The Next BMW X7 (G67) Won’t Have A Split Tailgate Either: Sources
by Horatiu Boeriu · BMWBLOGArticle Summary
- In August, we reported that the G67 would keep its split tailgate; the split headlights from that same report are still on every prototype.
- BMW said it dropped the X5’s split tailgate mainly to get rid of the seam, and because most owners couldn’t reach past the lower flap.
- Once the current G07 X7 ends production, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan will be the only BMW Group SUV with a two-piece tailgate. The G67 reportedly enters production at Spartanburg in September 2027.
BMW’s flagship SUV is losing the split tailgate after all. Sources say that the second-generation BMW X7 (G67) will use a conventional one-piece tailgate, the same switch the X5 (G65) made this summer after 27 years of two-piece rear ends going back to the 1999 E53. That also means we got this one wrong. In late August, we reported what we’d heard at the time: that the G67 would carry over both the split headlights and the split tailgate of the current X7 (G07), and that the tailgate would become one more thing separating the X7 from the new X5. The headlight half has held up, and every prototype since, including the X7 M60 and iX7 photographed at the Nürburgring this week, still wears the split layout. The tailgate half hasn’t, and we’d rather correct it now than have X7 owners find out at the reveal.
Why We Thought The X7 Would Keep Its Split Tailgate
On paper, the X7 looked like the one BMW that would hang on to it. The G07 has had a split tailgate since it launched for the 2019 model year, and a three-row family SUV is where a drop-down lower section, usable as a bench or a loading ledge, gets the most use. The G67 prototypes also wear a black horizontal band across the tailgate, right where the split would sit. Our own spy coverage had doubts about that band. In July and again in August, we noted that BMW had pulled the same trick with X5 prototypes, which carried a similar line before the production G65 showed up with a one-piece gate. That turned out to be the better read. If our sources are right this time, the band on the X7 test cars is trim, not a seam.
Why Is BMW Dropping The Split Tailgate From The X7?
BMW hasn’t said anything official about the G67’s tailgate, but it has explained the X5 decision on the record. X5 head of project Michael Ahlers told BMWBLOG the split was removed mainly for design reasons, because BMW wanted to get rid of the horizontal seam between the two sections. He also said the lower flap made it harder to reach the back of the cargo area, and that taller people can still sit at the back of the car with the open tailgate overhead keeping the weather off.
Philip Koehn, BMW’s SVP of Product Line Luxury Class, was blunter when we interviewed him at the X5’s premiere in Spartanburg. He said the split works for people with long arms like his (he stands nearly two meters tall), but that “any average person with average arm length is actually struggling” to reach past it.
Koehn’s other argument was specific to the X5. Its faster roofline lowers the tailgate opening, so BMW widened the aperture instead, which the one-piece design allowed because it no longer needs a separate water channel. That reasoning is harder to apply to the X7. The G67 prototypes keep a tall, upright tail with the rear wiper mounted on the glass, and dealers who saw the car at a private BMW meeting in May told Automotive News it has a boxier, almost wagon-like profile. On the X7, BMW’s case comes down to the seam and the reach.
The reach argument isn’t nothing. Fold the X7’s second and third rows and the far end of the cargo floor sits a long way from the bumper, and a flap sticking out at waist height doesn’t bring it any closer. Still, the X7 is the BMW that most needed this feature. Its buyers haul kids and gear, and the lower section doubled as a seat for swapping out of muddy shoes and a ledge that kept heavy boxes off the bumper’s paint. Losing it on the X5 was a defensible trade. Losing it on the three-row flagship looks more like BMW choosing a cleaner rear end over something owners actually used.
If you want the feature on a BMW, the current X7 is your last chance. Its replacement reportedly enters production at Plant Spartanburg in September 2027.
What Else We Know About The 2028 BMW X7 Before Its Debut
BMW confirmed in March that the second-generation X7 is coming in 2027, and the reported September production start points to a reveal next summer. The split headlights stay, in line with the facelifted 7 Series, and the doors get the winglet-style handles that debuted on the new X5. The third row stays as well: Koehn told us a third row makes obvious sense on a vehicle the X7’s size, even as the X5 gave its own up.
Powertrains should include gasoline and diesel inline-sixes plus an X7 M60 with the twin-turbo 4.4-liter S68 V8. The current X7 M60i makes 523 hp and 553 lb-ft, and we expect a small bump. There’s no plug-in hybrid planned and no full X7 M, but there will be a first-ever electric iX7. ALPINA’s version, reportedly codenamed G69, could follow in 2028 with only two rows of seats. Inside, expect the 7 Series treatment, including the 31.3-inch Theater Screen for rear passengers and the iDrive X interface without a rotary controller.
Once the last G07 leaves Spartanburg, BMW won’t build a single SUV with a split tailgate for the first time since the E53 arrived in 1999.
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