Screens have quickly become the centerpiece of modern car interiors. As automakers race to add more digital real estate, the conversation is shifting from what’s possible to what’s practical — and, where the line should be drawn between convenience and distraction. For BMW, the next frontier may not be about bigger or brighter displays, but about rethinking who in the cabin gets access to them.
In a chat with Stephan Durach, Senior Vice President UI/UX Development, we learned that car buyers apparently have passenger screens high on their wish lists. Whether or not the brand will indulge them, though, still remains unclear. BMW is no stranger to innovation inside the cabin. But the automaker’s approach has always been careful to weigh both tech with driver focus. Would a screen for passengers push the balance too far towards digitalization?
Passenger Screens in BMWs? It Could Happen
“You know, there’s a huge demand, especially in really big cars,” Durach starts. “People are asking for that,” he continues, “people say, ‘I want to have a dedicated screen for consuming content.’ There is room. So, you can think about that.” It isn’t though confirmation of things to come. But it shows that BMW has at least considered the possibility of adding a passenger side screen. At least three of BMW’s constituents — Porsche, Audi, and Mercedes — already offer or will offer a passenger side display. In those applications, it’s not always just for “consuming content.” Some offer the ability for passengers to control media and navigation settings, climate control, and more.
While acknowledging customer demand, Durach is acutely aware of the risks. “With our Panoramic iDrive, that’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid, that there’s too much distraction,” he says. The narrow head-up display running the length of the windshield is, according to Durach, a logical alternative to the build up of screens dominating driver attention. “It’s not really super intrusive into the interior, it’s just a small display,” he says. Considering these comments and the fact that Durach singled out “really big cars,” we don’t expect to see passenger screens coming to cars smaller than the 7 Series. That is, if they ever come to a BMW at all.
If you asked us a decade ago whether BMW would dedicate dashboard space to a screen just for passengers, we might have laughed at you. But after seeing the massive 31-inch Theater Screen debut a few years ago on the BMW G70 7 Series, it feels just a little bit less unlikely. It’s also not the first time we’ve heard rumblings like this. Last year, we learned BMW was monitoring its rivals and evaluating passenger display integration. Clearly, BMW isn’t making any decision without careful consideration. Nor should it.
