2 years ago

Cool cars of near future: BMW 7-series (F01)

I am not a frequent reader of car magazines or auto blogs but recently there have been announcements of so many brand-new and renewed cars that I decided I had to write about at least some of them. When I started, the idea was to take a look at all new models in the same article. Well, I just realised that it would be just too much for a single article so you can expect more in days to come.

The new BMW 7-series. It is always exciting to get to see a new generation of a car that represents the very best of what automakers have to offer. New upcoming BMW 7-series, expected to debut in second half of 2008, is already considered, by many experts, to be the most advanced luxury car in the market and I will not be surprised if it really turns out to be as such. Current 7-series brought us notorious iDrive system that was certainly the most advanced and (for some) annoying electronic equipment at the time. You might be wondering what the next seven has to offer.

If you are prepared for even more electronic gadgetry madness you might be disappointed. Guys at BMW say they wanted the next big beemer to be more user friendly, intuitive. And not just that. Pictures reveal that Chriss Bangle's trademarked 7-series rear end is gone and overall the car appears to be less eccentric - more reserved and ordinary. Which, I think, is a good thing. Because, as far as I am concerned, there is no room for brave design experiments in this market. This new down-to-earth design trend continues in 7-series interior. Dashboard is classically shaped and gear selector is now back in central console between the seats!

So where is the sophistication that makes this car "the most advanced"? If you want sophistication you have to look no further than under the gear lever. F01 (F01 - that's the model code. It looks like BMW has just ran out of E's) will be equipped with new, recently developed 8 (!) speed gearbox. BMW say this new 8-speed will be smoother and will offer up to seven percent more fuel economy. Which also means that amount of engine power lost in depths of transmission will be significantly reduced.

And gearbox, of course, is not the only part of this car that's innovative and worth mentioning. Engine palette at the time of debut will include two petrol and one diesel engine with power output ranging from perfectly adequate and torqueful 245 hp / 540 nm (730d) to 407 hp / 600 nm if you don't care about rising oil prices and chose to buy F01 with BMW's new 4.4 V8. The same engine they offer in top of the range X6 sports-utility-suv-crossover-coupe thing. In next two or three years BMW is expected to implement so called "mild hybrid" technology which they will develop in cooperation with Daimler. What's mild hybrid? Well, I am sorry but I will save myself and not explain how it works. I can just say that it most likely won't make significant improvement in fuel economy and it's main purpose will be to serve as a some kind of human magnet for economically and tree hugging green- minded audience.

Cars these days have became much more than just a set of wheels, engine, transmission and a steering wheel. It is now common for luxury cars of this caliber to have a multitude of electric motors to power absolutely every moving part of interior. It is also common for a luxury car to have various electronic safety systems and assists. With F01 7-series BMW have set a new standard in terms of electric and electronic equipment. "Lane Departure Warning", "Active Blind Spot Detection", "High Beam Assistant", "Dynamic Damping Control", "Active Roll Stabilization" - these are just some of F01's technological wonders. The list goes on and on and on until your head starts to run around and you vomit. If you want to risk getting sick you can take look at BMW's press release. It has 38 pages (!) and don't say I haven't warned you!

Plenty of advancement and return to basics in design. If BMW have really managed to make this car easy to use and electronics easy to master, it could end up being a great car for 21st century. Will it be a driver's car? I don't know. Personally, I would be scared to drive this car with all this gadgetry constantly interrupting and telling me what to do. I'll better stick with my trusty 24 year old Mercedes 230E. Now that's a car! Four wheels, an engine in front, no electronics and just four gears and steering wheel to play with.