Leaked patent images from Brazil show possible final looks of 2019 BMW X7 premium SUV

The final production model of the 2019 BMW X7 is already set to be unveiled to the global public at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Yet would-be customers are already hyped this early for the new sports utility vehicle from BMW. Now, the excitement grows bigger thanks to a purported leak of patent images showing how the BMW X7 might look like in production form.

Somehow, the resourceful people at Motor1.com Brazil managed to get a number of patent images from the Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property). Based on the leaked images, the new 2019 BMW X7 would be as expected – a more subtle version of the Concept X7 iPerformance show vehicle unveiled at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The reveal of the BMW Concept X7 iPerformance in September 2017 at Frankfurt essentially signaled the imminent arrival of a new flagship SUV from BMW. By December 2017, first pre-production models of the X7 rolled off the assembly line at the carmaker’s Spartanburg site in South Carolina.

BMW has indicated that this marked the start of a countdown for the final 12 months leading to the unveiling of the final production version, timed at November 2018. The pre-production BMW X7 models are produced in the same line as the BMW X5 and X6 production models. The pre-production X7 models were then turned over to the carmaker’s development department specialists for purposes like homologation and registration, as well as a number of tests.

Based on the leaked patent images, the final production version of the BMW X7 indeed borrows some design cues from the Concept X7 iPerformance study. The design elements include the large vertical kidney grille. Just like on the concept, the frame and bars of the X7 in the patent images are single-piece and more solid in design.

In addition, the BMW X7 in the leaked images feature sleek elongated twin headlights that are connected to the large kidney grille. However, these headlights are not as sleek as the headlights of the Concept X7 iPerformance study, which boasts of the BMW laser light.

Thankfully though, the leaked patent images basically confirmed that the new BMW X7 wouldn’t be just a larger version of the BMW X5. Thanks to a number of distinct visual elements, BMW was able to make the X7 look different from its smaller sibling.

As for the interior of the new BMW X7, Motor1 was able get some spy shots of its cabin, which offers ample legroom thanks to the SUV’s 3.01 meters (118.5 inches) of wheelbase. According to the Motor1, the new X7 will have BMW’s latest and greatest infotainment system and a digital instrument cluster similar to that on the BMW 8 Series Coupe. The gear shift lever, meanwhile, will feature Swarovski crystals. The new BMW X7 is expected to be powered by the latest version of BMW’s biturbo 4.4-liter V8 engine as mated to an eight-speed automatic ZF transmission and xDrive.