2023 BMW i7 Review! Electric 7 Series is the ultimate luxury car

It is, of course, a pure electric version of the 7 Series, which will be coming to the UK next year, including probably a mild hybrid Diesel, and definitely a couple of plug in hybrid variants. Now the i7 is, of course, a rival to the Mercedes eqs when it goes on sale, its going to be available as an xDrive 60, which means all wheel, drive 536 brake horsepower permanent, fully adaptive air suspension on every corner. It really has got all the bells and whistles that you would expect, and I would also throw in a very large curved touchscreen, with the latest operating system, eight infotainment in there as well and level three semi autonomous driving. Is it the prettiest car out there? Well, probably not you do get these twin headlights as standard on the kind of high end BMWs, thats, a trademark that you get on the really Posh BMWs and if you want to, you can even add optional ambient lighting to the k. Kidney Grill, which has become even bigger now on this new 7 Series model. I dont know that Id say its a looker but its certainly a striking car. So it does have some presence on the road sales of the BMW i7 start in 2023 and is going to be available from launch with a 101.7 kilowatt hour usable battery capacity, four wheel, drive 536 brake horsepower and a wltp range of up to 388 miles. In truth, in a big luxury, limo like this, its all about the rear seat, accommodation and the i7 doesnt disappoint.

So for a start, I would add this particular test car that weve got here is about as high spec as it gets so lots of stuff. In this car is optional, including that sort of Crystal effect finish that we have in the front there, but in the back cashmere upholstery. Youve also got the executive seating pack in here, which means that I can recline the seats. Ive got massaging functions. Ive got everything you could possibly want. It really is its pretty special back here, but I want to show you a couple of the features that I think set this apart, even from the BMWs Rivals. Let me just access all my modes here on this little touchscreen that I have on the door, which is a standard feature here. We go, I can access the modes and I can go for my personal favorite theater mode. This has to be the best screen. Ive ever seen in a vehicle, its extraordinary 30 inch screen here, complete with Amazon Netflix youve got all of your TV streaming stuff on here and thats, not the only thing that the i7 does. So if I just open these blinds here we go, then you can just see all these lines on the sunroof. Well, those actually light up ambient lit at night, which looks pretty spectacular, and if you thought that the BMW i7s cabin looked good in the daytime at night time, it is a total showstopper, seven.

Well, it still get the rotary controller for this system as per the old fashioned BMW iDrive, which I like, I think it makes the system a bit easier to navigate the climate control has migrated into the screen, boo, hiss, Etc. I know lots of people dont like that. The temperature control is permanent, its always visible on the screen, so that is all right and its quite easy to reach. So I dont actually mind it that much other than that. Youve also got the new operating system, eight that weve also seen on the BMW IX, and that means that youve got incredible Graphics. This beautiful curved touch screen, which I do think looks really special. Maybe it hasnt quite got the wow factor of the Mercedes eqss hyper screen, but I think this is kind of slightly easy to use, maybe its a bit less intimidating, theres still a lot of features. I mean the i7 as with the Mercedes eqs, and you know the Audi A8, all of these sort of top end limos, theyre, always showcases for the technology that the manufacturers can provide, and so they do tend to be a bit complicated. All of this stuff will trickle down into other models. Eventually I like the drive modes, so the operating system, eight its got some pretty fancy Drive modes such as the expressive mode here, which gives you this fabulous art, installation types, green finish. You might not be able to hear it because its absolutely throwing it down with rain right now, but it plays some rather fancy, lift music for you and turns the massage function of it.

And then you accelerate and its Suddenly Its like somebodys put a synthetic elephant through a mangle or something I dont know, but its quite an extraordinary noise that it makes. As for how the i7 drives well Ill be honest, I havent really had much of a chance to properly drive it in anger, so Im on a car of the year event at the moment, Im a juror on the European car of the year very proud to Be so and weve arranged as many of the new cars of 2022 as we can together to see which one is going to win. Our overall award does mean that were sharing these cars with a lot of people and were a bit pushed for time. So forgive us if the video is perhaps much more Scrappy than usual, but its still a really great opportunity to get in them early and the i7 obviously priority its a luxury limo, and it does that very well. As I said, I cant really necessarily speak for what its like at higher speeds and on decent roads, but over bad surfaces. Its got permanent all round air suspension, the suspension works completely independently at every corner, and it does a really really fine. Job refinement is exceptional. Even at high speeds you dont get much wind fluster at all. I have to say if Ive got to find a nickel. I really dont like this steering wheel very much in the i7.

I dont understand why BMWs seem to have this habit of putting really thick rimmed steering wheels in their cars. I dont think it adds much at all. In fact, I think it detracts Id much rather have a nice sort of Slimmer Rim steering wheel. As of the now sadly defunct, BMW I3, its got level three semi autonomous systems in this car which work really well Ive. Had it go in that, and actually it doesnt pinball between the white lines as a lot of the semi autonomous kind of adaptive cruise systems, do it feels really confident and good on that on the on the brief stint Ive had in it? So this is the X drive 60. thats. The only model thats going to be available at launch in the i7, the 7 Series as a whole youre going to get plug in hybrids and possibly a diesel in the UK thats still to be confirmed. This gets 536 brake horsepower, dual electric motors, of course, for permanent four wheel drive its also got a launch mode and its even got a boost button here, which gives you 10 seconds of full thrust, and it does shift as well its good as for the real World range well, its not quite up there with the longest range of the Mercedes eqs models. It has to be said, 388 miles from a 101 kilowatt hour battery, perhaps isnt the best efficiency you can imagine, but its still a very long range.

So it should certainly do the job plus charging of up to 195 kilowatts, so thats, pretty impressive, 10 to 80 in about 34 minutes, apparently according to BMW, so youve got the range youve got. The charging speeds. Youve certainly got the ride in the refinement and all of your gadgets. I think the i7 kind of has it all going for it. Does it matter that its not on a bespoke platform like the Mercedes eqs? Well, I dont think it probably does to most people. Does it matter that the looks are quite so divisive and perhaps not so appealing? Probably even so, I really really rather like it. I think, about the standards of high end Luxury Limos, petrol, electric or otherwise. This is going to be a hard one to beat overall, the BMWs real strengths are in its details. Not the exterior styling details, perhaps but certainly in the lighting features the boutique feel of the interior and the deeply smug inducing Comfort levels, its not as fun to drive as the Audi e tron GT and the Mercedes eqs sounded for range. Even so, provided you are on the inside looking out, the BMW i7 really is one of the most luxurious and satisfyingly Sumptuous cars in any class. Dont forget to like the video subscribe to the CarGurus UK YouTube channel and turn on your notifications. So you dont miss any of our videos head to cargurus.