MUNICH: BMW customers have covered more than 200 million kilometres hands free with the BMW Motorway Assistant.
The function is used daily by customers in several model ranges, including the 5 Series and 7 Series, iX, X5, X6, X7 and XM, as well as the new BMW iX3.
The BMW Motorway Assistant enables hands-free driving on motorways at speeds of up to 130kph.
The system takes over longitudinal and lateral control and supports the driver with automated lane changes confirmed with a glance.
BMW senior vice president driving experience development Dr Mihiar Ayoubi says, "The symbiotic interplay between driver and driver assistance during hands-free driving with our Motorway Assistant, and the underlying safety concept, are unique in the industry."
"Over 200 million kilometres of hands-free motorway driving in real-world customer use demonstrate just how reliable and relevant this system is in everyday life.”
With the new generation of BMW driver assistance systems, the availability of the Motorway Assistant in Europe is being significantly expanded from just one country to over 20.
In addition, the system now provides support from the motorway entrance to the exit (entry-2-exit) when navigation is active using BMW Maps.
Whilst the previous generation was available in Germany, the United States and Canada, in the new iX3 and subsequent models such as the i3 and 7 Series, customers can now enjoy hands-free assisted driving on suitable routes across borders in numerous European countries thanks to DCAS approval.
These include Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and the Benelux countries.
Further countries such as the UK, Ireland, Spain and Portugal will follow shortly.
In Northern, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe the function will be available at a later date.
In the UK, Motorway Assistant will be available as an option for the BMW iX3 from July production onwards.
Existing BMW iX3 owners will also be able to add the feature via an over-the-air update through the ConnectedDrive Store, available as a paid option.
It will also be offered on future models powered by BMW Operating System X, including the forthcoming i7 and i3, either fitted from the factory or made available later through the ConnectedDrive Store.
Hands-free assisted driving with the BMW Motorway Assistant is based on a comprehensive safety concept.
This includes redundant systems for lane detection and vehicle positioning via cameras and high-resolution maps.
Using information from the side cameras, the system continuously checks whether the vehicle is centred in the lane.
A safety chip on the ADAS computer constantly monitors that everything is functioning correctly.
At the same time, the driver always remains responsible.
A driver camera ensures that the driver stays alert and ready to take over at all times.
To this end, the driver’s line of sight, eye status and head movements are analysed.
The system is designed to ensure that hands-free driving is restricted exclusively to suitable conditions.
Whenever necessary, the driver is prompted in good time to place their hands on the steering wheel, for example when approaching a motorway exit.
For the new generation of vehicles, starting with the BMW iX3, the Motorway Assistant has been further developed with BMW Symbiotic Drive.
The function is designed to enable seamless interaction between driver assistance systems and human driving behaviour.
When driver assistance is activated, the driver can accelerate, steer and brake as required without immediately triggering a deactivation of the longitudinal and lateral guidance.
The intuitive operating logic and clear displays in the BMW Panoramic iDrive ensure that assisted driving is intuitive and can be controlled at any time – for the safe use of the highest level of automation in SAE Level 2.
