New BMW 7-Series Gets Tech Award

[JoshCalkins]

2009 BMW 7-Series

The 7-Series is considered by BMW to be their flagship model, and they pulled out all the stops for the new F01 platform edition, outfitting it with myriad technological gadgets. Those gadgets didn't go unnoticed and iSuppli, an industry technology-tracking firm, has named the new 7-Series the most advanced vehicles of the year.


What does the 7-Series have by way of gadgets? Quite a lot:

• Night Vision Pedestrian Detection. This feature uses night vision technology to scan for people walking on the road outside of the headlights' reach. It will then alert the driver to use caution.
• Blind spot detection. Not the first time this technology has been used in a car, but the F01 7-Series is the first BMW to feature it. Uses radar to detect the presence of vehicles in the blind spots.
• The new iDrive/navigation system for this year's 7-Series features an 80 GB hard drive, while previous iDrive systems used DVD drives.
• The new iDrive also features a Google Internet Search function. This is not a full web browser, but is instead a search function integrated into the navigation system that will automatically list points of interest, like restaurants, gas stations, service stations, etc. within a specified radius of the vehicle's position.

2009 BMW 7-Series

This is the fourth year in a row that the 7-Series has won the award for production vehicles, but the new Hyundai Genesis gave it a run for its money this year. The Genesis has a 30 GB hard drive multimedia navigation system that features real-time traffic updates and a rear view camera.