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The 2024 BMW 5 Series and 7 Series Will Drive Themselves, There'll Be No Beta Testing

The 2024 BMW 5 Series and the 2024 BMW 7 Series will come with an advanced level of driving automation. Some may say it was about time the German automaker planned something like this. The debut Level 3 autonomous driving system will happen with the 7 Series in late 2023. Here’s everything you need to know.
A Woman Sitting Behind the Wheel of the BMW Vision iNEXT 7 photos
Photo: BMWi on YouTube
A Man Sitting in the Driver's Seat of a BMW Vision Next 100The BMW Vision Next 100 Driving ItselfTwo Men Playing Cards in the BMW Vision iNEXTTwo Men Playing Cards in the BMW Vision iNEXTA Woman Applying Makeup in the BMW Vision iNEXTA Woman Taking Control of the BMW Vision iNEXT
If you’re a BMW enthusiast who also loves technology and self-driving cars, then you ought to be thrilled right now. The Bavarians are finally stepping up their game in this respect. They still need at least a year and a half until the systems can be properly deployed on the first cars, but it’s going to happen. Moreover, just like Mercedes-Benz, BMW doesn’t plan to use its paying customers as testers of unfinished software.

BMW’s Level 3 autonomous driving system might be called Personal Pilot. This is still subject to change. If the marketing team finds something better, then we will see a different naming strategy. The important thing that surely won’t be substituted, however, is the vehicle that will debut the Personal Pilot. It will be nonother than the impressive and luxurious 2024 BMW 7 Series (G70).

As it happened with BMW for over three decades, the top of the range receives all the goodies first. The lesser models follow suit according to a strategic timetable. That’s why the next car with real self-driving capabilities will be the 2024 BMW 5 Series (G60). It will probably be equipped with the necessary hardware and programs in the first half of 2024.

The new software will be available in European and Asian markets first. According to a well-known BMW insider, the U.S. is not yet on the list. Most likely, the Bavarians are waiting for regulatory approval. It’s not yet clear how much it’ll cost and if it’ll be part of an optional package.

The Level 3 autonomous driving system can be simply defined as the system that replaces the human driver in most conditions. According to the SAE J3016 standard, the software can disengage if it meets an unexpected situation, but not before it alerts the person sitting behind the wheel that they need to take over control.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta can be used in most places nowadays, but the system does not replace the driver - yet. The person is always responsible. Unlike Tesla's way of doing things, BMW’s Personal Pilot will navigate completely alone all the routes that meet certain pre-required conditions. These can be lane markings, working radars, and/or enough visibility for the system to drive the car. The German carmaker might also decide to allow the use of the system only on certain roads.

It’s important to understand that Tesla’s FSD Beta is still a Level 2 autonomous system, which means the driver is responsible for whatever might go wrong. In cars with Level 3 autonomous systems, the driver won’t be liable for anything bad that may happen – the automaker or its insurance will have to cover it.

Mercedes-Benz, for example, confirmed that it will accept liability if the Level 3 system is enabled and an investigation proves the car was at fault for a crash or something worse. The software has already been tested in the U.S. We'll see if BMW follows suit.

For now, Mercedes-Benz is the only carmaker that has been authorized to deploy Level 3 autonomous driving systems for its cars.
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About the author: Florin Amariei
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Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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