BMW 7 Series 2015 News

Even below six figures, there are styling and performance high-flyers.

Luxury brands vie for attention with opulence and drop-tops.

There is so much convenience in today’s basic cars, even something like a Kia Cerato, that the top-end brands are changing their approach to luxury.

At first glance BMW’s yet-to-launch luxury flagship is about as relevant to the average CarsGuide reader as haute couture.Yet just as bespoke fashion finds its way into mainstream outlets, so will the technology infused in the big limousine filter down to more affordable models.And the sheer number and extent of the computer-controlled systems is staggering. In a segment where owners now expect to awe their audiences with more than a serene ride, it’s a case of innovate or be irrelevant.BMW’s 7 Series product guru Sven Arens says the 7-Series combines futuristic functions with craftsmanship and materials borrowed from Rolls-Royce, which BMW owns.CarsGuide looks at some of the key features found in the sixth-generation 7 Series.Gesture control: BMW is the first carmaker to fit a production model with gesture controls based on specific movements. A camera monitors an area in the centre of the dash and finger swirls can raise or lower the volume of the 16-speaker Bowers and Remote parking: Operated using the display key with an integrated screen, the idea is the occupants can exit the vehicle before it drives in or out of a tight parking space.Carbon core: Adopted from the i Series vehicles, the carbon-fibre reinforced plastic has helped trim 120kg from the 7 Series. Arens says bonding car components is better than welding because the weld softens the metal around the joint.Wireless connectivity: The 7 Series can now wirelessly charge smartphones using an inductive pad while Bluetooth pairing uses near-field communication — the same tech used with “pay wave” credit card purchases.Removable tablet: Rear-seat passengers can use a seven-inch tablet to control everything from the aircon to the seats. The Android-powered device can be taken out of the car to load up a movie and various apps can be installed.Occupant wellness: The big BMW can emit occasional bursts of scent, the seats incorporate a vitality program that extends the massage function and “allows rear passengers to engage in active physical exercise for recuperation purposes”. The The cars will launch in Australia late this year in 730d, 740i and 740Li models, with the top-spec 750i/Li due early next year. Pricing has yet to be set but the current model starts at $206,200 for the 730d.

The Remote Control Parking function lets drivers exit the vehicle and use the key fob with a colour LED screen to direct the car to drive into or out of a tight parking slot or garage.The logic is such a feature avoids the difficulty of the driver parking and then trying to open the doors with little room to manoeuvre.BMW Australia spokeswoman Lenore Fletcher says there's every chance the feature will make an appearance on local cars in the near future."There are some steps we have to go through to comply with Australian laws and we're working on that now," she says.The sixth-generation 7 Series still has plenty of other techno-wizardry. It has gesture recognition for audio volume controls and accepting or rejecting an incoming phone call, an inductive pad to recharge smartphones wirelessly, a touchscreen mounted on the top of the iDrive rotary controller and a bigger, brighter head-up display.There's also a new adaptive mode in the so-called Driving Experience Control settings to adjust the vehicle's transmission and throttle responses, according to the driver's inputs and the nature of the route as determined by GPS mapping and forward facing cameras.Weight has been trimmed by up to 130kg relative to the current car with carbon-fibre reinforced plastic first used on the BMW i3 and i8.

...boasting fuel consumption more in line with small four-cylinder cars than its traditional luxo-rivals."This is a car that really redefines how efficient a large luxury car can be," BMW Australia's Toni Andreevski says.The new 730d has an official fuel consumption rating of 7.2L/100km, just 0.2 of a litre above the limit set by the government for cars to benefit from the green car exemption from luxury tax."It is just outside that level at the moment but with almost daily improvements in our efficient dynamics technology I am hopeful that it won't be too long before that level is reached," Andreevski says.In the interim BMW will just have to be satisfied that the 730d is the first car in the upper luxury sedan segment that emits less than 200 grams of CO2 per kilometre, putting out 192 g/km.That measure puts it ahead of the Lexus LS600hL hybrid and diesel competitors in the segment and on a par with a clutch of other four-cylinder cars on the Australian market, such as the manual 1.8-litre Holden Astra CD, the manual 1.6-litre Skoda Roomster and the automatic 1.8-litre Honda Civic VTi."It's not often a luxurious five-seater saloon is compared with smaller four-cylinder cars, but in terms of fuel consumption the 730d demonstrates the remarkable achievement of BMW’s EfficientDynamics programme," says BMW Australia's general manager of marketing, Tom Noble.The 730d's Euro 5 compliant turbocharged all-alloy straight six-cylinder engine produces 180kW and 540Nm, giving the car a 0-100km/h sprint of 7.2 seconds.The 3.0-litre diesel features a third generation common rail direct injection system with piezo injectors and a maximum injection pressure of 1800 bar, variable turbo geometry, diesel particle filter and oxidation catalyst.Standard equipment levels on the 730d are the same as the recently released 740i, including heads-up display, rear view camera, metallic paint, 18-inch light-alloy wheels, Dynamic Driving Control, Brake Energy Regeneration, adaptive headlights, heated and ventilated front seats, sunroof, soft close on all doors, television tuner and voice recognition.