BMW's next-gen 7 series goes long on tech Flagship sedan gets GPS-linked transmission, gesture controls

[AF News Desk]

The new BMW 7 series features the largest head-up display in the industry, a transmission linked to the navigation system that optimizes performance based on the road, a passenger compartment that uses carbon fiber to save weight, fully autonomous parking and the world's first use of gesture-recognition controls in a production car.
BMW’s redesigned 7-series flagship sedan will use gee-whiz technology to protect its turf in a brutally competitive yet shrinking segment.

The 2016 model, unveiled today, will come in two varieties when it goes on sale in the U.S. this fall: the six-cylinder, rear-wheel-drive 740i and the V-8 all-wheel-drive 750i xDrive. Later in 2016, an awd plug-in hybrid, dubbed the 740e xDrive, will join the lineup.

Regardless of powertrain, all three versions of BMW’s sixth-generation sedan will offer technological goodies aimed at keeping buyers from defecting to cutting-edge competitors such as the Mercedes-Benz S class and Tesla’s Model S.

New 7-series features include the largest head-up display in the industry, a transmission linked to the navigation system that optimizes performance based on the road, a passenger compartment that uses carbon fiber to save weight, fully autonomous parking and the world’s first use of gesture-recognition controls in a production car.

The gesture controls allow front-seat passengers to use predetermined hand movements to change the volume or answer or dismiss phone calls. The feature can also be customized for certain commands, such as directing the navigation system to guide the driver home. The feature will be standard on all 7 series models.

The 740i will start at $82,250 and the 750i xDrive will start at $98,350, including shipping, based on BMW’s current $950 destination charge, though the company says that fee could change by the time the cars go on sale.

Pricing on next year’s 740e xDrive will be announced closer to its on-sale date. BMW did announce that the plug-in model would use a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and an electric motor that can power the car on electricity alone for up to 23 miles and at speeds up to 75 mph.

BMW didn’t change much on the powertrains for either the 740i or the 750i xDrive. The biggest update to the eight-speed automatic transmission was the linking of it to the navigation system, a trick BMW first used on several models in its Rolls-Royce super-luxury lineup. This allows the transmission to use GPS data to determine shift timing and speed based on the ups, downs and curves of the road.

Otherwise, the guts of the redesigned 7 series are mostly the same as its predecessor’s.

Though the engine in the 740i has a new code, it’s still a 3.0-liter, turbocharged inline six. Horsepower is up 5 to 320 while torque remains at 330 pound-feet. It will do 0 to 60 in 5.4 seconds, 0.2 second faster than the earlier generation.

The 750i xDrive has a “redeveloped” 4.4-liter, turbocharged V-8 that makes the same 445 hp and 480 pounds-feet of torque as before. It drops its acceleration time from 4.6 seconds to 4.3 seconds.

Much of this improved performance is courtesy of the car’s lighter weight. BMW designed an all-new passenger cell that uses a combination of carbon fiber, high-strength steel and aluminum. This helps trim 125 pounds from the 740i and 190 pounds from the 750i xDrive.

The updated 7 series measures an inch longer than its predecessor. Its exterior design is more evolutionary than revolutionary compared with the outgoing model, to the point where the average passerby may not notice the changes.

Inside the updates are also conservative, though the new 7 series does come with a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel, touch-sensitive climate control buttons and twin panoramic roof panels.

Like its rivals, BMW faces an uphill battle in keeping customers in the full-size luxury sedan segment, which is crawling out of a post-recession slump. Sales of premium luxury cars totaled 108,627 in 2014, less than half their levels in 2007, according to the Automotive News Data Center. In 2001, the category recorded 345,119 sales.

Through May, BMW has sold 68,971 units of the outgoing fifth-generation 7 series in the U.S. Through the first five months of 2015, U.S. sales of the 7 series totaled 4,391 units, up 39 percent from a year earlier. Last year, BMW sold 9,744 units, an 11 percent drop from 2013.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2015...oreUserAgent=1