FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2019 BMW X7

How big is the boot of the BMW X7?

The boot of the BMW X7 is a very good size. When only using five seats it holds eighteen shopping bags, which is the same as the Toyota Landcruiser 200 Series and the Land Rover Discovery, two less than the Lexus LX450D that hold twenty and four less than the Infiniti QX80 that swallows twenty-two bags! I did find I couldn't reach to the back of the boot without going in through the second-row seats.

The twin stroller fits with seven shopping bags.

The tandem stroller fits with eleven shopping bags.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The single stroller fits with ten shopping bags beside it.

The compact stroller fits with sixteen shopping bags beside it.

You can easily fit a large dog in the boot of the BMW X7 or possibly more than one!

When using all seven seats, seven shopping bags fit in the boot of the BMW X7.

Or I could fit the compact stroller with three shopping bags. The other strollers wouldn't fit with seven seats in use.

The boot floor of the X7 is flat and would work perfectly for an emergency nappy change. There is a bag hook and net storage area on the right…

…And a control panel of buttons to raise and lower both rear rows of seats on the left side of the boot.

Underneath the boot floor are stored the cargo blinds and net. There is even a parcel shelf for when using all three rows of seats which is a nice feature and I found it rather handy for resting my coffee on while loading the boot!!

How good is storage inside the BMW X7?

The storage inside the BMW X7 is great in all three rows.

In the front, there are two heated and cooled cup holders in the central console! AMAZING!! I could keep my coffee warm in one and cool my water bottle in the other!!

The cup holders are a good size to hold my re-usable Luxey Cup or disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle fits in them too.

The central console storage box behind them is a big size and the lid opens outwards.

In front of the cup holders is a cordless phone charging tray with a USB socket.

The glove box is a fair size and will hold my iPad and wallet with the manual. It is nicely lined so the contents don't rattle around.

There is no glasses case in the ceiling but there are it vanity mirrors in both front visors but there is a drawer by the driver's right knee I found good for storing sunglasses.

The door bins in the front are nice and large. They will hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad and there are little wells in the door handles as well.

Storage in the second row is good, with the same door handle wells…

…and room for a large refillable water bottle and more.

There is a fold-down in the central seatback with a lidded tray and two cup holders that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup.

In the back of both front seats are map pockets that will hold but not conceal an iPad. At the top of both seatbacks are USB ports and fixtures for attaching a DVD player, my daughter loved fiddling with those! Also down on the back of the central console box are 12V and USB socket and a little shelf for a phone too.

In the third row, there is a cup holder on both sides that will hold a re-usable or disposable coffee cup.

How noisy is the 2019 BMW X7?

The 2019 BMW X7 is not a particularly noisy car.

The media system works on a list system that I found easy to navigate, you can have Apple CarPlay added for an extra $600.

There are some great features within the media system like being able to control the air conditioning in all three rows of seats from the screen. Which is really handy when you have little ones in the back.

You can also alter the volume of anything that is playing by turning your hand in front of the screen! Clockwise to turn the volume up and anticlockwise to turn it down. You can also swipe your hand dismissively away to reject a call and other good tricks too!

The camera image quality is so clear in the BMW X7, it's excellent, there are different camera views available too and I loved having the birds-eye view on the screen at the same time when maneuvering and parking.

There are buttons and a rotary dial down in the central console to control the media system but I found I mainly used the touch screen. You can also turn off the parking sensors with a button in this central panel too.

The cruise control in the X7 is very accurate and with lane keep assist and speed limiting the car really does a lot of the driving for you, which I really enjoyed on motorway journeys. It will really resist if you try to change lanes without indicating and feels like a lot more than just cruise control is going on!

The buttons are on the left side on the steering wheel and I found I got more used to them over time and having now driven a lot of BMWs in a row that all use this same system. Lights on both sides of the steering wheel flash up to warn you if you are going over the speed limit.

The X7 feels smoother to drive than the BMW X5 I tested earlier in the year and the cruise control and lane-keep assist are just as accurate but not as resistant and belligerent.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The indicator volume wasn't baby-waking in the X7.

The Sat-Nav guidance volume can be muted on the right side of the media screen, which is excellent for not disturbing other passengers.

I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!

The doors and windows of the X7 close gently, so they are not baby waking.

The doors close quite easily with a gentle close, which was surprising for a car of this size. With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.

With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up! 

Road and engine noise are excellent in the X7, I really noticed how quiet and smooth it is for a big seven-seater SUV.

There is a seatbelt removal alarm and you can also lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel.

The screen in front of the driver tells you your distance to empty in km too which is really handy.

You can adjust the position of the second-row seats from the driver door controls too. This is one of my favourite features. When you are picking kids up from school etc and they try to climb into the back and there is not enough footwell space you can slide the second-row seat forward without getting out of the car. I also had a little go while driving along just for fun!!

How many child seats fit in the 2019 BMW X7?

It fits five child seats!! WOOP WOOP!! And has good third-row access, with a couple of considerations.

In the third row of seats, there are ISOFix points in them both, not within plastic guides but easy to connect to.

There are top tether anchorages on the back of both those seatbacks, clearly labelled and easy to connect to and reach through the boot.

I could easily fit two full-size child seats in the back here. I only tested with forward-facing seats.

In the second row of seats, there are top tether anchorages on the back of all three seatbacks, the outer two are labelled.

There are ISOFix points in the two outer second-row seats, within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to. I managed to fit three child seats across the second-row. Making it a five-child seat car!

With a rear-facing child seat installed in the second-row and forward-facing child seat in the third-row, we could sit a 180cm driver in front.

When you are using the ISOFix in the second-row seats (and not the seat belt), you can bring the seats forward on a 60/40 split to access the third-row.

We found it works with only two child seats installed in the second row not a central child seat too as it obstructs its movement. We also found it doesn't work with a rear-facing child seat only forward-facing.

The rear seats are really nice and large and flat which helps be able to get the three child seats across the second row.

I could sit in the back between two child seats and I am 162cm.

The doors of the 2019 BMW X7 open nice and widely making posting bub into their car seat easy from outside and the generous interior space makes it easy from inside too.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is plenty of room to feed bub in the front seats or either of the back rows back if you only have one child seat installed.

How comfortable is the 2019 BMW X7? And How good is the BMW X7 to drive?

The front seats of the 2019 BMW X7 are lovely and comfortable and easily adjustable using the electronic controls on the side of the seat base.

Their BEST feature is the headrest! They are fully adjustable using controls on the side of the seat! These definitely rank as THE BEST headrests and I could easily wear a ponytail!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are extremely comfortable too in both rear rows. Legroom is good too in the back and I had plenty of legroom behind a 182cm driver and I'm 162cm.

For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

Across the front dashboard, there are four air conditioning vents, they can be easily controlled using the buttons on the central dash.

In the second row, there are air-conditioning vents in the side pillars which are great…

…and in the back of the central console box. The driver can reach these while driving.

There is a digital control panel here for the rear aircon as well as them being controlled from the media system controls in the front which is really handy.

In the third row, there are air vents in the ceiling alongside the sunroof.

And there are climate controls in a panel in the third-row ceiling too. Visibility in the BMW X7 is good considering it's a seven-seater.

When maneuvering or parking, the big windows and excellent camera image really helped.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the 2019 BMW X7, although it is big was pretty easy to park.

How safe is the 2019 BMW X7?

The 2019 BMW X7 is yet to be put through the ANCAP safety testing.

Eight airbags come as standard in the BMW X7; for driver and front passenger, head airbags for 1st and 2nd seat row, side airbags with seat occupancy detection for driver's and passenger side, side-impact protection and knee airbags in the front.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!