BMW X7 luxury SUV lives on for second generation

BMW has for the first time confirmed that it is developing a second generation of its X7 luxury SUV.

Releasing its financial results for the first quarter of its 2025 financial year, the BMW Group said it had incurred research and development costs for the Neue Klasse models such as the new iX3, as well as for successors to the X5 and X7.

It gave no further indication of when the new models will arrive, but documents sent to US dealers previously suggested the new X7 would arrive in 2027, a year after the new X5.

Autocar understands it will be underpinned by an upgraded version of the Cluster Architecture (CLAR) structure that is used for the existing X7, as well as the 7 Series and i7 saloons.

The update will allow the new X7 to offer an electric powertrain for the first time, with the smaller iX5 set to adopt new-generation electric drive units, round-cell batteries and an 800V electrical architecture.

“We are in a phase where flexibility is required,” BMW R&D boss Frank Weber previously told Autocar. “We have to detach ourselves from how we have perceived platforms up to now. 

“There is an increasing realisation that the art of mastering diversity in your portfolio lies in how you use and network major components – engines, motors, battery cells, on-board computers, control units, app functions, and software upgrades.

“It’s not so much the platform structure itself but the individual components and how you use them.”

The new X7 will be but one pillar in a completely revitalised line-up. Starting from the launch of the new iX3 at this year’s Munich motor show, BMW will replace or substantially update every single model in its range, rolling out the Neue Klasse design language and technologies.

BMW Group design boss Adrian van Hooydonk told Autocar: “We will make sure that the form language that we are developing now – and starting this year at the IAA [Munich show] with the first of the Neue Klasse vehicles – will be rolled out over the entire product portfolio, leaving no car behind. Of course, it would not be good for us or for our customers if there would be a new type of BMW and a ‘classic’ type of BMW. We’re going to change the look and feel of the BMW brand.”

However, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the 4 Series and 8 Series.