I have owned everything from a 1988 M6 to 2006 M3's. My wife would like a new luxury car and I am contemplating purchasing a 740i or 740il with the M Sport Package. For 2012 the Active Roll Stabilization is an extra. I drove both cars with the M sport package and the 740i definitely seems allot more nimble than the L version. No one has the car with the Active Roll Stabilization. My wife is not going to drive the car hard and neither will I although I find the suspension too soft unless I put it on Sport +. I am wondering whether I would notice any difference with the Active Roll Stabilization. Does anyone have much experience with the heads up display option and what is your opinion of it. Thanks for your help. Rob
Have test driven a car or two at O'Fests with the heads up display. I would think that's the type of feature one either likes or dislikes, but can easily adapt to if you like it. From another comment here lately, apparently using polarized sunglasses blanks out the heads up display. No experience with ARS and how it would feel. Since you're opting for a new car, obviously you'll want to decide on whatever options will make you happiest with the car. If you're attuned enough to how the car feels to prefer a sportier feel, I'd presume a system that limits body roll might be preferable. The question is, how does the system work and feel when driving. I'd probably be non-plussed if it was anything less than seamless. If you can't find any dealers within a reasonable area with an ARS-equipped 740 for you to try, perhaps email Frank or the national office, they might be able to direct you to someone who can relay some comparative observations.
I can't comment about the ARS, but both my wife and I are looking forward to getting a BMW with heads up display. She is easily distracted by things like interior reflections on the windshield, but when we relocated a 550 on the Komen drive we had a chance to try it out for several hundred miles and loved it. The sunglass issue can be addressed easily enough. It was so nice having GPS and speed information displayed near your line of sight.
