BMW has announced that it will offer a significantly more advanced level of autonomous driving functionality in its new 7 Series from March 2024. The system, which can be ordered from December and installed in March next year, is currently only available in Germany, but the brand plans to roll it out to other markets where legislation allows in the near future.
Called BMW Personal Pilot L3, BMW Personal Pilot L3 says this is a “first of its kind” system that allows “drivers to shift their attention to other activities in the vehicle.” It achieves SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Level 3 for autonomous driving functionality, an industry standard that rates driving automation from Level 0 (no automation) to Level 5 (essentially falling asleep and letting the car do everything).
While that “first” claim isn’t technically true, as Mercedes-Benz has a Drive Pilot system available in its EQS and some S-Class models, BMW says this is the first of its kind, as the automaker now has both SAE Level 2 as SAE Level 2 models. (first announced in the new 5 Series) and now this. The SAE Level 2 Highway Assistant can automatically change lanes with only the driver’s eye confirmation.
This third level of eyes-free/hands-off driving has been a long time coming. Despite what Tesla claims in its marketing message, the Autopilot system is still currently only SAE Level 2, meaning the driver must maintain full control and keep their eyes on the road even when their hands are off the wheel.
Take your eyes off the road
The main difference with this level 3 of autonomous driving is that drivers can now shift their focus to other activities, such as ‘editing emails’ or ‘making deeper phone calls’, as BMW suggests. Crucially, and this is perhaps what all long-distance commuters have been waiting for, BMW Personal Pilot Level 3 allows you to use digital services such as streaming videos from different providers.
BMW has been very careful not to use phrases like ‘eating your favorite box set’ or ‘cracking open the popcorn and enjoying a movie marathon’, as the driver still needs to be ready to take over once the stretch of road becomes unstable. the system. It may also require human intervention because certain parameters are no longer met. Both visual and audio signals will occur when it is time for human intervention.
Like Mercedes-Benz’s aforementioned Drive Pilot, which itself passed the test in California, Nevada and Germany, BMW’s Personal Pilot L3 requires some fairly strict parameters before it can be activated (via a button on the steering wheel ).
Traffic may not exceed 60 km/h (37 mph) and is only permitted on highways with structurally separated lanes. Don’t worry if you don’t remember all that, because BMW claims the system uses a live HD map broadcast with precise GPS and 360-degree ultrasonic, radar and 3D lidar sensors, to “pinpoint the exact positioning and monitoring of the area around the city”. the car”.
BMW’s high-tech optional extra can be ordered from December and will cost €6,000 (about $6,423), although the German automaker hasn’t said when it will be rolled out to other markets.