BMW i7 review

As an electric luxury saloon, the BMW i7 is designed to take people from one place to another in great comfort – but for anyone sitting in the back, it’s more like a mobile cinema.

We're not just talking about a couple of small entertainment screens shoehorned into the back of the front headrests. No, in the i7 you can specify an enormous 31in 8K touchscreen – called the Theatre Screen – that lowers itself from the ceiling at the touch of a button.

BMW sells this as an individual option, or as part of the Executive Pack, which also adds two supremely comfortable rear ‘lounge’ seats that can treat you to a massage. Meanwhile, the Technology Plus Pack brings a 40-speaker Bowers & Wilkins surround-sound system with shakers in the seatbacks for the full cinematic experience.

If you’re wondering why we’re focusing on the environment for rear passengers, well, it’s because the i7 is designed primarily as a chauffeur vehicle – much like the plug-in hybrid BMW 7 Series, on which it's based.

But is it a better luxury car than direct rivals such as the Mercedes EQS and Tesla Model S. And if you're willing to look beyond electric models, how does it compare with the Audi A8 and Mercedes S-Class? That's what we're going to be looking at in this review.

Even in entry-level eDrive50 form, the BMW i7 offers more than enough punch to keep most buyers happy, with this version producing 449bhp and sprinting from 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds. That's despite it having only one motor and rear-wheel drive; all of the other i7s have two motors and four-wheel drive.

The next model up is the 536bhp eDrive60 xDrive, which can accelerate from 0-62mph in just 4.7 seconds. That’s faster than most versions of the Mercedes EQS, although not as ballistically quick as any Tesla Model S.

As for the range-topping M70 xDrive, this features a beefier electric motor at the rear, for a combined 650bhp. It's the most powerful electric car in the BMW range, and darts from stationary to 62mph in 3.7 seconds. However, the i7 is very quiet, so acceleration never feels savage.

Indeed, while the immediate power delivery will pin you back in your seat, there’s not much drama when getting up to speed. You’re aware of the scenery rushing past at an increasingly rapid rate, but it’s closer to the experience you’d get in a private jet at take-off than the assault-on-the-senses of a sports car.

Those hushed manners make the i7 a phenomenal long-distance cruiser. You can talk quietly and your passengers will hear you clearly (unless they’re engrossed in the numerous entertainment features, of course). There's hardly any road noise and only a small amount of wind noise.

The ride is superb, too, cushioning occupants from the road surface far better than in the Mercedes EQS. The i7 M70 has slightly firmer suspension than other versions, but that doesn't compromise comfort.

This enormous saloon can go round corners more adroitly than it has any right to. It leans less than the Audi A8 and Mercedes S-Class through tight twists, and the steering gives you a good enough sense of connection with the front wheels to make you feel confident about pushing on. That said, the tweaked suspension and active anti-roll bars on the M70 help it feel a little more composed than the eDrive50 and eDrive60.

Rear-wheel steering is also standard on the M70 to help sharpen up the response when turning in to corners – although the car still isn't as agile as the smaller BMW i5.

All i7s have a battery with a usable capacity of 101.7kWh. On the eDrive50 and eDrive60, that can officially keep the car going for up to 379 and 387 miles respectively (it varies slightly depending on wheel size and optional extras). This drops to 343 miles in the M70, and in real-world driving we'd expect that to manage about 300 miles.

“I reckon some people might actually find the tauter suspension of the M70 model more comfortable, because it reduces the mild floating sensation you can get with the other models.” – Steve Huntingford, Editor

Although rear passengers are clearly the priority in a limo, someone is still going to be sitting behind the wheel driving – and whether that’s you or your chauffeur, we’d wager there will be few complaints in the BMW i7.

The fundamental driving position is superb, plus there’s loads of electric seat and steering wheel adjustment to help you fine-tune everything just the way you like it. 

That said, this is a saloon, so you sit fairly close to the road. If you want similar levels of comfort but would prefer a higher seating position, you might want to consider a luxury SUV such as the BMW X7 or the Range Rover.

Visibility in the i7 is excellent, and it comes with parking sensors at the front and rear, plus a 360-degree camera.

What's more, it's a step above its main rivals for interior quality, with lots of gloss-black and crystal-effect finishes to lend the inside a suitably expensive feel, along with a semi-transparent touch-sensitive panel that stretches right across the dashboard. That might sound like an example of style over function, but it works well, responding consistently to presses – which is fortunate, because it houses important controls, including the hazard lights switch.

