MUNICH/GOODWOOD (April 3, 2023) – BMW Group Classic will be making the journey to southern England a little earlier than usual this year. It will bring the legendary Brabham BMW BT52 Formula 1 racing car to Goodwood in mid-April to celebrate various anniversaries with a series of exclusive demonstration laps. Performing the driving duties will be David Brabham, son of three-times Formula 1 world champion and team founder Sir Jack Brabham.
1983 was a very special year for the BMW brand. Brabham BMW’s Nelson Piquet became the first driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship in a turbocharged car. The title victory was sealed just 630 days after the arrival of BMW as engine suppler to the British Brabham team, setting a milestone for BMW Motorsport.
The potential of the Brabham BMW BT52 was already evident in spring 1983 during the then popular testing sessions at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. It was here that Piquet set the Goodwood lap record, becoming the first driver to power around the circuit in under a minute. The Brazilian’s lap remains the best ever recorded at Goodwood.
The history of motor racing at Goodwood began seven-and-a-half decades ago, the “75 years of motorsport at Goodwood” celebrations adding another highlight anniversary to the 80th Goodwood Members’ Meeting this year.
MUNICH (March 29, 2023) – The first-ever BMW 5 Series with a fully electric drive system has yet to make its global debut, but it has already come through the ultimate endurance test. The new BMW i5 repeatedly demonstrated both the stability of its electric powertrain and its dynamic performance qualities over the course of arduous test drives in wintry conditions. The program of testing on ice and snow lasted about a year in all, from the initial test runs to the final stages of fine-tuning. During the extensive testing on country roads, motorways and specially prepared test tracks, the development engineers mainly focused their attention on the car’s ability to drive at low temperatures and on surfaces offering little grip. Continue reading
WOODCLIFF LAKE, NJ (March 23, 2023) – BMW continues its Ultimate Driving Experience tour across the U.S. for 2023, welcoming BMW customers and enthusiasts back for an immersive driving experience led by BMW professional driving instructors. This year’s tour includes 26 total stops across the U.S., featuring a variety of different experiences in a wide array of BMW’s latest vehicles. The 2023 Ultimate Driving Experience allows visitors to engage withan increasingly electrified fleet of vehicles, including the all-electric BMW iX and BMW i4, alongside the updated BMW 330e and BMW 530e plug-in hybrid electric sedans. Continue reading
MUNICH (March 15, 2023) – In just a few months’ time, the eighth generation of the BMW 5 Series Sedan will make its debut. The new model is more dynamic and more comfortable than ever and boasts a fresh interpretation of its signature elegantly sporting design, not to mention BMW Operating System 8.5 with BMW Curved Display, innovative digital services and, for the first time, a purely electric drive system in the guise of the BMW i5. Continue reading
MUNICH/BORKEN/DAYTONA (March 13, 2023) – Anyone who talks about the US customizing scene mentions Fred Kodlin almost in the same breath. For more than 40 years, he has dedicated himself to customizing motorbikes, from radically modified creations to sophisticated new designs. Since the 1990s he has been incredibly successful with his custom bikes and was able to win various important Daytona shows regularly. He was the very first non-US citizen to be inducted into the Sturgis Hall of Fame. Continue reading
MUNICH/GRAZ/SALZBURG (March 1, 2023) – While the international customising scene around BMW Motorrad primarily devotes its inspiring creativity, excellent craftsmanship and continuous flow of new ideas to the BMW Motorrad Heritage models R 18 and R nineT, an exceptional project based on the BMW CE 04 has now taken shape in Austria. In collaboration with BMW Motorrad Austria in Salzburg, customising specialist Vagabund Moto GmbH in Graz has created the BMW CE 04 Vagabund Moto Concept – a stylish and multifunctional e-scooter based on the BMW CE 04 for urban use. Continue reading
MUNICH ANTWERP (February 27,2023) –The BMW Group is presenting international media representatives with the first vehicles in a pilot fleet that will go into service this year. After four years of development work, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen vehicle and development project is entering its critical next phase.
