2020 Mercedes GLS and "Emoji Eggplant Purple" BMW X7 Get Comparison Review

BMW and Mercedes are giants of the automotive industry. Where they lead, others follow... except Tesla. But in the past, their rivalry was expressed with the 7 Series and S-Class. These luxury limos had all the gadgets, all the safety systems and the swankiest engines.

But everybody wants SUVs, and for the first time ever, the German giants can compete over who has the best 7-seater. We've discussed this in the past. There are many things the X7 does better, even though it's the first time BMW made one. But taken as a whole, which is better?

Well, being young, entertaining car journalists, Yuri and Jakub naturally love the sportier BMW more. The configurations work in its favor too, as it's the monster X7 M50i with 523-hp and 553 lb-ft of torque while the GLS 450 only has 362 hp and 369 lb-ft from a six-cylinder. It costs more too, almost $20,000 (American).

The comparison is thus slightly unfair, but even the high-end GLS 580 would have been slower, less exciting. Does performance even matter in a luxury 7-seater? The fact that Lamborghini makes the Urus suggests that it does.

On the looks front, they seem to favor the BMW's exterior over the Tic Tac shape of the GLS, due in small part to the size of the double-kidney grille paired with "Emoji Eggplant Purple," which sounds like a really dirty color.

At first glance, Mercedes makes a better interior thanks to those imposing double screens. However, iDrive remains easier to use, so it's like splitting hairs here. And the amount of luxury features available on these two is amazing - heated armrests in the back, augmented reality and personal assistants.