The New BMW 7 Series Launched

The launch of the new BMW 7 Series on 15th November 2008 heralded the arrival of a host of world-first driver and passenger-focused technologies. As the world's best selling luxury car, the four previous generations of BMW 7 Series have consistently offered the highest levels of technology, with the first BMW 750i of 1987 famously offering more computing power than NASA utilised to put man on the moon. Now the latest BMW 7 Series has raised the technological benchmark again.

As a world first in the new, fifth generation BMW 7 Series, Speed Limit Display comes as standard with the optional Lane Departure Warning system. Using a camera mounted behind the rear view mirror, the system cross-references the GPS navigation system information and the real-world information to constantly monitor the legal speed limit, and relays this information to the driver in the dashboard or, if specified, into the Head-up Display. The car's hard drive is pre-programmed with all of Europe's speed limits but, in the case of road works or incidents, limits can vary. The camera reads the numbers on temporary road signs and over-rides the known speed limit, bringing this information constantly into the driver's line of sight.