BMW revs up innovation for driving pleasure

BMW is renewing its image with an aura of tech, yet the German carmaker has remained true to its tenet of driving pleasure.

At the BMW China Innovation Day last week, the company offered a glimpse into two core smart technology clusters: a next-generation intelligent cockpit and the "Heart of Joy" driving control system.

"We are not simply building smart devices on wheels; we integrate intelligence into the very fundamentals of the car," said Sean Green, president and CEO of BMW Group Region China.

The Heart of Joy system, debuting in the Neue Klasse, integrates powertrain and chassis control into a unified digital nervous system.

By leveraging high-speed data transmission, the system reduces decision latency to under one millisecond — 10 times faster than previous versions — enabling a seamless and intuitive driving experience.

BMW's new "visual cone" cockpit design rethinks human-machine interaction by aligning digital displays with a driver's natural line of sight, minimizing distractions.

The industry-first Horizon Head-Up Display replaces traditional instrument clusters with ultra-clear, 4K-resolution projections on a nanocoated section of the windshield, ensuring visibility even with polarized sunglasses.

For Chinese consumers, BMW's SkyLab research center has conducted extensive user experience studies, optimizing nearly 100 features for the local market.

This includes the "Lyric View "function, which displays song lyrics in real-time on the head-up display, reflecting China's strong digital ecosystem.

A proprietary eye-tracking system also prevents animations from distracting drivers, prioritizing safety.

AI integration extends beyond infotainment. BMW's Dynamic Performance Control, built on a century of motorsport expertise, optimizes driving dynamics in real-time, drawing on data from extreme performance tests at Nuerburgring.

Yet BMW's focus on driving pleasure does not mean it turns its back on smart features.

Also at the Innovation Day, the carmaker announced an expanded partnership with Alibaba, integrating the Chinese technology giant's Tongyi AI into its vehicles.

By 2026, BMW's Neue Klasse cars produced in China will feature a custom AI-powered personal assistant, leveraging Alibaba's foundational model.

BMW said it will showcase its AI-driven mobility vision at the Shanghai auto show in April, where it will debut "Car Genius "and "Travel Companion", two AI-powered assistants designed to transform vehicles into intelligent, personalized travel hubs.

BMW and Alibaba have been collaborating since 2015. Over the past decade, their partnership in digital innovation has evolved from cloud computing, intelligent connectivity, and smart manufacturing to cutting-edge AI technologies.

Earlier this month, BMW partnered with Huawei to develop an in-car digital ecosystem in China based on the technology company's Harmony operating system, which is used by its phones and other smart devices.

"In China, nearly a quarter of MyBMW App users rely on Huawei devices. By deeply integrating with the HarmonyOS ecosystem, BMW will enhance in-car applications and digital connectivity services for HarmonyOS users, elevating intelligent experiences in high-frequency use scenarios," said Green.

BMW said it is working closely with Chinese tech companies on cutting-edge technologies such as large language models, generative AI and intelligent voice interaction to create smarter, more powerful, and more efficient mobility experiences tailored to the needs of Chinese consumers.

Green said China has emerged as a global engine of innovation. Through collaboration with leading local technology companies in joint R&D, BMW is leveraging its system integration expertise to fuse cutting-edge technologies and advance local partnerships into a transformative 2.0 phase, he said.