2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 M Sport Review

The BMW 7 Series has long been the flagship for the BMW brand – especially where size, drivetrains and technology are concerned. It’s gracefully stood atop the BMW lineup since 1977, often introducing new technologies before other BMW models – it was the first BMW to feature anti-lock brakes, for example – and even today with the latest ‘G70’ model, there’s plenty of new tech that will likely filter down to other BMW models. It’s also the most daring 7 Series since the ‘E65’ of the early 00s with its imposing and unique styling, and it’s also the first 7er to offer an all-electric variant. Is the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 the ultimate luxury limo sedan? Let’s find out.

Unlike arch rival Mercedes-Benz, BMW has decided to stick both ICE and EV drivetrains under the body of the new 7 Series and instead of offering two rivals to both the S-Class and an EQS, it offers the same car badged as either 740i or the i7 that we’re testing here. While some will say that this will compromise the i7 as an electric car for not using an EV platform, we think that it will ultimately reduce confusion and ease the transition to an all-electric future for BMW and its customers.

Price & Equipment: 8/10

Priced from $306,900 plus on-road costs (around $328,000 drive away), the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is an expensive car. But you receive a significant amount of equipment to help justify the price. 

Standard equipment on the i7 includes 21-inch alloy wheels with air suspension and active roll control, rear wheel steering, dusk- and rain-sensing automatic all-LED lighting with front and rear daytime running lights, automatic wipers, crystal detailing, keyless entry and start with phone key functionality, heated and auto-dropping/folding/dimming mirrors, rear privacy glass, an electric bootlid, a fixed glass roof, leather upholstery, a leather steering wheel, a 14.9-inch curved infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, voice control, digital radio, an eSIM for live services like live traffic and weather reporting, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, a 1,965W 35-speaker Bowers and Wilkins Diamond sound system, front and rear wireless phone chargers, a suede headliner, four USB-C ports, selectable LED interior ambient lighting, four-zone climate control, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, selectable driving modes, a heated steering wheel, automatic doors, an illuminated front grille, electrically adjustable rear seats, rear seat screens in the doors, a 31.3-inch rear screen that folds from the roof, electric blinds for the rear doors and rear window, multi-way electrically adjustable front seats with memory and massaging functionality, two interior cameras with a selfie mode and even Zoom calling functionality for the rear screen, mode two and mode three charging cables, a heads-up display and electric steering wheel adjustment.

As with other electric BMW models, the i7 includes a five-year subscription to Chargefox charging network, as well as a BMW Wallbox AC charger (installation costs extra).

Safety equipment includes nine airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, cyclist and intersection assistance, blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality, lane change warning, lane departure warning, lane trace assist, front and rear cross-traffic alert, a drive recorder, rear automatic braking, exit warning, steering and lane control assistance, automatic speed limit evasion assistance, front and rear parking sensors, automatic parking and a 360-degree camera.

Available no-cost colours for the i7 include ‘Alpine White’, ‘M Carbon Black’, ‘Black Sapphire’, ‘Dravit Grey’, ‘Tanzanite Blue’, our test car’s ‘Oxide Grey’, ‘M Brooklyn Grey’ and ‘Aventurine Red’. ‘Frozen Pure Grey’ and ‘BMW Individual Deep Grey’ add $2,000 to the cost, while two-tone options add $15,646. On the inside, a range of colours are available, including black, chocolate brown, our test car’s tan and even a light grey cashmere wool option. For interior trims, our test car’s carbon fibre-look trim can be replaced by either a dark or light wood for no extra cost.

The singular paid option, besides colour, for the i7 is the $6,923 Connoisseur Lounge Package, which adds rear seat ventilation, massaging and rear executive lounge seating.

Classed as a traditional big sedan, there are more than a few rivals for the BMW 7 Series: the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A8, Porsche Panamera, Lexus LS, Maserati Quattroporte and even a Range Rover. However, add in the electric element of the i7 and there’s just one: the Mercedes-Benz EQS.

Priced from $327,065 plus on-road costs – where the i7 is priced at drive away – or around $350,000 drive away, the EQS53 AMG (the only EQS variant offered in Australia currently) is priced higher than the i7 and offers performance to rival the upper-spec i7 M70. Since that’s not yet here, and the EQS doesn’t yet offer any lesser models in Australia, one must compare the i7 xDrive60 to the AMG EQS53. Buyers of the EQS53 must spent around $20,000 on options – including the Energising Comfort Package – to match the equipment level of the i7, by which time, EQS buyers are looking at over $400,000 drive away.

