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The fifth generation of the BMW 7 Series could be as controversial for its technology as the current, fourth generation has been for its styling and the iDrive cockpit controller - which appears to have been tamed this time around. BMW over the weekend released official specifications and photos. Most of it sounds awesome but nothing brings cranky old-school motorists out of the woodwork like newfangled technology. Highlights include an LCD instrument panel, a 10.2-inch LCD display for navigation and audio, Internet connectivity, an improved head-up display, and a lane departure warning camera that can read street signs. Outside, the chassis has been smoothed out to lessen some of the styling cues that made the 2002-2008 7 Series design so polarizing - and which was copied by dozens of other automakers. Here's an update to last week's initial report on the 7 Series. Note that some features won't be fully implemented on U.S.-bound cars and for that you can thank America's tendency toward litigation when they crash the car while driving distracted.
Glass cockpit. That's the term pilots use when LCD panels replace traditional instruments. BMW's main instrument panel will be a large LCD (as Mercedes-Benz has on its S-Class) and that goes dark when it's not in use (as Lexus does with its high-end LS models). BMW calls this Black Panel technology; it's also called black front or dark front. In a bit of showmanship, when you open the driver door, part of the instrument panel lights up.
10.2-inch infotainment LCD panel. The super-wide LCD panel is at the top of the center stack has a resolution of 1280-by-640 pixels - essentially two VGA screens side-by-side. This is for navigatation, phone, audio, video (when parked), and cockpit settings. It is not, of course, touchscreen.
Fourth-generation iDrive (done right). BMW was first with the cockpit controller in 2002 and virtually everyone else (Audi especially, but also Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Acura, and now Hyundai) have improved on the original while BMW made minor improvements. This one looks to be iDrive Done Right: Four buttons just ahead of the controller let you pre-select CD, Radio, Telephone, and Navigation, and others take you to the main menu or step you backwards (like an Undo button). It's not immediately clear if BMW jettisoned the haptic (force) feedback of the original controller. In addition to turning and pressing to select, you can also tip the controller like a joystick. And the slippery metallic finish of the first generation now has a rubberized ring around the control knob. Also, voice recognition can be used along with the controller according to a report on BMWCCA.org; previously if you invoked one you cancelled the other.
Internet Access. BMW's Connected Drive technology (a cellular data connection) will offer Internet access with a couple caveats: It probably won't be available here in the U.S. until we shoot all the lawyers and it won't function when the car is under way, BMW says. Most likely that means back seat passengers with their own screens could surf the Web while under way.
Improved navigation, RTTI. On account of iDrive being so polarizing, BMW never got credit for having a decent navigation system once you got the destination dialed in. Now, you can set up trips at home on your PC and transfer them to the car via USB key. (BMW previously implemented a wireless Send To feature using Google maps and the car's built-in BMW Assist telematics cellphone.) In 3D map views, you'll get 3D views of major buildings, landmarks, and terrain.
Hard disk drive. Nothing new here; BMW joins other automakers in offering a hard drive that stores navigation data, phone information, and MP3 files. BMW describes it as an 8GB drive capable of storing 100 CDs worth of music. Most likely that's the music allocation on a larger, 40GB drive. The hard drive also contains the owner's manual; we can only hope (pray) there's a version without all the warnings that contaminate most manuals today ("Don't smoke while refueling." "Turn on your wipers when it's raining." "Don't let children or pets play under the car while jacking.")
Improved head-up display (HUD). The HUD will display more navigation information, radio call signs/frequencies, and detected speed limit changes (see below).
All-seeing lane departure (and speed) warning, blind spot detection. BMW offers lane departure warning (LDW) if you start to drift across a marked lane without your blinker on. On the 7 Series, the LDW camera will also be able to do OCR on street signs and report changed speed limits. (Highway speed limits are now a feature of navigation databases.) BMW also will offer blind spot detection that puts a warning sign in the rear view mirror if you start to change lanes and there's a car in your blind spot; BMW will call this Lane Change Warning.
Front Side View cameras. The 7 Series already has parking sonar front and rear (Park Distance Control). Now two forward-facing Side View cameras in the bumpers provide a view of the road (on the 10.2-inch iDrive display) as you're trying to pull out into traffic, or park in a tight spot.
Roller wheel steering wheel audio controls. The volume and track up/track down controls on the steering wheel are roller wheels (see photo inset) rather than buttons. It's a quicker way to make adjustments. This seems minor but it's a much-appreciated touch that were pioneered, as with the cockpit controller function keys, by Audi.
Drive Dynamic Control. Drivers can infinitiely vary the suspension and performance using an umbrella program called Dynamic Drive Control, including variable damping (variable response shock absorbers), the purpose being to make one car ride like a luxury barge (if desired) or a 5,000-pound race car. Active Steering, which quickens the steering at low speed, also allows the rear wheels to steer by up to 3 degrees for quicker handling at speed and even better parking and maneuvering at low speed. Air suspension is an option.
Brake regeneration. On European BMWs at least, under deceleration the energy absorbed in slowing the cars will be converted not to brake pad heat but to adding a charge to the car's storage batteries. This is not a hybrid, however.
Performance. Car fanatics will appreciate the double wishbone front suspension, a first for BMW, and common on racecars. To save weight, the roof, hood, doors, and side panels are aluminum.
Pricing hasn't yet been set for the 7 Series, which are slated for shipment in the fall. The 7 Series currently lists in the seventies and with the Euro so strong against the dollar, it's unlikely BMW can hold the line. At the same time, many of the advances BMW has in store for buyers are microprocessor-based and there it's harder to charge more for improved technology.
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