[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by Brigitte

The adaptive headlights feature is very important to me...it helps when making turns ..in curves...etc..

Just keep in mind that adaptive-LED headlights are different from the adaptive-laser headlights. The LED adaptive headlights work all the time on a curve or so, whereas the adaptive laser headlights work only on highways under certain conditions, and will "adapt' to the traffic coming from the opposite side. In the US, the laser ones are programmed to follow on/off mode in the pre-lci (then completely unavailable for LCI) rather than being in a laser-"adaptive" mode. However, with the new regulations being approved as I mentioned in a few responses above, we will hopefully and finally see the fully adaptive laser headlights in the US just like what we have now for the adaptive LEDs.

[Brigitte]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Just keep in mind that adaptive-LED headlights are different from the adaptive-laser headlights. The LED adaptive headlights work all the time on a curve or so, whereas the adaptive laser headlights work only on highways under certain conditions, and will "adapt' to the traffic coming from the opposite side. In the US, the laser ones are programmed to follow on/off mode in the pre-lci (then completely unavailable for LCI) rather than being in a laser-"adaptive" mode. However, with the new regulations being approved as I mentioned in a few responses above, we will hopefully and finally see the fully adaptive laser headlights in the US just like what we have now for the adaptive LEDs.

It's my understanding that all they need to do is to enable the "Adaptive laser headlights" feature...

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by Brigitte

It's my understanding that all they need to do is to enable the "Adaptive laser headlights" feature...

Yes, the headlights are capable and an experienced coder may be able to unlock it for you. I just think BMW's reputation in terms of unlocking features that have not been sold from day 1 with the vehicle (it's not something they used to do).
One example is the 3D Drive Assist View in the cluster for the 2019 X7. It was compatible, but when BMW released it 9 months after the launch of X7, it was released for late 2019 builds (I believe September) and after. They never unlocked it for earlier builds since then. You have to use e-sys coding to do it yourself luckily because this particular feature is software related rather than hardware. I did that for a friend, but each time BMW sends an over the air update, the coding is removed and it needs to be re-done. I guess it is a marketing approach to let new buyers at that time prefer the new-car-market approach than used-car-market, hence selling more vehicles.
Another example is the auto-speed adjust. It was released later after the first year launch, but was never made available for 2019 even though it has the capability and you can do it yourself with E-sys coding if you know how to code. The rule of them seems to be --> if it was not on the "original build sheet", BMW hasn't shown much examples of going to back older builds and offer new* features at no charge. But let's see. I personally hope the will unlock the adaptive headlights for everyone.

[Brigitte]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Yes, the headlights are capable and an experienced coder may be able to unlock it for you. I just think BMW's reputation in terms of unlocking features that have not been sold from day 1 with the vehicle (it's not something they used to do).
One example is the 3D Drive Assist View in the cluster for the 2019 X7. It was compatible, but when BMW released it 9 months after the launch of X7, it was released for late 2019 builds (I believe September) and after. They never unlocked it for earlier builds since then. You have to use e-sys coding to do it yourself luckily because this particular feature is software related rather than hardware. I did that for a friend, but each time BMW sends an over the air update, the coding is removed and it needs to be re-done. I guess it is a marketing approach to let new buyers at that time prefer the new-car-market approach than used-car-market, hence selling more vehicles.
Another example is the auto-speed adjust. It was released later after the first year launch, but was never made available for 2019 even though it has the capability and you can do it yourself with E-sys coding if you know how to code. The rule of them seems to be --> if it was not on the "original build sheet", BMW hasn't shown much examples of going to back older builds and offer new* features at no charge. But let's see. I personally hope the will unlock the adaptive headlights for everyone.

On the X5 forum...there is a thread talking about remotely enabling the anti dazzle via a third party:

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...ghlight=dazzle

[rjabend]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Yes, the headlights are capable and an experienced coder may be able to unlock it for you. I just think BMW's reputation in terms of unlocking features that have not been sold from day 1 with the vehicle (it's not something they used to do).
One example is the 3D Drive Assist View in the cluster for the 2019 X7. It was compatible, but when BMW released it 9 months after the launch of X7, it was released for late 2019 builds (I believe September) and after. They never unlocked it for earlier builds since then. You have to use e-sys coding to do it yourself luckily because this particular feature is software related rather than hardware. I did that for a friend, but each time BMW sends an over the air update, the coding is removed and it needs to be re-done. I guess it is a marketing approach to let new buyers at that time prefer the new-car-market approach than used-car-market, hence selling more vehicles.
Another example is the auto-speed adjust. It was released later after the first year launch, but was never made available for 2019 even though it has the capability and you can do it yourself with E-sys coding if you know how to code. The rule of them seems to be --> if it was not on the "original build sheet", BMW hasn't shown much examples of going to back older builds and offer new* features at no charge. But let's see. I personally hope the will unlock the adaptive headlights for everyone.