Performance & Range: 9/10

Under the bonnet of the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is a 400kW/745Nm drivetrain with motors on each axle for all-wheel drive. Performance figures – despite the 2,640kg kerb weight – are impressive with a brisk 4.7-second 0-100km/h sprint time and a top speed of 250km/h. These motors are fed by a huge 106kWh lithium ion battery that’s located under the floor of the car and can be charged at up to 195kW for a 10 to 80 per cent top up in as little as 34 minutes. The i7’s claimed range is 625km on the WLTP cycle, while it’s officially rated at 22.2kWh/100km for efficiency.

In reality, we achieved energy consumption of 26kWh/100km for a range of around 390km – less efficient than the claim, but we weren’t exactly driving it economically and that included some highway driving too. Aside from the efficiency, the drivetrain is wonderful and very well suited to the i7. It provides significant propulsion – further aided by the boost mode, further enhancing the vomit feeling from such quick acceleration – no matter the conditions. The brisk acceleration takes you by surprise because it’s otherwise so quiet and it also weighs 2,640kg.

As you’d expect for a modern electric car, there are multiple driving modes – but BMW goes further with the i7 with modes such as ‘expressive’ and ‘digital art’ that affect more than how the car drives, but the screens, ambient lighting and even the sound system. While it might sound lame, it really adds to the driving experience of the i7. Activating ‘expressive’ mode turns on a Hans Zimmer-created noise that gets more intense as the throttle is pushed harder – it’s like the THX introduction before seeing a film and it’s amazing. Putting the i7 into B mode also activates the highest level of regenerative braking with a true one-pedal mode and it’s quite aggressive.

As you’d expect for a car costing as much as the i7, the range of driving assistance features under BMW’s Driving Assistance Professional’ branding are fantastic. Once you figure out how activate the adaptive cruise control, it’s seamless – though adjusting the distance from the car in front is done through the screen and not the steering wheel, which is annoying – and the adaptive lane assistance is pleasingly accurate. We also love the surround view cameras, which are rich in detail.

Ride & Handling: 9/10

There’s no getting around that the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is a pretty large car. At 5,391mm long, it comfortably dwarfs most other new cars on the market today. Yet, from behind the wheel, it doesn’t feel anywhere near that large thanks to its agility and features like its rear-wheel steering. It offers up a serene driving experience thanks to its air suspension, which irons out even larger bumps nicely – yet that doesn’t come at the cost of body control and there’s very little floatiness. While it’s not an overly sporty car, it handles extremely well for something approaching three tonnes of weight. The steering is light and doesn’t give off much feel, but makes driving the i7 easy.

The i7 is also extremely quiet from behind the wheel – we likened it to wearing a set of noise-cancelling headphones in our week with it – with just a touch of wind noise at highway speeds. But even if that were a problem, the incredible sound system quickly drowns that out. Thanks to its rear-wheel steering, the i7 is very manoeuvrable and feels quite light on its feet, particularly at under 60km/h when the rear steering kicks in the opposite direction to the front wheels – above that point, they steer in the same direction as the front wheels. Four-wheel steering can take some getting used to because of how quickly the car changes direction, but once you’re used to it, you wish for it in all cars of similar sizing.

Interior & Practicality: 9.5/10

Put simply, the interior of the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is absolutely wonderful. Its material quality is fantastic, the tech integration is great and, best of all, it just makes you feel special from its amazing mood lighting and crystal detailing to the immersive 4D 35-speaker Bowers and Wilkins sound system and to integration of Hans Zimmer-composed soundtracks in its different driving modes. On the inside, the i7 feels spectacular and worth every bit of its asking price – so much so that you have to wonder if it’s worth spending more than double its asking price on a Rolls Royce Ghost. 

The quality inside the i7 is wonderful, with no low rent materials anywhere in the cabin – even the grab handles are covered in a leather-like material. The headliner is suede, while the leather is sumptuous. All the metals inside the cabin feel great to touch, while the Swarovski crystal highlights like the control wheel for the touchscreen, gear selector and seat controls add extra specialness. The thick leather steering wheel feels great in hand, while even the touch pads across the dashboard – for opening and closing the air vents, the exterior lighting and automatic door opening and closing – feel special.

