Comfortably rest your hands in your lap and initiate overtaking maneuvers with a glance in the wing mirror – BMW customers will soon be able to experience this in many more European countries with the Motorway Assistant.
The BMW Group is the first car manufacturer in Germany to receive approval for driver assistance systems for the new BMW iX3 in accordance with UN Regulation No. 171 for Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS). The DCAS regulation provides an international legal framework for innovative Level 2 driver assistance systems with a focus on customer safety.
The approval enables the BMW Group to offer the Motorway Assistant with Level 2 “hands-off” function in numerous other models and countries in the future, as well as with an extended range of functions. Further innovative assistance functions will also follow for urban driving scenarios. The current generation of the Motorway Assistant has just been awarded the Tech Award in the “Comfort assistance systems” category by the German car magazine “auto motor und sport”.
Dr. Mihiar Ayoubi, Senior Vice President Driving Experience Development: “The safety-oriented DCAS-regulation ensures that we can launch our Motorway Assistant with hands-off function in many more countries. Further innovative assistance systems with our special, symbiotic approach between vehicle and driver will follow. We are creating a perfect interplay between rule-based algorithms and artificial intelligence. The driver remains involved, our systems are controllable at all times, and their behaviour is reproducible.”
When the Motorway Assistant is activated, drivers can take their hands off the steering wheel permanently at speeds of up to 130 km/h, but must remain attentive and ready to intervene. The system assists with vehicle guidance within its own lane and can also change lanes automatically if necessary – all the driver needs to do is confirm this with a glance. The new DCAS approval also enables even more extensive functions. With active BMW Maps route guidance, the system suggests a lane change in good time at Motorway junctions and exits, which can be confirmed with a glance in the wing mirror. The Motorway Assistant remains active when driving through freeway junctions and until the end of freeway exits. This means that drivers of the BMW iX3 can enjoy Level 2 driver assistance in even more situations without touching the steering wheel.
The new Motorway and City Assistant of the BMW iX3 also offers innovative functions for urban areas. At market launch in Germany, these include stopping at red lights and driving off again automatically. Further driver assistance functions for complex driving situations in urban areas will be rolled out at a later point in time via over-the-air software updates.
The Motorway Assistant of the previous technology generation celebrated its premiere in the current 5 Series Sedan in 2023. The BMW Group had received a limited exemption from the Federal Motor Transport Authority in Germany for the approval of the system. With DCAS approval, exemptions are no longer required, and the systems can be offered throughout Europe and in other ECE countries.
In addition to the new possibilities offered by the DCAS regulation for driver assistance systems, the BMW Group continues to consistently design its systems so that driver and driver assistance work together symbiotically. BMW Symbiotic Drive creates a seamless transition between assistance and driver input and reaches the next level of development in the “Neue Klasse” vehicles. In addition to symbiotic steering, the BMW iX3 is the world’s first model with symbiotic brakes.
With active driver assistance, the driver can influence the system individually at any time according to their wishes by lightly intervening in steering and braking without switching off the driver assistance. The system remains active to provide support. The innovative power of the symbiotic brake is underpinned by more than two dozen BMW Group patent applications resulting from the development of these technologies.
