BMW hit the bullseye with the X7 and, above all, reached many well-off families. But because the Bavarians put more emphasis on utility than on sport in spite of all luxury, there is still plenty of room for improvement in this SUV. But not for long. Because soon Alpina will bring the XB7 and steam up the thick ship accordingly.
Driving report: Alpina XB7
Dickschiff becomes a steam hammer
In America he is the hero of the noble soccer mums, in China he lets small people of unimagined size dream and with us he finally helps high-income earners to feel like a bus without having to drive a VW straight away - with the X7, everyone has it Customers with thick wallets and large space requirements hit the mark. But as much as the flagship of the X family is good as a potent people mover, the gap that gapes is great. Because as a child of a common platform, with a conventional interior and without a dedicated M version, the X7 is far too close to the X5 to enable BMW customers to make real progress. Bentley Bentayga, Maybach GLS or even the Rolls-Royce Cullinan are still miles away for him. So far, at least. For the foreseeable future, BMW will have neither an X7M and certainly not a twelve-cylinder, and the lounge chairs from the seven will probably not find their way into the rear. But what they can't do in Munich at AG and Garching at M GmbH, they do in Buchloe. Alpina sits there and brings the X7 as XB7 a good deal closer to the noble competitors.
The main reason for this is the tuning for the 4,4 liter V8 petrol engine behind the huge kidney grille. Where the 530 hp comes from the factory and is stalled at 250 km / h, Alpina tickles 621 hp from the turbo engine and grants up to 290 km / h in the outlet. And because the data sheet now shows 800 Nm instead of 750 Nm, the sprint is also a bit better: With 4,2 seconds from 0 to 100 km / h, the attacker from the Allgäu takes at least half a second from his good brother. And the 14,9 seconds to reach the 200 mark are also impressive in a car that weighs a good 2,5 tons.
The doped eight-cylinder actually turns the thick ship into a steam hammer and it almost takes your breath away when the colossus storms away at the kick-start as if it were shot from a catapult. But even if they have adapted the air suspension suspension in Buchloe accordingly, reprogrammed the roll control and increased the brakes, the X7 does not look like angry big game in panic under full load, but celebrates the effort in a very cultivated way. Yes, he pushes a little outward in tight bends, if you step hard on the irons you feel a slight nod and a bit of feedback from the roadway must be, even if it sometimes grinds your bones. But even on the racetrack, the remaining comfort is still sufficient for the youngsters and after long motorway stages you get out more relaxed than at Lufthansa - if it would fly again.
More paintwork and leather and, above all, more power, impressive performance on winding country roads and still plenty of comfort on long journeys - thanks to Alpina, the X7 actually moves a good deal away from the X5 and moves closer to Bentley & Co. That is true, however not only for the appearance and the ambience, but also for the price: Instead of 89.900 euros as in Munich, the price list in Buchloe now starts at 155.200 euros. This puts the XB7 around 40.000 euros above the X7 M50i on which it is based. And with a few extras from leather for over 20.000 euros to the imposing 23-inch rims, the bottom line is suddenly a two in the first of the six places. In this respect too, a Bentayga is suddenly no longer out of the world.
Alpina XB7 - technical data:
Five-door, seven-seat luxury SUV; Length: 5,15 meters, width: 2,00 meters (width with exterior mirrors: 2,22 meters), height: 1,80 meters, wheelbase: 3,11 meters, trunk volume: 759 - 2.120 liters
4,4-liter twin-turbo V8; 457 kW / 621 hp, maximum torque: 800 Nm at 2.000 - 5.000 rpm, all-wheel drive, eight-speed automatic sports, 0-100 km / h: 4,2 s, Vmax: 290 km / h, standard consumption: 12,0 liters / 100 kilometers, CO2 emissions: 274 g / km, emissions standard: Euro 6d-temp, efficiency class: E, price: from 155.200 euros
Alpina XB7 - brief description:
- Why: because such a big car also needs a powerful engine
- Why not: because even the best V8 tuning cannot replace a V12
- What else: Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, Mercedes-Maybach GLS and of course the Range Rover
- When does it come: in the fourth quarter
