One that can never be considered a look, the BMW X7 recently received a major visual upgrade from the brand’s standard LCI treatment. Its LCI comes with new technology, some new internal bits and most importantly, a new face. The face of the pre-LCI X7 was the subject of its biggest controversy. BMW said there was a large grill and it was the right direction. Fans, too loud, disagree.
BMW’s BMW X7 has given the LCI an almost completely new face. Although the grills remain the same and as large as ever, everything around them has grown. So we decided to look at the design of both cars to see if the new one was better or if it was too much.
No one asked BMW to give the X7 a huge kidney grill and everyone complained when it arrived. However, after almost constant complaints, BMW has decided not only to get rid of the big grill but to make everything else bigger. And you know what? It actually works.
Not only does the BMW X7 LCI look better than before, it’s really nice to see now. The new split headlight design looks great on the front end of the X7, out of proportion to the larger kidney grille in the evening. This is a very fancy design for BMW and it still looks a bit exotic but the slim upper part is smooth and the lower part of the chunky front gives real flesh. To be honest, I was pretty sure how I would feel about these new headlights, especially the X7, a car I never liked to see – but I think this new LCI works really, really well.
Inside, the new update is subtle but helpful. The old iDrive 7 system and its accompanying screens are gone. There is a brand new iDrive 8 from BMW IX. The iDrive 8 system is not only a great improvement over the iDrive 7, it is much better looking and the floating screen on it is sleek, high-tech and premium. Attached to that iDrive 8 screen is a new digital gauge cluster, much more intuitive than the outgoing ones, as well as more customizable. This is a big upgrade.
There are also some subtle details, such as a light bar trim on the dashboard and a new shift toggle switch, which replaces the old shift lever. Aesthetically, none of these changes are huge but together they make a big difference.
Overall, the new BMW X7 LCI looks a lot better than its pre-LCI predecessor, and we’re glad to see the new split headlight design sharpen.