You have to pay something if you want to drive autonomously at level 3 with your 7 Series.
Did you think the grille of the new 7 Series couldn’t get uglier? Then you are wrong, because there is now a new option that makes the kidneys even uglier. It is one in the ‘functionally ugly’ category, because the adjustment to the grille has a function.
The new option in question is ‘BMW Personal Pilot L3’. This is an advanced version of driving assistance, which makes it possible to drive autonomously at level 3. BMW is not the first, because Mercedes already introduced this last year, under the name Drive Pilot.
Now it is too BMW so far and they are launching level 3 autonomous driving on the 7 Series and i7. In concrete terms, this means that you can take your hands off the wheel and your eyes off the road at speeds up to 60 km/h. But only on the highway.
Just like Mercedes the options are still very limited, because they are only useful when it is busy on the highway. For the time being, this option is only offered in Germany. In the Netherlands, the rules do not yet allow autonomous driving at level 3.
BMW’s system is slightly less limited than Mercedes’. Drive Pilot only works during the day, when it is not raining and not too dark. BMW’s Personal Pilot L3 also works at night.
You may wonder what the difference actually is with the regular package of driver assistance systems, such as adaptive cruise control and lane assist. Personal Pilot L3 really goes one step further and basically takes over driving completely. With level 3 you can actually do something else, such as checking your email or watching Tomorrow Never Dies.
The disadvantage is that your 7 Series does not get any nicer. The lidar sensors are not exactly subtly incorporated into the grille. It all feels a bit like a technology that is still in its infancy. We’ll probably laugh about this in a few years.
Would you still like to be an early adopter (and do you live in Germany)? Personal Pilot L3 will be available in the configurator from December and will be delivered from March. For this option you pay an additional price of €6,000. So it is a fairly pricey option, but that will probably not deter a 7 Series customer.
This article BMW makes the grille of the 7 Series even uglier first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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