BMW's latest 7-Series seems to think for itself, a constant adviser to anyone who seeks a second opinion in the art of driving. Packed with advanced engineering, the 750Li is so intelligent it could probably even tell you how to handle every bend and straight, in any language, if it was allowed to speak.
Yet, the executive saloon's technology is a little over the top in some respects, making it a bit too smart for its own good. With the lane-changing warning system, an HK$8,000 option, the driver senses 'discreet and unmistakable vibration on the steering' when the electronics detect that the car is drifting away from a supposedly safe course, for example. The problem is, in typical Hong Kong city driving, where lane changing is a way of life, the discreet and unmistakable vibrating becomes all too unavoidable and it won't take the entire length of Connaught Road to find it a little irritating.
Of course, some buyers of the car 'with the longest body and wheelbase in its class' will be able to relax, particularly on long journeys over the border. The system may be a useful feature for drivers who doze off in the middle of four-lane highway cruising.
Cross-border industrialists might also find more use than most Hongkongers for the 7-Series' night vision. The HK$25,000 option uses a thermal imaging camera to detect pedestrians in the distance and alert the driver via the central control display. The device might seem unnecessary in Hong Kong's well-lit streets, but frequent drivers north of Lo Wu might be impressed by a feature that promises to pick out jaywalking country folk after dark.
Luckily the new 7-Series is not engineered to speak, for judging by the frequency of the lane-changing warnings and night vision pedestrian alerts, conversation or in-car entertainment wouldn't be possible.
The marque says it has added agility to the 750Li with integral active steering, an option that also puts steer into the rear wheels. But before you plead with your accountant for four-wheel-steering technology, bear in mind that they might refer you to the now-defunct Mazda 929 of the early 90s, and tell you that such gizmos are hardly new. Mind you, if you could find one second-hand example of the Mazda, it probably wouldn't cost more than the HK$20,000 option in the BMW 750Li.