The seats are trimmed in leather as standard, although for no extra cost you can have a faux-leather material called Veganza instead. Alternatively, you can pay extra for a fabric that’s part wool and part cashmere.

All i7s come with the latest BMW iDrive infotainment system, with what appears to be one giant display that stretches across more than half of the dashboard. It is in fact a 14.9in touchscreen butted up against a 12.3in digital instrument panel behind the steering wheel. The whole arrangement is curved slightly towards the driver to make it easier to see.

The touchscreen features pin-sharp graphics and lightning-quick responses, plus there’s the added convenience of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

The operating system isn’t quite as intuitive as it was with earlier versions of iDrive (mainly because of how many features have been crammed in), but it’s still better than the systems in the Mercedes EQS and Tesla Model S. That’s largely because BMW has retained some physical controls.

You can operate the screen by touch, but there's also a rotary controller between the front seats, which is a far less distracting when you're driving. Plus, voice control is included as well.

As mentioned, the optional 31in Theatre Screen folds out of the ceiling to give rear passengers a cinema-style experience. Thanks to built-in Amazon Fire TV and a 5G aerial on the roof, you can stream on-demand TV or watch YouTube on the move. Parts of the display are touch-sensitive and it's not too tricky to use. 

“If you add the Theatre Screen, I reckon you’ll also want the 40-speaker Bowers & Wilkins surround-sound system (part of the Technology Plus Pack), because it provides a more immersive experience.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

Measuring 5391mm from nose to tail, the i7 is one of the longest cars on the road; it's bigger than the Audi A8 (and A8 L), the Mercedes EQS and the Tesla Model S.

That length translates into enormous amounts of rear leg room. Even if you’re sitting behind a really tall chauffeur, you’ll have several inches between your knees and the back of the front seat.

Head room is impressive, too, despite the i7 coming with a panoramic glass roof as standard. However, if there’s no one sitting in the front passenger seat, you’ll want to sit on that side of the car, because you can fold the front seat to use as a footrest.

The optional Executive Pack replaces the outer rear seats with ‘lounge’ alternatives that can be turned into a business class-style bed and have extra adjustment options plus a massage function.

The i7's boot has a respectable 500 litres of volume, so trips to the airport won’t be a problem, although the saloon opening is relatively small. The EQS and Model S have considerably bigger load bays and hatchback tailgates for more convenient loading.

“If you stick with the standard three-person rear bench, there's a fold-down ski hatch in the centre of the backrest, which allows you to thread longer items in between the two rear passengers.” – Doug Revolta, Head of Video

The BMW i7 is priced roughly in line with the Mercedes EQS, so it's an expensive car. Plus, some of the most alluring features – including the lounge rear seats, the Theatre Screen and the surround-sound system – cost extra.

Despite this, the i7 will still work out much cheaper as a company car than a petrol, diesel or plug-in hybrid alternative because fully electric cars are currently taxed at a very low rate benefit-in-kind tax rate of 2%.

Big saloon cars have a tendency to depreciate quickly, and the i7 will lose its value faster than a Range Rover. However, compared with petrol or diesel alternatives, the i7 is a pretty sound investment, and is also predicted to depreciate at a slightly slower rate than the EQS.

The charging rates of the EQS and i7 are similar, with the former's set at 207kW and the latter's 200kW. This is enough to get the i7's battery from 20-80% in around 32 minutes – assuming you can find a public charger capable of delivering that sort of rate.

Alternatively, charging from zero to full using a typical 7kW home wallbox takes 14 hours and 17 minutes.

Entry-level Excellence trim gives you 19in alloy wheels, ambient lighting, an illuminated front grille, heated front and rear seats, wireless phone-charging and a head-up display. M Sport models add black exterior highlights and 20in wheels for a sportier appearance.

The M70 comes with visual differences, including blue brake calipers, M logos and a different 21in wheel design. However, we don't reckon it’s worth the extra cost for slightly better handling and staggering acceleration.

Reliability is something of an unknown quantity for the i7 specifically, because it was too new to feature in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey. As a brand, though, BMW came 12th out of 32 car makers, a couple of places below Tesla but well ahead of Mercedes.

The i7 hasn’t been appraised for safety by the independent experts at Euro NCAP, but it comes with loads of active and passive safety equipment. Meanwhile, semi-autonomous driving aids that are part of the Driving Assistant Professional Pack include adaptive cruise control and a self-steering system.

“I found the self-steering system to be very smooth most of the time, but it can struggle if the road doesn’t have clear lane markings or you encounter a tight corner, so it’s best left for motorway driving.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

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