BMW 7 Series Ranked Most Tech-Advanced

By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 4/2/2009

El Segundo, Calif. — BMW’s 7 series was ranked by iSuppli as the world’s most technologically advanced new vehicle in 2009, receiving the highest ranking to date because of new features including local Google Internet search capability.

Other new electronics features on the BMW 7 series include a navigation system with a built-in 80GB hard drive — the largest in a U.S. car, said iSuppli. Last year’s 7-series navigation system used a DVD drive and not a hard drive. In addition, the new 7 series includes blind-spot detection for the first time, and also includes an improved night-vision feature that is able to “recognize” a pedestrian walking outside of the headlight range on the side of the road, said iSuppli.

The Internet Google search creates a continuously updated point-of-interest data base for finding local businesses, stores, restaurants, etc. (It is not a full Internet browser.) It carries a fee of $199/year, said iSuppli.

The 7-series’ night vision with pedestrian detection has a list price of $2,600, and blind-spot detection is part of a driver-assistance package for $1,350. The car itself sells for more than $80,000.

Although this is the fourth consecutive year the BMW 7 won iSuppli’s top slot for OEM cars, this year the car achieved the highest ranking to date from iSuppli.

Phil Magney, iSuppli automotive research VP, said, “The updated version of the BMW 7 series [received] … the highest score ever recorded for an individual model in the four years this ranking has been conducted.”

The car also features HD Radio, satellite radio, Bluetooth and a Harman/Kardon Logic 7 surround-sound system.

The Hyundai Genesis and Equus are also among the top ten cars in the iSuppli study marking the only vehicles in the top slots that are not produced by BMW or Toyota/Lexus.

The Genesis features include a 30GB HDD multimedia navigation system with real-time traffic, rear-view camera, Bluetooth and a 17-speaker Lexicon branded premium sound system from Harman International and telematics.