Article Summary
- BMW says customers have racked up nearly 125 million miles using the Highway/Motorway Assistant
- The latest version of the Highway Assistant will have a greater availability in Europe, with over 20 countries confirmed.
- The iX3 and 7 Series/i7 Neue Klasse models are the first to feature the latest technology, while the i3 sedan will follow suit later this year.
BMW made a name for itself by selling some of the most dynamically capable cars in the business, but it’s celebrating a milestone that couldn’t be further from its Ultimate Driving Machine ethos. Its Highway Assistant system, which enables hands-free driving in certain conditions, has racked up a cumulative 200 million kilometers. That’s right: nearly 125,000,000 miles logged by owners who let the car do the work for them.
The number is likely to shoot up soon as the latest iteration of the hands-free assisted-driving technology expands to more countries. The previous system was only offered in Germany, the United States, and Canada, but the new setup, already installed in the iX3 Neue Klasse, is coming to more than 20 European countries. Aside from its home market of Germany, the latest system is also available in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
BMW also intends to roll out the newest Highway Assistant in the UK, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal, with additional regions in Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe to follow. In its current iteration, the technology is SAE Level 2 certified. It comes bundled with a City Assistant that not only detects traffic lights but also automatically stops the car at red lights and sets off when the light turns green. In the iX3, the electric SUV won’t move if the monitoring camera detects that the driver isn’t paying attention to the road.
Personal Pilot L3 Is Out. Symbiotic Drive Level 2 Is In
As previously announced, BMW has abandoned the Personal Pilot L3 that the pre-facelift 7 Series offered for a while. Why? The costs were too high, and the take rate wasn’t strong enough. Instead, the luxury automaker is putting all of its proverbial eggs into the Symbiotic Drive Level 2 basket. The first models to receive the newest tech are the iX3, i3, and 7 Series/i7, along with most likely the X5 G65 debuting this summer. We imagine next year’s 5 Series facelift and X7 G67 will follow suit.
The camera that keeps an eye on the driver sits below the rearview mirror in the iX3, giving it a wider field of view compared with the previous setup, where the driver-monitoring camera was positioned behind the steering wheel. The hands-free function automatically disengages or refuses to activate if the driver fails to pay attention for too long. It’s worth noting that all iX3s come with this hardware, and owners can activate the feature after purchase through the online store.
But make no mistake, BMW doesn’t want to eliminate the human driving experience:
“The aim here is not the highest possible level of automation in every situation, but a safe driver assistance experience that offers maximum benefit and remains controllable at all times. As a result, the driver always stays involved in the interplay between human and artificial intelligence. When driver assistance is active, for instance, the driver can accelerate, steer and brake as required, without instantly deactivating the assistance system in the process.”
