NEW DELHI: The BMW X7 is the flagship SUV of the German luxury car maker. Starting at Rs 95.90 lakh (ex-showroom), it is beyond the reach of most car buyers in the country. But now to make the SUV even more exclusive, the Bavarian giant has introduced its first ever limited-edition model called the ‘Dark Shadow’. Just 500 units of the car will be available for sale worldwide, that’s how exclusive the brand wants this edition to be. The price in India is Rs 2.02 crore (ex-showroom) and it is available in M Sport design scheme. It can now be booked online and the model comes to India as a completely built-up unit (CBU).
LOOKS
The most striking feature on the X7 ‘Dark Shadow’ edition is the special paint finish in frozen arctic grey metallic colour. This high-quality and elaborate body finish is being used for the first time in a BMW X model. This paint finish in body columns, exterior mirror bases, a black chrome finish on the frame and the bars of the kidney grille create a subtle contrast to the matt shimmering body of the car. Another exclusive feature is the 22-inch M light-alloy wheels in V-spoke design with a jet-black matt finish and fitted with mixed tyres. The M-Sport model also gets the highly advanced BMW Laserlights for a clearer view.
INTERIORS
This flagship is loaded with a lot of features. The driver and front passenger get electrically adjustable comfort seats with memory function. These seats also get active seat ventilation that promises to reduce stiffness and fatigue by continuously adjusting the seat surface. The edition gets an M leather steering wheel while the large sky lounge panoramic glass sunroof extends all the way till the third row. The car has five-zone air conditioning with captain seats on the second row and soft close function for doors. Another highlight in the interior is the use of exquisite glass that embellish the insert of the gear selector, the iDrive control wheel, the audio control button, and the start/stop button.
The car gets BMW Individual merino full leather upholstery which comes in ‘night blue/black’ two-tone with contrasting seams, as does the BMW Individual roof liner in night blue with alcantara finish. The upper part of instrument panel and door armrests are covered with nappa leather in night blue. Black merino leather is used in the lower section of the instrument panel and on the front backrests. The centre console sees the use of piano black finish bearing and bears an edition logo. Some cool tech on the SUV includes gesture Control, a display key, wireless charging and wireless apple carplay and android auto. There are two 12.3-inch screens doing the job of instrument cluster and touchscreen infotainment system. The luxury SUV also gets a Harman Kardon surround sound system with 16 speakers.
ENGINE
The BMW X7 M50d is powered by 2993 cc three-litre six-cylinder diesel engine which produces an output of 400 hp and a maximum torque of 760 Nm. The car accelerates from 0 -100 km / hr in just 5.4 seconds. This is accompanied by the sweet sound of the M Sport exhaust system. The eight speed steptronic sport automatic transmission does its duty on the car. The car comes as standard with the M Sport differential and a model-specific chassis set-up to sharpen its agility and steering precision. The adaptive 2-axle air suspension enables raising and lowering of vehicle at the touch of button and automatically adjusts the height of the car to suit any given driving situation. The SUV also gets an auto start-stop, ECO PRO mode and brake-energy regeneration for better fuel efficiency which is claimed to be 12.04 kmpl.
SAFETY
The X7 gets a host of driver assistance systems which includes a head-up display which uses full-colour graphics to provide information to the driver without having to divert their eyes from the road. Parking assistant plus with surround view camera makes parking in tight spots easier by taking over acceleration, braking as well as steering. electronically controlled ‘automatic differential brakes/locks’, extended ‘dynamic traction control’, hill start assist and hill descent control have been provided to take on difficult terrains. Some more safety features include six airbags, attentiveness assistance, dynamic stability control including cornering brake control, electric parking brake with auto hold, side-impact protection, electronic vehicle immobilizer and crash sensor and ISOFIX child seat mounts.
The writer is Senior Editor at carandbike.com