BMW has started testing the next iteration of the X7, weeks after confirming the luxury SUV will live on for a second generation.

A heavily camouflaged prototype has been spotted on public roads for the first time, revealing key details. It features a set of functional exhaust pipes, for instance, which confirms that it will stick with combustion power – although an EV is also on the cards.

It also appears to share key hard-points such as its C-pillar with the current X7, suggesting that it will be a major update for the current car, launched in 2019, rather than an all-new car.

Autocar understands that it will be underpinned by an upgraded version of the Cluster Architecture (CLAR) structure that is used for the existing X7, as well as the 7 Series and i7 saloons.

The disguised prototype appears to retain the current split-headlight design of the current iteration but adopts the same gloss-black front fascia that will become a signature of the brand's upcoming Neue Klasse cars. These include the 3 Series, X3 and 5 Series.

BMW has yet to indicate when the new X7 will arrive but documents sent to US dealers previously suggested that it will be launched in 2027, a year after the new X5.

“We are in a phase where flexibility is required,” BMW R&D boss Frank Weber has told Autocar. “We have to detach ourselves from how we have perceived platforms up to now. 

“There is an increasing realisation that the art of mastering diversity in your portfolio lies in how you use and network major components – engines, motors, battery cells, on-board computers, control units, app functions, and software upgrades.

“It’s not so much the platform structure itself but the individual components and how you use them.”

The new X7 will be but one pillar in a completely revitalised line-up. Starting from the launch of the new iX3 at this year’s Munich motor show, BMW will replace or substantially update every single model in its range, rolling out the Neue Klasse design language and technologies.

BMW Group design boss Adrian van Hooydonk told Autocar: “We will make sure that the form language that we are developing now – and starting this year at the IAA [Munich show] with the first of the Neue Klasse vehicles – will be rolled out over the entire product portfolio, leaving no car behind. Of course, it would not be good for us or for our customers if there would be a new type of BMW and a ‘classic’ type of BMW. We’re going to change the look and feel of the BMW brand.”

However, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the 4 Series and 8 Series.