Car of the Year Awards 2026: Luxury Car of the Year

Coco Chanel famously opined that “luxury is a necessity that begins where necessity ends”. Well, that’s one way of looking at it, but it also implies taking excessiveness for granted. The BMW X7 really isn’t just about excess, though. Yes, it’s enormous compared with most other SUVs, but it’s just as much about substance and functionality as it is mere glitziness. 

If you’re surprised to see an SUV heading a list of the very best luxury cars you can buy, ask yourself whether an elevated seating position, a commanding view out of every window and masses of head and leg room don’t dovetail perfectly with ultra-comfortable travel. And in the case of the X7, this luxury is shared between seven occupants; even six-footers won’t feel like they’re getting a raw deal if they’re allocated the rearmost seats. 

The X7 satisfies the direct link that lies between luxury and power, too. For something so imposing, it sure can get a shift on; the xDrive40i’s 375bhp six-cylinder petrol engine fires it from 0-62mph in less than six seconds and makes a very agreeable snarl while doing so. Not that the X7 is noisy; in fact, it’s one of the quietest cars we’ve ever tested, settling down to a library-like hush at motorway cruising speeds. 

Inside, every X7 is a delight to look at and touch, with high-quality real metal trims adding visual interest while furthering the overall sense of solidity. It takes a Bentley Bentayga to show the X7 up for material richness – and at that car’s elevated price, so it ought to. What’s more, the X7 presents you with tech galore. There’s a curved 14.9in central infotainment touchscreen adjoined by a 12.3in digital instrument panel with equally crisp and vivid graphics. 

That infotainment system is one of the best in the business; as well as being operable by touch, it can be controlled by voice commands or by using a rotary controller between the front seats – the latter two options being much less distracting than stabbing at the touchscreen as you drive along. Meanwhile, there’s a whole spectrum of ambient lighting colours to choose from. 

As brilliant as the standard X7 is, though, investing in the Executive Drive Suspension option (£3300) makes it even better. An upgrade over the standard air suspension, it brings active anti-roll bars that make the ride incredibly controlled and level for even greater comfort. In addition, it turns an already surprisingly agile SUV into one that’s genuinely fun to drive – perhaps not to the extent of the V8-powered M60i version, but even with it fitted, the X7 stays on the right side of £100,000. 

If it were us specifying the car, we’d go the whole hog and tick the box for the £1300 Comfort Pack, which adds heated rear seats to the ones already up front, along with heating for the armrests on the front doors and centre console, as well as front cupholders that can heat or cool your beverage – the kind of feature you might not realise you need until you have it. 

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