THE GREAT EXCAPE: COFFEE, COORG & GERMAN COMFORT

A postcard from Coorg in the BMW X7 and i7

- Ramesh Somani

Let's be honest — we've all flirted with burnout.

Meetings stacked like Jenga blocks, screen time that sears your soul, and a lifestyle that's 5G but constantly buffering. So, when life gets too loud, you don't just take a break — you eject. And what better way to disconnect than in luxuriously capable cars designed for the future, such as the BMW i7 and the BMW X7, which can tame any road while carrying six passengers in comfort, embodying Bavaria's idea of a luxury fortress on wheels?

The X7 is big, bold, and blessed with two captain's seats in the second row that are far superior to the competition. Even the third row in this luxury SUV is surprisingly comfortable. Pair that with the technological tour de force spaceship that is the i7, and you've got two of the best cars to be driven in, in the country — period.

Together, they are the yin and yang of luxury travel: one, assertive and authoritative; the other, gliding like a whisper through space and time. The perfect rolling retreats for our latest Viral Excape to the coffee-soaked calm of Coorg — to get spoiled in luxurious private villas, amidst the sounds of nature.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: SWIPE RIGHT ON THE X7

The BMW X7 doesn't arrive—it makes an entrance. When it rolled into Bengaluru airport to pick us up, it looked like it had just stepped off a ramp in Milan. With its illuminated kidney grille and glistening 21-inch wheels, this thing doesn't whisper luxury, it shouts it. I walked toward it like a man approaching redemption. Slid into the back seat. Pushed the button. Reclined. And just like that, reality was cancelled. With the comfy captain's chair electronically reclined, the Sky Lounge turned the cabin into a well-behaved nightclub, and the Harman Kardon audio system politely offered to play the soundtrack to my escapism.

But while the X7 plays the indulgent SUV king, the BMW i7 is something else entirely...