I found this link on E-Sys . . . . . looks really easy

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by rjabend

I found this link on E-Sys . . . . . looks really easy

Yes but several people have damaged their ECU if they’re not 100% ready to code using e-sys. So take your time learning it. Am happy to help

[rjabend]

Thanks! Good to know. I am curious, what would a failure mechanism be in programming the ECU? Is such a failure actually in the ECU itself, as you may be indicating?

[rjabend]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Yes but several people have damaged their ECU if they’re not 100% ready to code using e-sys. So take your time learning it. Am happy to help

Thanks! Good to know. I am curious, what would a failure mechanism be in programming the ECU? Is such a failure actually in the ECU itself, as you may be indicating?

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by rjabend

Thanks! Good to know. I am curious, what would a failure mechanism be in programming the ECU? Is such a failure actually in the ECU itself, as you may be indicating?

Well, coding using e-sys is considered risky for those who are new to E-sys. There are several ways to damage your ECU or other modules while coding using E-sys if you don’t follow all the precautions. Examples include if the battery voltage is dropped to certain threshold while you are coding, writing and then executing your codes into the modules you may end up with a damaged unit/module or ECU. A few members have had that happened to them and this will NOT be covered under warranty as you are not suppose to be coding your vehicle. However, many BMW enthusiasts do code their vehicle and I am one of them. If you don’t do mistakes while coding, you don’t need to ever mention that to you service advisor during a visit to avoid any issues. One option is to always keep the battery voltage threshold by connecting to a charger all the time you are coding, and in some vehicles you can code while you engine is on. I am not recommending that you take either approaches, but just be careful to read and do as much research before trying e-sys. A good approach is to pay a coder to guide you for your first few trials, or to ask friends around you ( I am happy to help you ). To me, I really like to code most of my vehicles. I’ve coded recently the traffic light assist, and I like it but I use it with extreme caution. There are so many codings that are fun and nice to include in your vehicle, it goes to what you really want and feel would enjoy. I hope that helps?

[PinkNinja400Guy]

I agree with Venomm's post #104 here, the effect of laserlights is not significant. Probably because: https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...6#post29306506

The tools & processes for coding are more heavily discussed at BimmerFest. You need Esys and PSdZData, https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/c...-links.983244/. That will let you VO code. To FDL code you need more software; used to be Launcher Pro and Esys-X but afaik those are both obsolete and now BimmerUtility seems to be the best option. I haven't set this up yet, just did a lot of research over the last few days and going to start actually doing serious coding over the next few weeks. Regarding coding Anti-Dazzle and VLD, there was a thread or two here where a few members reported that VO coding was not sufficient on the X7 (at least pre-LCI), rg_sport seems to know how to do it properly and can remote code it for $.

The power supply is mainly needed for programming modules e.g. from ISTA; that takes time and consumes lots of power. For coding as long as your battery has a good amount of charge left you'll be fine. People do that all the time, for example with Bimmercode - I was in my car w/ engine off for ~2 hours and was coding with no issues. And the vast majority of modules can even be coded with the engine on.

I've heard rumors that coding will no longer be possible with the new iDrive system; those cars have an updated software stack which will refuse coding unless signed by a authorization token that only BMW has. Not sure how correct that is, and maybe methods to bypass that will be found or BMW's signing key will be leaked.

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by PinkNinja400Guy

I agree with Venomm's post #104 here, the effect of laserlights is not significant. Probably because: https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...6#post29306506

The tools & processes for coding are more heavily discussed at BimmerFest. You need Esys and PSdZData, https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/c...-links.983244/. That will let you VO code. To FDL code you need more software; used to be Launcher Pro and Esys-X but afaik those are both obsolete and now BimmerUtility seems to be the best option. I haven't set this up yet, just did a lot of research over the last few days and going to start actually doing serious coding over the next few weeks. Regarding coding Anti-Dazzle and VLD, there was a thread or two here where a few members reported that VO coding was not sufficient on the X7 (at least pre-LCI), rg_sport seems to know how to do it properly and can remote code it for $.

The power supply is mainly needed for programming modules e.g. from ISTA; that takes time and consumes lots of power. For coding as long as your battery has a good amount of charge left you'll be fine. People do that all the time, for example with Bimmercode - I was in my car w/ engine off for ~2 hours and was coding with no issues. And the vast majority of modules can even be coded with the engine on.

I've heard rumors that coding will no longer be possible with the new iDrive system; those cars have an updated software stack which will refuse coding unless signed by a authorization token that only BMW has. Not sure how correct that is, and maybe methods to bypass that will be found or BMW's signing key will be leaked.

