BMW produces ultra-luxury vehicles, and the brand has spared no expense to offer the best high-quality luxury features for its 2023 7-Series sedan. This model stands out significantly from its rivals due to its enormous theater screen for rear passengers. 

However, the best feature offered in this luxury car is also potentially its most dangerous one. What can we expect with the large screen, and why could it be so dangerous?

What will the theater screen look like?

Having an entertainment screen for rear occupants is nothing new. Family vehicles, like the Pacifica, have been offering them for quite some time as they help keep the kids occupied on long trips. The 2023 BMW 7 Series luxury car is getting onboard with the technology, but the brand is taking it a step further. 

This full-size luxury sedan has a 31-inch theater screen stored in the ceiling of the car and can be pulled down with a touch of a button so rear passengers can watch movies, television shows, or their favorite streamers. Basically, it brings the movie theater experience to the sedan.

According to BMW’s website, the 7-Series screen comes with Amazon Fire TV and can be controlled by using the 5.5-inch displays on the vehicle’s rear doors. The screen offers 32:9 panoramic format and premium HD quality with 7,680/2,160 pixels. It also comes with 5G connectivity. 

Why is the design so dangerous for the 2023 BMW 7 Series?

When the screen is up, it’s not an issue you have to deal with since it sits flushed against the interior roof of the car. But, if the screen is down and in use, you have a considerable visibility problem. It not only drops down from the ceiling quite a ways, but it’s also pretty broad.

When the driver needs to know what’s happening behind them, having the screen down is a problem because they won’t be able to see much of anything except the back of the unit. 

This makes driving the full-size luxury sedan quite dangerous because you won’t have a full view of what’s happening around you. You’ll be unable to make corrections to your driving if you don’t know what’s about to happen.

What can you do to improve visibility in the luxury car?

With such a large screen impeding your view, why would anybody want to buy the BMW 7-Series? According to Jalopnik, you can work around the problem quite easily. First, drivers have complete control of the screen, so if they need to look over their shoulder to see behind them, the screen can just be moved. 

But, BMW offers more to help improve the visibility problem. There are a few driver’s assistance features that will come in handy here. The 7-Series sedan comes with blind-spot monitoring, side-collision prevention, and park distance control. These features allow the driver to be aware of what’s happening around them without needing to turn and look. 

As BMW shared, this isn’t the only vehicle with a rearward visibility problem. There are quite a few, like the Mazda3 hatchback, which has thick roof pillars in the back, causing a sizeable blind-spot issue. 

Even some sporty supercars limit the view behind the vehicle, but drivers don’t seem to mind. The problem with the 7-Series is that many drivers prefer using their rearview mirror instead of relying on technology.

The theater screen is undoubtedly a nice touch for the rear occupants, but be prepared to rely on your driver’s assistance features. With BMW’s technology, you can still travel safely without depending on physically viewing behind you.