The 2028 BMW X7 is no longer a sketch on a whiteboard. A heavily camouflaged prototype of the G67, wearing what appears to be its production body panels, was caught hammering around the Nürburgring with four exhaust tips poking out the back. That quad-pipe setup is BMW’s calling card for one thing only: the M Performance treatment.
This is the X7 M60 xDrive, and it will carry a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 under its hood. No full-blown M version is planned. The V8 is the ceiling, same as it is today.
Former BMW CEO Oliver Zipse confirmed the three-row luxury SUV will debut next year, putting the timeline squarely in 2027 for a reveal and 2028 for customer deliveries. Testing is clearly picking up speed.
Even under heavy camo, the family resemblance is obvious. The split-headlight design from the current G07 carries over, and the front end borrows heavily from the recently facelifted 7 Series. The X7 and 7 Series have shared architectural DNA for years, and BMW sees no reason to untangle them now.
The profile tells a different story. Flush door handles, lifted straight from the new G65 X5, replace the conventional pull-type units. Expect automatic doors to make the options list, since the smaller X5 already offers them.
The rear of the prototype raises a genuine question. A black horizontal band stretches across the tailgate in a way that suggests BMW’s signature split tailgate might survive. But BMW played the same visual trick on X5 prototypes, and the production G65 showed up with a one-piece unit. The split gate may be history across the X lineup.
Tail lights on this mule are clearly stand-ins. Production lighting will arrive during final validation runs, and the question is whether the “X” motif from the new X5’s headlights migrates upward. BMW lets owners toggle that graphic off through the touchscreen, a concession to the fact that not everyone loves a light show.
The powertrain spread will be broad. Six-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines will anchor the lineup, with the V8 reserved for the M60. Unlike the X5, which now offers an M60e plug-in hybrid built around an inline-six, the full-size X7 will skip PHEV entirely.
BMW apparently sees the X7 customer as either a combustion buyer or an EV buyer, with nothing in between. That EV option is the iX7, BMW’s first fully electric version of its biggest SUV. It will join the lineup alongside the combustion models, a real departure from the original iX, which lived on its own platform and its own identity.
ALPINA will follow with a G69 variant, likely arriving in 2028 as well. The premium sub-brand’s take will reportedly come exclusively in a two-row configuration. That gives rear passengers the kind of legroom that inches toward Rolls-Royce Cullinan territory without actually stepping on those ultra-luxury toes.
BMW dealers have already begun whispering that the new X7 looks more like a wagon than a traditional SUV. Whether that is complaint or compliment depends entirely on which side of the showroom you stand on. Either way, the prototype hammering the Nordschleife with a V8 soundtrack does not look like a vehicle suffering an identity crisis.
Production body panels, a confirmed powertrain, and a public timeline from the former CEO. The only thing missing now is the unveil date itself.
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