BMW X7 concept leaked ahead of Frankfurt debut

Images of the BMW X7 concept have been leaked ahead of the car’s official debut at the Frankfurt motor show next week.

The leaked images surfaced on the Bimmerpost website and show the car’s front end that is dominated by huge kidney grilles with slim lights and deep air intakes.

The grilles, as has been suggested on the production version of the 8-series, will be toned down from the larger units on the concept.

A charge point on the front passenger side wing with 'i' badging and the 'eDrive' badging on the D-pillar reveal the concept will be a plug-in hybrid. In one picture, 'Hybrid’ mode can be seen, as well as a petrol gauge on the left.

At the rear, the car adopts styling similar to the Z4 Concept that was also recently revealed, with slimline lights replacing the chunkier lights of current-generation BMWs.

The car’s six-seat layout will be turned into seven seats for production to rival the Mercedes-Benz GLS, the Land Rover Range Rover and the Audi Q7.

Engines will likely be shared with the 7-series, including a 3.0-litre spawning 30d, 40d and 50d variants, as well as a 4.4-litre petrol V8. A performance variant could get the same four-wheel drive and 6.6-litre V12 from the M760Li xDrive – the fastest-accelerating car the brand has made, with a 0-100kph time of 3.7sec.

A hybrid version is very likely; the concept’s hybrid powertrain signals that the production model will get an iPerformance version, akin to the 740e iPerformance.