Pure-electric SUVs can also be extremely sporty: BMW iX3 Automatic Driver Assistance System explained in detail

Compared with traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, today's electric vehicles not only change the type of energy, but also have rapid innovation and progress in automatic driver assistance systems under the revolutionary new electronic and electrical architecture, such as Tesla's Autopilot, and the new car-making forces' NAD, XPILOT, and so on. As for the old traditional car manufacturers, BMW's automatic driver assistance system Pro is very worth knowing, because it is not only outstanding in the traditional car companies, and just mentioned the birth of those that are electric compared to the car companies is no less important, this set of systems were first applied in BMW's landmark iX3.

The perception system of the BMW iX3's Autopilot Assist Pro consists of ultrasonic radar, camera, short-range millimeter-wave radar and full-range millimeter-wave radar. Among them, the ultrasonic radar is mainly used for the parking assistance system, a trinocular camera is set up on the top of the front windshield for near-, medium- and far-range visual recognition of the front, a surround-view camera is arranged at the front and rear of the body for visual recognition all around the body, and there is also 1 camera arranged on the top of the dashboard for monitoring the driver's status, a short-range millimeter-wave radar is mainly used for detecting adjacent lanes, and a full-range millimeter-wave radar is mainly used to detect adjacent lanes, and full-range millimeter-wave radar is mainly used to detect moving vehicles and obstacles in front.

With the above rich hardware, the iX3's Automatic Driving Assistance System Pro can realize the functions of Assisted Driving, Traffic Jam Assist, Lane Change Assist, Emergency Stop Assist, Speed Limit Recognition Assist, Automatic Parking Entry, and Trace Reversing Assist.

Assisted Driving

After activating the Assisted Driving function, through the cameras and radars all around the body, the iX3 can realize to keep driving in the current lane or follow the car in front of it. It is worth mentioning that when encountering the situation where the lane line is unclear or disappears for a short period of time, the system can continue to drive along the front car's track. Driving is very intelligent and reduces the number of times the driver has to take over the vehicle during the use of this feature.

It's important to note that the driver needs to keep his hands on the steering wheel during the Assisted Driving function to ensure safety on the road. BMW's sensor for detecting whether the driver has his hands on the steering wheel is capacitive, which is more accurate than the torque-sensing sensors currently used by most manufacturers and is also easier to use, as the system can make a judgment when the skin of the hand comes into contact with the steering wheel of the iX3.

Lane Change Assist

When driving on a highway or urban expressway, the driver can activate the Lane Change Assist function by using the turn signal, and then the iX3 will automatically detect the surrounding environment and change lanes automatically when conditions permit. iX3's lane change timing is not aggressive, and the system decides to change lanes at a time that is obvious to the driver. The system decides when to change lanes, and the timing of the lane change is within the driver's safe range. The lane change is very smooth, and is accompanied by a dynamic animation display on the instrument panel. Of course, when conditions do not permit, such as a solid lane line or a vehicle approaching from behind at a slant, the iX3 will not change lanes even if the driver turns on the turn signal, thus ensuring the safety of both the driver and the vehicle.

Traffic Jam Assist

When the vehicle speed does not exceed 60km/h and the vehicle map determines that the roadway meets the conditions, the driver can activate the Traffic Jam Assist function, which uses the vehicle in front of the vehicle and the lane line as a reference to keep the vehicle in the lane or follow the speed of the vehicle in front of the vehicle, and during this period the driver does not need to operate the steering wheel and acceleration/deceleration pedal. The driver does not need to operate the steering wheel and acceleration and deceleration pedals during this period, so some people jokingly refer to this function as "freeing both hands and feet function", which can effectively reduce the driver's burden of driving in congested, low-speed road conditions.

It should be noted that although "freeing up both hands and feet", but the driver still need to always observe the road conditions and be ready to take over the vehicle at any time, arranged in the dashboard camera will always monitor the driver's status, if found that the driver did not pay attention to the road conditions, there will be sound alarms and dashboard information to the driver. If the driver is not paying attention to the road conditions, an audible alarm and dashboard message will alert the driver. In addition, if the conditions are no longer compatible with the function, the function will be automatically withdrawn and the driver will be given visual and audible reminders to take over the vehicle in a timely manner.

Speed Limit Recognition Assist

This feature is more common, as the camera monitors the speed limit signs on the roadside in real time and displays them in the instrument cluster to alert the driver. On the iX3, when the system detects a speed limit sign, the driver can tap the SET button on the multifunctional steering wheel to set the current speed limit as the cruising speed, and then the vehicle will automatically adjust its speed according to the speed setting and traffic conditions, which is simple and safe.

Emergency Stop Assist

When the driver is unable to continue driving due to an unexpected reason, he or she can activate the Emergency Stop Assist function by pulling up the electronic parking button and holding it for a certain period of time, after which the vehicle will brake urgently and stay in the current lane, at the same time, turn on the dual flashing lights to warn the rear vehicle, and also automatically send the emergency call with location information. It also automatically sends an emergency call with location information to minimize the risk of an accidental collision.

Automatic Parking&Trail Reverse Assist

For novice drivers, parking is indeed a difficult operation, but the iX3 can be automatically parked. After activating the function, the iX3 will drive forward past a row of parked cars at a speed lower than about 35km/h and with a spacing of more than 1.5 meters, the system will automatically detect the parking space, and when there is a suitable space, there will be a prompt on the screen, and parking can be easily accomplished by following the prompts.

During daily driving, we sometimes encounter situations where we mistakenly enter a "dead end" because we are unfamiliar with the road conditions. If the road is too narrow to make a U-turn, the iX3 will automatically reverse 50 meters along the original road to help the driver get out of trouble by putting the car into reverse gear and activating the reverse-tracing function.

The above functions are integrated together to form the iX3's automatic driver assistance system Pro, which is standard across the board and has received a full-star rating from 2020 E-NCAP, a score that speaks volumes about the system's excellence. If compared to BMW's old rivals Mercedes-Benz and Audi, the EQC and e-tron are indeed mediocre in terms of automatic driver assistance, not only less feature-rich than the iX3, but also much less impressive in terms of experience. iX3 can be so far ahead of the curve, and the BMW electrification transition as well as the correct decision-making of the digitalization strategy is not unrelated.

It's also worth mentioning that the iX3 has just been officially reduced by 70,000 yuan, and the price range between the iX3 and the Tesla Model Y and the Azera ES6 is also relatively close. Considering that the driver assistance systems of such models need to be optional, the iX3, which is equipped with the standard Auto Driver Assist Pro, will be more competitive.

However, the development of the automotive industry to date, BMW's rivals are no longer just the traditional perception of Mercedes-Benz and Audi, the development of a number of electric vehicles in the up-and-coming trend is also not to be underestimated, not to mention that these companies do not have the genetic shackles of the traditional car companies, and therefore in the development of new energy vehicles is more open to the feet.

BMW, which has a big business, needs to be extra cautious when making the switch, and the good news is that BMW's iX3 has indeed done it. As mentioned earlier, its automated driver assistance system Pro is excellent enough in terms of feature richness and user experience, but not only that, BMW's strategy for the driver assistance system is not radical, because its goal at this stage is not to replace the driver's control of the vehicle, but to make the driving process safer and more efficient.

BMW's strategy for driver assistance systems is not aggressive, as it does not aim to replace the driver's control of the vehicle at this stage, but rather to make the driving process safer, easier, and smarter, which is a good thing both for the incentive of the industry as a whole as well as for the consumer's personal interests.