During Friday I had the opportunity to participate in a technology workshop organized by BMW Romania, the representative of the German manufacturer proposing to show us the technological developments in the new cars available on the market. I start with the connection part to the car, the new models of BMW allowing interaction with the assistant Crab for voice commands, but things are much more complicated if you have the module Apps System ConnectedDrive.
Through this system you will have the possibility to connect your iPhone to the car using a USB connection and you will be able to use one of the applications available to you to interact with your friends on Facebook or Twitter, to listen to music through Deezer and not only that. Those from BMW have designed a number of applications suitable for use in the car, one of the most interesting of which allows you to record laps of the track and compare your lap times with your friends and much more. BMW is the first car manufacturer to bring this type of interaction for users in Romania and using voice command systems, they save you from looking down from the road to find out what your friends have posted on Facebook.
We are moving from applications to a new system Hi-Fi mounted by those from BMW in their own cars, it being produced by Bang & Olufsen with the idea of completely changing your experience of listening to any audio content in a car. Basically, the new audio system thought by BMW is a home cinema mounted in a car and whether you listen to music or watch a movie while waiting for someone, you will have a great experience that you will hardly find again in - a car.
We continue with one of my favorite systems for new BMW cars, it being named BMW Night Vision and I think you can imagine exactly what its installation in a car entails. Now in its third generation, BMW Night Vision was developed with the idea of helping you avoid collisions with pedestrians or large animals while driving, using a thermal imaging camera and LEDs mounted in the fog projectors to identify people and the animals, but also to mark them.
It all starts with the display of people or animals in the navigation system or heads-up display, as in the image above, the projectors showing them in front of your car, in the position they are in. The interesting part is that the lights will follow people or animals as they move in front of your car, so you will know exactly where they are at any moment and you will be able to avoid a collision. To be honest, the system is perfect for night trips through Romania, BMW Night Vision being able to save your life in a variety of situations.
Next I will talk about the high beam assistant for BMW cars, this having the role of dynamically controlling the car's headlights so as not to disturb the traffic participants in the moments when you have the high beam activated. The cars that have this active system use a video camera positioned on the windshield to identify the cars in front of us, at the moment of their identification long range assistant automatically changing the area covered by the high beams so as not to disturb other traffic participants.
In the image above you will see exactly what I am talking about, the high beam assistant being able to create an uncovered space in the position where the car in front of you is, there is also the option to deactivate the high beam for the left or right headlight in the situation where a car approaches from the opposite direction.
Before I tell you about my experience with the BMW i3, I would like to draw your attention to a system called BMW Park Assist, practically parking the user's car on the side. When you find a free parking space, position the car next to the one in front of the parking space, the system BMW Park Assist it will automatically recognize your space and using the cameras/sensors mounted on the car will automatically park the car, your job being to hold down a button during the procedure.
In the tests carried out by the people from BMW in the location, the system worked relatively well, having little problems in activating in areas with little space between the cars, the good part being that it is designed to stop automatically in case a object prevents your entry into the parking space, cameras mounted in front and behind the vehicle showing you a LIVE feed of what is happening around you.
In the end, I have to talk to you about BMW i3, electric car produced by BMW about which you have probably heard a lot of information until now. As you probably already imagine, BMW i3 is completely designed to be as light and aerodynamic as possible, the special construction allowing it to obtain an autonomy of up to 140 KM at a charging that lasts up to 8 hours at a normal socket and up to 4 hours at a socket with a fast charge system.
The navigation system of BMW i3 automatically calculates the distance that a user can travel with the energy available in the battery, including displaying on a map the locations where anyone can reach with the energy available for him. With 170 horsepower and a maximum speed of 160 KM/h, the BMW i3 is much faster than you'd imagine and, to be honest, it's a perfect city car, even for those who like fast cars.
You will probably find it hard to believe, but the BMW i3 accelerates from 0 to 100 KM/h in less than 8 seconds, and when you press the accelerator you feel the full power of the electric motor. Although the car is powerful, it is extremely easy to handle and very comfortable for the driver, the passengers not having even that much space or an easy way to get into the car. Even so, I was pleasantly impressed by the BMW i3, and if I were to buy an electric car I would definitely choose a similar one, if Romania will ever have electric charging stations available in as many locations as gas stations.
