I agree with you Znod. BMW should lead HP war and necessary/usefule technology. ARS, AS, HUD, etc are applausible BMW high tech stuffs.

 

I'm not defending the new technology, but I think the HP war is already getting out of hand. I mean c'mon, we have 500hp sedans these days. How much more do you want? The next generation 5 Series will have around 500HP, and the next generation M5 will have 600HP.

 

People looks at Toyota Camry V6 268 hp compared to BMW 258hp selling for 40K? What do you think? Of course Toyota driving is nothing near BMW, but you'd get my point.

 

Try driving the Glendale Freeway at 5:00 am when some deer decide to cross. It's quite dark and I do get to use my high beams. I might do Night Vision for this reason alone.

 

I understand why you were thinking I must mean HP when I said performance. But, I was thinking about things like handling, feel, good trannys, weight reduction, etc.--those things that would help BMW's to be "the" ultimate driving machines. And, yes, HP is part of it, but, as you indicate, at some point, enough is enough.

 

No, I don't want to keep looking at the iDrive sceen when I'm driving at night.
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I absolutely agree. It seems that any safety advantage gained by the IR would be more than offset by the requirement of watching the iDrive screen while driving.

 

By the time you get your eyes off the i-Drive screen back on the road, you're already kiss the deer/moose
I wish BMW improve more on transmission lag and throttle response.

 

Not if I can see it at 300 feet. Take away another 100 feet for reaction time and I have a good chance of missing it, especially with 5 lanes to play with in this one area. A bright thermal signature will draw attention well before my headlights give me enough of a profile to recognize it as a deer. I'll bet with a bot of practice that peripheral vision will let you know when there is a change that might warrant looking at the iDrive. Clearly worthless in traffic but out on the dark country road maybe not.

 

Try driving the Glendale Freeway at 5:00 am when some deer decide to cross. It's quite dark and I do get to use my high beams. I might do Night Vision for this reason alone.
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Ya for you... I dont drive there at 5 am. Unless JPL hires me... got any opennings?

 

This technology is really only good for campers/hunters or someone driving off road in their X5 or Hummer.