![]() Here in 2023, the X7 isn't even the most controversial model BMW builds on this platform that honor would have to go to the plus-sized plug-in-hybrid performance SUV called the BMW XM, the M division's first unique car since the M1. Zimmerman, the times have been a-changing. Sedans, coupes, wagons and convertibles have been Bimmer's stock in trade most of its existence it waited until the very end of the 20th century to jump on the sport-utility bandwagon, even though manufacturers had been using the term for the fast-growing category for more than a decade and models like the F ord Explorer, Chevy Tahoe and Jeep Grand Cherokee had proven the immense demand for family cars that combined four-wheel-drive grip and a civilized ride. It wasn't all that long ago that the idea of BMW building a giant, eight-passenger SUV would have seemed downright heretical. ![]()
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