BMW autonomous driving a generation away

BMW execs say full autonomous driving is still a generation away for their vehicles. And there’s significant work to be done outside the car before true hands-free driving will be commonplace.

Project head for the new seventh-generation (G30) 5 Series, Johann Kistler, told motoring.com.au at the car's international launch in Portugal this week that it would take at least one more generation of 5 and 7 Series model for true autonomy to be possible.

But he cautioned that significant progress would need to be made in mapping worldwide to allow autonomous driving, even if the full technology suite was installed into future BMWs.

"Not in its life cycle can it [the new 5 Series] be fully autonomous. There are a few [development] steps needed,” Kistler told motoring.com.au.

But, the project chief cautioned, the issues are not just in-car

“A few different things [need to become available], such as high-quality maps all around the world.

“It's no good just having them in Europe or in Sydney… Not only in the big cities… It's important to bring high quality in a map [around the world]," Kistler said.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have taken ownership of an electronic mapping organisation to help accelerate this technology. But there’s still work to be done, Kistler says.

And the shared cartography won't necessarily drive the same outcomes for each manufacturer, he says.

“How we act with this [mapping information] will be in our own way -- a special BMW solution.

"We will do it with our own understanding. We have to think of the best solution,” Kistler told motoring.com.au.

According to the project head, in a hardware sense BMW has compressed the development time for the new 5 Series by increasing commonality with the new 7 Series limousine.

"With comparison to the 7 Series, the 5 Series is the next step,” he explained.

According to Kistler, the shared electronic and mechanical platforms will allow many of the 5 Series' innovations (including the sixth generation of iDrive human machine interface) to be rolled into an updated 7 Series within the next two years.

But the project head says as an established car-maker like BMW must also look outside the square to contract its development timelines.

“To work towards autonomous driving by 2021, we have decided to establish a standalone division.

"The world is changing, so for new things like autonomous driving we have to think about working with different processes,” Kistler explained.