The fleet of under 100 vehicles will then be employed internationally for demonstration and trial purposes for various target groups. This active driving experience will therefore be the first chance for people not involved in the development process to gain a direct impression of what the BMW iX5 Hydrogen has to offer. Continue reading
MUNICH, (February 22, 2023) – BMW M GmbH has set about honing the profile of its high-performance cars in the luxury Sports Activity Vehicle and Sports Activity Coupé segments with extensive modifications in terms of performance, presence and digitalisation. The new BMW X5 M Competition (fuel consumption combined: 13.1 – 12.9 l/100 km [21.6 – 21.9 mpg imp]; CO2 emissions combined: 295 – 291 g/km in the WLTP cycle; figures for the NEDC cycle: – ) and new BMW X6 M Competition (fuel consumption combined: 12.9 – 12.7 l/100 km [21.9 – 22.2 mpg imp]; CO2 emissions combined: 292 – 287 g/km in the WLTP cycle; figures for the NEDC cycle: – ) boast a new V8 engine with 48V technology and maximum output of 460 kW/625 hp, exterior design updates and the latest-generation iDrive control/operation system, complete with the BMW Curved Display and BMW Operating System 8. Continue reading
WOODCLIFF, NJ (January 27, 2023) –Innovations in individualization, digitalization, and electrification will enhance the BMW model range in the spring of 2023. BMW Operating System 8 and the latest-generation BMW iDrive vehicle interface including the BMW Curved Display will be introduced into the BMW 4 Series and M4 in March 2023. BMW Crystal Headlights – first seen on the new BMW 7 Series – will be available for the BMW X7 from April 2023. Both these luxury models and the fully electric BMW iX will also be offered with the enhanced Parking Assistant Professional, which enables the Remote Control Parking and Maneuver Assistant functions to be controlled via iPhone. And Highway Assistant will be available on X7 and iX models for the first time. Continue reading
MUNICH/LAS VEGAS (January 5, 2023) – The BMW Group is sharing its vision of the future digital experience, both inside and outside the vehicle, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas. BMW i Vision Dee is the futuristic mid-size sedan with a new and pared-down design language. The name “Dee” stands for Digital Emotional Experience – and that is precisely its aim: to create an even stronger bond between people and their cars going forward. Future digital functions will go far beyond the level of voice control and driver assistance systems we are familiar with today. The BMW Head-Up-Display extends across the full width of the windscreen, providing a glimpse of the next vehicle generation. From 2025 onwards, this innovation will be available in the models of the NEUE KLASSE. The BMW Group has also refined its use of colour-change technology. Having unveiled the BMW iX Flow Featuring E Ink, with the ability to change from black to white, at the last CES, BMW i Vision Dee can now curate its exterior in up to 32 colours.
“With the BMW i Vision Dee, we are showcasing what is possible when hardware and software merge. In this way, we are able to exploit the full potential of digitalisation to transform the car into an intelligent companion. That is the future for automotive manufacturers – and, also, for BMW: the fusion of the virtual experience with genuine driving pleasure,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “At the same time, BMW i Vision Dee is another step on the road to the NEUE KLASSE. With this vision, we are looking far into the future and underlining the tremendous importance of digitalisation for our upcoming product generations.”
With its intelligent, almost human capabilities, BMW i Vision Dee accompanies drivers not only through real-life situations on the roads, but also in their digital environment.
“A BMW lives by its unparalleled digital performance. BMW i Vision Dee is about perfect integration of virtual and physical experiences,” said Frank Weber, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Development. “Whoever excels at integrating the customer’s everyday digital worlds into the vehicle at all levels will succeed in mastering the future of car-building.”
BMW Mixed Reality Slider: into the virtual world in five steps The BMW Mixed Reality Slider, in combination with the advanced Head-up Display, is the digital highlight and central operating control of BMW i Vision Dee. Using shy-tech sensors on the instrument panel, drivers can decide for themselves how much digital content they want to see on the advanced Head-Up Display. The five-step selection ranges from analogue, to driving-related information, to the contents of the communications system, to augmented-reality projection, right up to entry into virtual worlds. In parallel, dimmable windows can also be used to gradually fade out reality. Mixed reality can be experienced in BMW i Vision Dee in an immersive way that engages different senses without requiring any additional tools, creating a new dimension of driving pleasure for the user.
