New BMW 7 Series won't park itself in Oz -- yet

BMW's sixth-generation 7 Series will go on sale globally on October 24 – including in Australia – but it won't come here with the ground-breaking new limousine's world-first driverless parking function.

Motoring.com.au understands the simultaneous worldwide launch of BMW's all-new flagship sedan in just over four months will mark the first time any BMW has become available here the same time as in Germany.

Officially revealed for the first time earlier this week, the new 7 Series will weigh up to 130kg less than before thanks in part to a body that combines carbonfibre-reinforced plastic with steel and aluminium – a first in the limousine segment, claims BMW.

The Mk6 Seven will also bring a range of advanced technologies including laser headlights (as with the i8 plug-in sports car, they will be an option instead of standard full-LED headlights) that are claimed to double high-beam range to 600 metres, and an iDrive infotainment system operated by hand gestures, which should also be offered here from launch.

Expected to be available in Australia from launch are both (G11) short-wheelbase and (G12) long-wheelbase sedan body styles, plus a range of new-generation turbocharged inline-six and V8 engines bringing more performance and efficiency in the 730d diesel and 740i and 750i petrol models.

BMW has also announced the first plug-in hybrid 7 Series, the 740e, which will be available in LWB/AWD 740Le xDrive form in Europe and is powered by a four-cylinder turbo/petrol-electric powertrain that produces 240kW yet consumes just 2.1L/100km, emits only 49g/km of CO2 and can travel up to 40km in EV mode.

But while Australia's first plug-in BMW model (beyond the i3 and i8) will be the X5 xDrive 40e in the first half of next year, BMW Australia is yet to confirm the local release of either the 740e or its upcoming 3 Series PHEV.

The new BMW flagship will also inevitably be released in top-shelf V12-powered 760Li form and a full-blown M7 performance version may also join the range for the first time to rival the Mercedes-Benz S 63 and 65 AMGs and Audi S8 super-limo.

These models will likely be fitted with the new 7 Series' Executive Lounge and Touch Command luxuries, including ventilated rear seats that power-fold almost flat and offer massage and footrest functions, plus a portable 7.0-inch colour touch tablet to operate infotainment systems from the back seat and wireless induction mobile phone charging.

Long-wheelbase buyers will also have the new options of a Sky Lounge Panorama glass roof, Welcome Light Carpet, which illuminates the area around the car doors, and even Ambient Air package, which fills the cabin with the choice of eight ionising aromas.

However, the headline act of the new 7 Series -- Remote Control Parking -- will not be available in Australia from launch for legal reasons.

BMW claims its new driverless parking function, operated by a clever new key fob with colour display screen, will make its world debut in the 7 new Series, which it says will be "the world’s first series-produced car that owners will be able to manoeuvre in or out of forward-parking spaces or garages without anyone at the wheel.

"As such, the Remote Control Parking option allows drivers to access tight parking spaces with ease. The driver initiates the car’s progress forwards into or in reverse out of a space using the likewise newly developed BMW Display Key. While the car is carrying out the semi-automated manoeuvre, the driver watches out for obstacles."

Of course, like many new luxury and even mainstream cars, the 7 Series wil be available with a host of active driver safety aids, including radar cruise control with forward collision alert and automatic emergency braking, steering and lane-keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring and front and rear cross-traffic detection, effectively giving it autonomous driving capability.

But the Remote Control Parking system goes a step further by allowing the vehicle to park itself without any occupants on board, raising serious questions around liability in the event of a collision with other vehicles, obstacles or people.

BMW Group Australia Product and Market Planning Manager, Shawn Ticehurst, told motoring.com the Bavarian car-maker was confident the system was foolproof, but confirmed the feature would not be available in Australia from the 7 Series' launch this year.

"BMW wouldn't launch a feature like this if they hadn't tested all that stuff and obviously if it didn't have the highest level of confidence in it," he said, adding that a decision on what content would and would not be offered here will made within two months.

"I look at things like Remote Control Parking a say 'well if you can stand outside the car and see everything around you, you're in a good position to know if you're going to hit something'."

He said the global rollout of autonomous technologies including remote-control parking would be market-dependent and that BMW would work with industry and legal bodies in each country before they would be released in any given market. He said there were still legal hurdles that could prevent the commercialisation of Remote Control Parking here.

"We're still working on autonomous technology -- autonomous driving needs more discussion and these discussions are happening around the world now," he said.

"BMW in every country around the world now has to work with the relevant traffic authorities on these things and show why they're a benefit and that's already started -- both from legal point of view and a safety point of view. Self-parking has legal issues around driver control."

Ticehurst said BMW Australia is seeking legal advice about the local introduction of self-driving technologies, and will lobby relevant government departments jointly with
Australia's peak motor industry body, the Federal Chamber of Automotive
Industries, on the matter.

He indicated that while the new Gesture Control technology was likely to be offered here from launch, it was not yet clear if BMW Laserlight ttechnology -- which like the high-beam laser lights first seen here in Audi's limited-edition R8 LMX is an advanced form of LED technology -- will gain pending Australian Design Rule approval.

Meantime, Ticehurst said BMW engineers continue to investigate the local application of Speed Limit Recognition and insisted that it was a matter of when not if the speed limit sign-scanning technology would become available here.

Further afield, BMW is also working Dynamic Parking Prediction, a research project in partnership with intelligent transport and connected car specialist INRIX, which aims to shorten the search for on-street parking.

BMW says initial tests of a prototype i3 fitted with the technology have been successful in Munich and, as an extension of similar systems designed for car parks, the technology could one day see drivers exit their vehicles at the destination of their choice, before their car parks itself down the road.

It's not yet known how much the new 7 Series -- or any of its new technologies, when they arrive -- will cost in Australia, but BMW's outgoing flagship currently ranges in price from $206,200 (730d) to $391,175 (760Li), and continues to be outsold by the latest Mercedes-Benz S-Class by almost three to one.