Centre of the i7’s cabin is a huge 14.9-inch touchscreen with BMW’s iDrive 8 software and an accompanying 12.3-inch digital driver’s display. The touchscreen itself is excellent quality with crisp colours, and unlike the new X1, it can be controlled with both touch and the controller wheel located on the centre console. The screen can be a tad overwhelming at first given the amount of features it offers and the menu layout is not the easiest to get used to – but once you’re used to it all, it’s great. Further greatness is evident in the myriad of thoughtful details, like how changing the car’s modes also changes the centre screen colouring – digital art mode, for example, covers the screen, sunroof lines and cabin with lovely purple lighting.

The front seats of the i7 are wonderfully comfortable, supportive and offer a seemingly infinite amount of adjustability. Thanks to this plethora of adjustment, the majority of functions are adjusted through the centre screen – the one hour massaging feature (with many different options) is a particular highlight. The automatic doors are handy for some, though others thought that they were a bit cumbersome to use.

Storage inside the i7 is reasonable with big lined door bins, a huge glovebox, a big box underneath the centre console, big cup holders and a wireless phone charger underneath the centre dashboard.

In many cars today, the rear seat is usually no comparison to the front, but those in the rear of the i7 will likely feel like they’ve won the lotto. Not only is it quite spacious and extremely comfortable, but it’s also packed full of features and exceptionally well insulated. The two outer seats are electrically adjustable and heated, while there’s a huge centre armrest with inbuilt cupholders and a wireless phone charger as well, plus a USB-C port in each front seat backrest and two ISOFIX ports for child seats. We also love the headrests, which are very soft and cosseting.

A lot of the rear seat’s features are controlled by the two smartphone-like tablets that are integrated into each rear door. These control everything from the huge rear screen that folds from the roof to the seating position, rear blinds, ambient lighting and even to the temperature – plus, they can even control the whole car’s entertainment and even which drive mode the car is in.

The huge 31.3-inch widescreen display that quickly and quietly folds down from the roof features a high quality screen and folds quite quickly. It features inbuilt Amazon Fire software with apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime to access your favourite shows – plus it also has USB-C and HDMI inputs for more entertainment options. It also has an inbuilt camera for Zoom video meetings.

The boot of the i7 measures a healthy 500-litres, which is only 40L smaller than its petrol 740i sibling. It’s very finished with a lovely soft carpet material, plus it has an electric bootlid, side storage, a compartment underneath the boot floor and a ski pass through for longer items.

Service & Warranty: 9/10

Like all other new BMW products, the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty with only three years of roadside assistance and eight-year/160,000km warranty for the battery. Six years of servicing is included in the i7’s price, as well as a five-year subscription to Chargefox and a BMW wall box charger for home charging (though not installation).

Competitor Mercedes-Benz offers the same five-year/unlimited km warranty but with five years of roadside assistance and a 10-year/250,000km battery warranty for the EQS. The EQS’ service intervals are once-yearly/every 15,000km and a five-year/75,000km service plan costs $3,250. Finally, while it may not matter to some, the EQS only has three years of included Chargefox charging – two less than the i7.

The 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 DiscoverAuto Rating: 9.0/10

It’s clear that the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 absolutely nails the big luxury sedan brief with its sumptuous interior, serene driving experience, amazing features like the 35-speaker sound system and integrated rear screen, strong performance, good driving range and the longest standard equipment list we’ve ever seen. For buyers too, it also has a solid aftersales program with included charging cables, a wall box for home charging, a Chargefox five-year subscription and even six years’ worth of servicing to help swallow the not-unsubstantial initial outlay.

Of course, the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 is not a cheap car, while its central touchscreen can take a while to get used to thanks to the sheer amount of features it offers and some may find the detailing a bit gaudy. But we quite like the i7 and its talent as a supremely comfortable and supremely quiet luxury limousine is quite impressive. In fact, it makes us wonder why you’d spend double the price of the i7 on a Rolls-Royce Ghost when its overall talent is so accomplished. Better still, the rear seat experience of the i7 is best-in-class and when searching for a big luxury limo, surely that’s the point? Look no further.

Night photography by Reyne Stoddard