BMW has confirmed that a second-generation X7 will enter production at its Plant Spartanburg in South Carolina in the second half of 2027, with the first US examples arriving as 2028 models. The announcement, made by then-CEO Oliver Zipse during a question-and-answer session after the company's annual conference in March, remains the only official word on the model, codenamed G67. Zipse declined to elaborate further.
Everything else known about the new X7 comes from camouflaged prototypes, a private dealer briefing held in Nashville in May, and insiders with reliable track records. None of it has been confirmed by BMW, and some details could change before the car reaches showrooms. Reports on the exact start of production vary, with some pointing to August 2027 and others to the autumn. Regardless of the month, the first units are expected to leave Spartanburg by the end of 2027. In the United States the G67 will most likely be sold as a 2028 model, while other markets will call it a 2027 car. If production begins in summer or autumn 2027, BMW is expected to reveal the car a few months earlier, following the pattern set by the new G65 X5 this summer.
Prototypes have consistently shown a split headlight layout, a design dealers who have seen the car in person have independently confirmed. The large kidney grille also stays, rather than shrinking to the more restrained treatment seen on the iX3. BMW has applied the same divisive face to the 7 Series facelift after a significant redesign, suggesting it now serves as the visual identifier for the top of the range. The company has often described the X7 as the luxury limousine of SUVs, and using the split-face design helps keep the flagship sedan and flagship SUV distinct from an increasingly converging line-up.
The G67 is expected to grow in length over the current car, which measures 203.9 inches on a 122.2-inch wheelbase. Dealers who attended the Nashville briefing described the new model as boxier and more wagon-like, with proportions pushed further away from the X5. Spy photographs show an angular body with an almost flat roofline, though the overall profile still reads as an X7. The squarer shape aligns with a segment in which the Range Rover, Escalade and Mercedes GLS all lean vertical, and a three-row SUV gains real headroom and cargo volume from it. The door handles are gone, replaced by electrically operated winglets integrated into the beltline, a feature first seen on the Skytop and Speedtop and now appearing on the G65 X5. BMW may have to rework the setup for China, where the long-wheelbase i3 and iX3 switched back to conventional handles at the last minute to meet a new safety rule.
One open question is whether the split tailgate will stay. Every prototype has carried a black horizontal band across the tailgate suggesting the two-piece design, and dealers have said it remains. BMW used the same trick on X5 prototypes, yet the G65 shipped with a conventional one-piece tailgate. The expectation is that the split tailgate will stay and become a differentiator in the SUV line-up.
The engine range remains broad, which is increasingly unusual. Inline-six petrol engines will carry the volume in most markets, while diesel continues for Europe and potentially elsewhere. The X7 M60 xDrive gets the twin-turbo 4.4-litre S68 V8, identifiable by the quad exhausts on prototypes, since BMW now reserves visible tips for M-badged cars. An iX7 will arrive as the first fully electric X7, possibly with an M Lite derivative mirroring the iX5. There will be no plug-in hybrid: the X5 offers an M60e with an inline-six PHEV setup, but the X7 is rumoured to skip it again, and prototypes show no charging flap on the front fender. A full-fat X7 M still looks unlikely, with the M Performance prototype filmed at the Nürburgring in August representing the top of the BMW-badged range.
The iX7 presents a more interesting engineering challenge. It sits on the CLAR platform inherited from the combustion X7 rather than a dedicated EV architecture, so the long wheelbase gives BMW room for a large battery, but packaging compromises are unavoidable. That is a different starting point from the Neue Klasse cars, though it also gives BMW flexibility at a time when electric-only SUVs are not as popular as once expected. Inside, the G67 is expected to feature iDrive X, Panoramic Vision and possibly a theatre screen, with the dashboard heavily covered on prototypes.