Erhard Frank (left) Head of product line large models at BMW

„The Social Acceptance of Luxury Vehicles is Becoming an Increasingly Important Issue“BMW has endowed the fifth generation of its 7 Series with a wealth of technical innovations in order to put it in a good position in the face of strong competition. ATZextra spoke to Erhard Frank, Head of product line large models, and Johann Kistler, Project Manager BMW 7 Series, about the technical innovations of the new BMW 7 Series.

ATZextra The BMW 7 Series is up against strong opponents in its segment. How does it stand out against its competi-tors? Frank The new BMW 7 Series sets stand-ards in comfort, driving dynamics and efficiency. To give you just a small se-lection of the innovations: the com-pletely newly developed engines each represent the benchmark in their class, and in the area of driver assistance we have unique features with systems such as Night Vision with pedestrian detec-tion, traffic sign detection and active steering. These innovations packaged in the elegant design of the new BMW 7 Series are currently the top of the line.

ATZextra As far as their production vol-umes were concerned, the old versions of the 7 Series were very successful. What are your targets for the new 7 Series?Frank With the fourth generation of the BMW 7 Series, we set a production record of 344,395 units. We aim to significantly surpass this result with the new BMW 7 Series.

ATZextra Your target markets seem to be shifting, from the USA and Europe to China and Russia. Kistler We have a strong domestic market. The USA is still the largest single market for us. The Asian market is growing, espe-cially in China. In terms of production volumes, China has overtaken Germany

and is already the second most impor-tant market for us. Another important sales region is the Middle East. In Russia, we are recording high growth rates, al-beit on what is still a low level. As a re-sult, we have a very good spread, which means that we are not dependent on the economy of a single market.

ATZextra What is the percentage distribu-tion of your vehicle sales in the triad?Kistler The regions of the triad each make up a third of vehicle sales, which is a very balanced distribution.

ATZextra Will the 7 Series be produced exclusively in Dingolfing, or are other production sites planned?

Johann Kistler (right) Project Manager BMW 7 Series

BMW 7 Ser ies

BMW 7 Series�

InterviewD

OI:

10.1

365/

s401

11-0

08-0

093-

7

Kistler Production of the BMW 7 Series will take place exclusively in Dingolfing. Our experience is that customers for ex-ample in China and Russia prefer “Made in Germany” particularly in the vehicle segment of the BMW 7 Series.Frank The BMW 7 Series is a technology carrier that also places very high de-mands on production. The experience of a plant such as Dingolfing cannot simply be transferred to other regions, especial-ly since the corresponding supply struc-ture is also a part of it.

ATZextra Which features of the new 7 Se-ries represent a particular challenge for manufacturing?Kistler The package density continues to increase. Apart from the higher number of components, this also means more wir-ing and more ECUs that have to be con-

nected. This results in a further modulari-sation of systems. Customers expect to have the innovative systems in the new BMW 7 Series, for example the driver as-sistance systems, right from the start of production. That means that they have to be available at that time. A further chal-lenge is the global market. For the current BMW 7 Series, we only offered one engine in the first year of production. For the new BMW 7 Series, we are starting with three engines in parallel in order to opti-mally serve all important markets: the V8 gasoline engine for the USA, the diesel engine for Europe and the six-cylinder gasoline engine, usually in combination with a long-wheelbase version, for the Asian market.

ATZextra For the new 7 Series, you are fo-cusing on downsized engines. Don’t you see acceptance problems among custom-ers in the luxury segment of the 7 Se-ries?Frank The power output of the new BMW 740i is comparable to that of the old 750i, but it has a much lower fuel consump-tion and significantly better dynamics and less weight, which improves lateral dynamics. The social acceptance of luxu-ry vehicles due to better fuel economy, as

demonstrated by the new BMW 7 Series, will become an increasingly important issue in the future.

ATZextra Some of your most important competitors offer four-wheel drive in this segment. Is this also planned for the 7 Series?Kistler Yes, we are working on four-wheel drive. Although we already have good traction control systems, we recognise that there are markets with a strong de-mand for four-wheel drive vehicles.

ATZextra After the 850i, BMW is now of-fering rear-wheel steering for the second time. What are the advantages of the sys-tem?Kistler The rear-wheel steering system in the 850i was hydraulically actuated. The system in the new 7 Series is electrically

operated and combined with the active steering system. This is made possible by a central control unit that manages all the chassis data. With Flexray, we have a data bus with a high

transfer rate. This allows the vehicle to react very quickly and actively to the driving situation. Frank The use of modern electronic con-trol systems opens up many more appli-cation possibilities today. Up to a speed of 50 km/h, a system supports the driver in handling the vehicle by reducing the turning circle by up to 70 cm, whereas at higher speeds it is a comfort and safety system.

ATZextra The new BMW 7 Series has an estimated model cycle of eight years. How do you intend to keep the electronic systems up to date during this time? Frank With the new BMW 7 Series, a new modular and very high-performance sys-tem of electronics is being introduced in-to series production. New functionalities in this hardware structure can be repre-sented as software. This ensures that the BMW 7 Series is future-compatible. It is a basic philosophy of BMW to build systems in such a way that they can be further de-veloped as modular components.

ATZextra Ergonomics is particularly im-portant for long-distance vehicles. What does the new 7 Series offer in this re-spect?

Kistler With the third generation of the 7 Series, we introduced map navigation in-to the car. The fourth generation set new standards with the iDrive system. In the new BMW 7 Series, we are going a step further in ergonomics. For key functions that are necessary while driving, includ-ing operating the telephone or the audio system, drivers no longer have to turn away from the road but can keep their view on the axis of the steering wheel/iKombi/Head-Up Display/road and there-fore concentrate on driving. This is also made possible by the optimised operation via steering wheel buttons as well as per-fect speech activation with word recogni-tion, complemented by the intuitive op-eration of a logical menu structure. Driv-ing the BMW 7 Series is being made even safer, more comfortable and easier.

ATZextra Erhard Frank, Johann Kistler, thank you for this interview.

The interview was conducted by Richard Backhaus.

„Innovative driver assistance systems right from the start of production“

Dipl.-Ing. Erhard Frank

is Head of product line with respon-

sibility for the large models (BMW

5, 6 and 7 Series). He studied elec-

tronics and telecommunications in

Regensburg and has worked at

BMW since 1973. His career began

in Dingolfing. For many years, he

was director of the Regensburg

plant of the BMW Group.

Dipl.-Ing. Johann Kistler

is Project Manager at BMW with

responsibility for the 7 Series. He

studied automotive engineering in

Munich. After joining BMW in

1978, he carried out various func-

tions in the fields of development

and production.

ATZextra I November 2008 