Large SUVs don’t exactly blend into the night but if any SUV can, it’s the BMW X7 Dark Shadow Edition.
Available exclusively via the online BMW Shop, you can reserve one from 1pm AEDT on December 7, 2020 and take delivery next March.
Of the 500 being offered globally, just 10 are coming to Australia and this consists of five xDrive30d M Sport and five M50i models.
It’s priced at $188,900 drive-away for the xDrive30d and $215,900 drive-away for the M50i. You’ll need to put down a $5000 deposit to reserve your X7.
Update, 7:55pm 7/12/20: The original version of this story stated pricing for the Dark Shadow was before on-road costs, when in fact it’s drive-away. The error has been corrected.
The Dark Shadow Edition is finished in BMW Individual Frozen Arctic Grey, while its 22-inch alloy wheels have a Jet Black matte finish.
Exterior chrome has also been replaced with BMW Individual High-Gloss Shadow Line.
The exterior is a brooding, monochromatic affair but for a couple of colourful touches: the elements of the BMW Laserlight headlights and the M Sport brake calipers, both of which are blue.
Inside, the presence of blue is more pronounced. The seats are upholstered in two-tone Merino Night Blue/Black leather, while the alcantara headliner is also Night Blue.
The top part of the instrument panel and doors are also finished in Night Blue leather, while an Edition Dark Shadow badge is placed on the centre console.
Aluminium inlays adorn the otherwise black interior, while the shifter, start button and iDrive controller are crystal glass.
The standard xDrive30d and M50i models are priced at $133,900 and $179,900 before on-road costs, respectively.
Those increases of $55,000 and $36,000 might make even some well-to-do types drop their monocle, however when you add some of the Dark Shadow Edition’s options, the premium isn’t quite as hefty.
The M Sport package alone adds $15,000 to the price of the standard xDrive30d.
The Dark Shadow Edition models are unchanged mechanically, which means a choice of a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel six-cylinder engine with 195kW of power and 620Nm of torque and a 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine with 390kW of power and 750Nm of torque.
Both are mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.
The X7 has vaulted to the top of the Upper Large luxury SUV segment this year, with 786 sales year-to-date. The rival Mercedes-Benz GLS is in striking distance, sitting in second place with just 20 fewer sales.
Sadly, however, the quad-turbocharged X7 M50d isn’t returning to Australia for 2021.