Advanced BMW Head-Up-Display:in NEUE KLASSE from 2025 The BMW Group is known in the automotive sector as a trailblazer for the Head-Up-Display and has systematically refined this technology over the past two decades. In BMW i Vision Dee, projection across the entire width of the windscreen allows information to be displayed on the largest possible surface – which only becomes recognisable as a display once it is activated. In this way, the BMW Group demonstrates the huge potential of projection technology and BMW i Vision Dee visualises how a advanced Head-Up-Display could also be utilised in the future for the display and operating concept. The standard-production version of the BMW Head-up-Display extending across the full width of the windscreen will be used in the models of the NEUE KLASSE from 2025 onwards.
Welcome scenario with voice and phygital icons The digital experience already begins outside the vehicle, with a personalised welcome scenario that combines graphical elements, light and sound effects. Natural language serves as the simplest, most intuitive form of interaction, enabling perfect understanding between humans and their vehicles. The headlights and the closed BMW kidney grille also form a common phygital (fusion of physical and digital) icon on a uniform surface, allowing the vehicle to produce different facial expressions. This means BMW i Vision Dee can talk to people and, at the same time, express moods such as joy, astonishment or approval visually. BMW i Vision Dee can also project an image of the driver’s avatar onto the side window to further personalise the welcome scenario.
World premiere for full-colour E Ink technology Following the spectacular debut of the BMW iX Flow Featuring E Ink at CES 2022, the BMW Group is now unveiling a full-colour version of the E Ink technology in BMW i Vision Dee that will be used as the outer skin of the vehicle for the first time worldwide.
BMW i Vision Dee, rather than simply alternating between black and white, now showcases a multi-coloured, fully variable and individually configurable exterior. An ePaper film from the BMW Group’s cooperation partner, E Ink, is applied to the body to create this magical display of colour. Up to 32 colours can be displayed.
The body surface of the BMW i Vision Dee is divided into 240 E Ink segments, each of which is controlled individually. This allows an almost infinite variety of patterns to be generated and varied within seconds. The laser cutting process used to trim the films and the electronic control design were developed in partnership with E Ink. The adaptation of this technology for curved surfaces and the programming of the animations, were developed by BMW Group’s in-house engineers – enabling a form enabling a form of customisation that is unique throughout the automotive sector worldwide.
Reductive design – inside and out The design of BMW i Vision Dee has been deliberately pared down to focus attention on the digital experience and the DNA of the BMW brand. The exterior is defined by the classic three-box sedan design that forms the core of the BMW brand. Traditional design elements, like the BMW kidney grille, twin circular headlights and the Hofmeister kink, are reimagined, with phygital icons replacing analogue elements. This gives BMW i Vision Dee its own digital, but human, character.
Inside, digitalisation goes hand in hand with reductive use of materials, operating controls and displays to ensure nothing distracts from the digital experience and the new feeling of enhanced driving pleasure. The unconventional design of the steering wheel, with its central vertical spoke, creates touchpoints that come to life when approached or touched and can be operated by moving the thumb. These phygital touchpoints control selection of the content projected onto the windscreen and, together with the Head-Up Display, thus support the principle of “hands on the wheel, eyes on the road.”
“With BMW i Vision Dee, we are showing how the car can be seamlessly integrated into your digital life and become a trusty companion. The vehicle itself becomes your portal to the digital world – with the driver always in control,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design. “Implemented the right way, technology will create worthwhile experiences, make you a better driver and simply bring humans and machines closer together.”
Another milestone on the road to the NEUE KLASSE The future of the BMW Group is electric, circular and digital. BMW i Vision Dee represents the digital aspect of this trio and will be another milestone on the road to the next vehicle generation, the NEUE KLASSE. The BMW Group will provide further insights and glimpses of the revolutionary vehicle concept of the NEUE KLASSE over the course of 2023.
