WITH GERMAN LUXURY CARS already bursting at the seams with high tech luxury and safety items, the race is on for the next ‘big thing’.

Leading the way will be speed limit sensing, which BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are all looking to introduce on their flagship models within the next few years.

Using the new system means saying goodbye to the “… b-b-but officer, I didn’t see the speed sign…” excuse. Instead, vehicles will monitor roadsides for speed limit signs and display the current speed in the instrument panel or head-up display, allowing drivers to tailor their speed to suit.

BMW looks set to take the lead in introducing the new technology. Two engineers, from BMW’s head office in Munich, will soon be arriving in Australia to test the speed sensing system across over 5,000 kilometres of Australian roads, including urban and regional areas.

Each system varies slightly in its approach, however the general idea is that a camera mounted within the vehicle constantly monitors roadsides for speed signs, and cross references detected signs with GPS data held by the navigation system.

In cases where road works may be in progress, the lower limit will be displayed for the driver to adjust their speed accordingly.

Both painted signs and variable electronic signs can be recognised by the system. At no point does the technology intervene to limit the drivers’ speed, instead displaying the limit leaving the cars actual speed up to the drivers’discretion.

BMW’s engineers will fine-tune the system to respond to Australian signage. Mercedes-Benz will also send its own engineers out to carry out similar testing on its own system.

BMW hopes to have the system ready for launch early next year, and Mercedes-Benz is looking at a similar time-frame, which means the updated S-class will launch later this year without the system. Mercedes also acknowledges that BMW will most likely roll the system out before it does.

“I don’t know if we can get to market before BMW. It’s possible they might beat us,” Mercedes-Benz spokesman David McCarthy said.

“But if they do beat us, that’s still good because motorists will be the winners from the introduction of this technology.”

Audi’s new A8 sedan will also include a speed limit monitoring system, although it isn’t expected to arrive in Australia until at least the second quarter of 2010.