Great info. I also think that Bimemrcode is probably a good start (and safer) for new coders before jumping to e-sys.

As for BimmerUtility, it is the main one I am using nowadays for any coding. It’s pretty easy to use, and they keep adding more auto-codes guidelines (aka cheatcodes) to it.

If the new idrive 8 does not support coding, that will be a huge disappointment!. Let us know when this is confirmed.

[rjabend]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Well, coding using e-sys is considered risky for those who are new to E-sys. There are several ways to damage your ECU or other modules while coding using E-sys if you don’t follow all the precautions. Examples include if the battery voltage is dropped to certain threshold while you are coding, writing and then executing your codes into the modules you may end up with a damaged unit/module or ECU. A few members have had that happened to them and this will NOT be covered under warranty as you are not suppose to be coding your vehicle. However, many BMW enthusiasts do code their vehicle and I am one of them. If you don’t do mistakes while coding, you don’t need to ever mention that to you service advisor during a visit to avoid any issues. One option is to always keep the battery voltage threshold by connecting to a charger all the time you are coding, and in some vehicles you can code while you engine is on. I am not recommending that you take either approaches, but just be careful to read and do as much research before trying e-sys. A good approach is to pay a coder to guide you for your first few trials, or to ask friends around you ( I am happy to help you ). To me, I really like to code most of my vehicles. I’ve coded recently the traffic light assist, and I like it but I use it with extreme caution. There are so many codings that are fun and nice to include in your vehicle, it goes to what you really want and feel would enjoy. I hope that helps?

I got the following from the BimmerCode site:
"Is it possible to “brick” an control unit?
No. Even when the connection is interrupted during coding or an error occurs, the coding data can be restored using a backup and then the control unit will operate completely normal again, but please note that using expert mode incorrectly can cause problems that may require a reflash of the control unit to correct them."

Just my opinion, but it would be bizarre if a control unit could be damaged by a weak battery while coding or not. I can see a weak battery resulting in incorrect coding, but as stated above, a backup could be restored.

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by rjabend

I got the following from the BimmerCode site:
"Is it possible to “brick” an control unit?
No. Even when the connection is interrupted during coding or an error occurs, the coding data can be restored using a backup and then the control unit will operate completely normal again, but please note that using expert mode incorrectly can cause problems that may require a reflash of the control unit to correct them."

Just my opinion, but it would be bizarre if a control unit could be damaged by a weak battery while coding or not. I can see a weak battery resulting in incorrect coding, but as stated above, a backup could be restored.

My understanding that BimmerCode is safe to use but coding under expert mode may cause issues if connection is interrupted. I never had issues myself, but have seen a guy who damaged the idrive unit while coding under warranty expert mode. Not sure what caused that but most experts and coders recommend that extreme caution to be taken during coding under the “expert mode”. For e-sys, the instructions document that I have states that a charger connected or engine-in is followed during coding.

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by rjabend

I got the following from the BimmerCode site:
"Is it possible to “brick” an control unit?
No. Even when the connection is interrupted during coding or an error occurs, the coding data can be restored using a backup and then the control unit will operate completely normal again, but please note that using expert mode incorrectly can cause problems that may require a reflash of the control unit to correct them."

Just my opinion, but it would be bizarre if a control unit could be damaged by a weak battery while coding or not. I can see a weak battery resulting in incorrect coding, but as stated above, a backup could be restored.

Hello rjabend , I got some additional useful information for you after I reviewed my internal docs.

This is from the instruction document that I got from one of the most experiences experts that I ever worked with on e-sys coding. They have an opened coding posted in GitHub and other places and that's what they do for living. I worked with him on coding the traffic light assist, and we achieved very good results. The document that I have mentioned the following about e-sys:

"A continuous power source of at least 12.6 Volts is needed. Failure to maintain proper voltage can lead to corruption of ECU Data. As such, ideally the car is connected to an external charger."

While I never had any event of an ECU failure ever and never tried the opposite of the advise above, I truly takes every single words by this person very seriously. I can't tag him because he is not on this forum (didn't find his name) and he is an active user in another BMW forum that I am a member of, and I am not fully aware of this forum's rules in terms of referring to other members on other websites, so I'd like to avoid that to be on the safe side.

However, if you are interested in coding, I can however guide you to a very useful GitHub page that many of us are helping to build or giving feedback to keep their developrs informed of how things work.
https://github.com/packetpilot/bmw-f.../Almaretto.xml

Keep in mind that this is for the F-series, but the idrive coding path can be similar (might need to do some research or edits as needed)

[rjabend]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Hello rjabend , I got some additional useful information for you after I reviewed my internal docs.

This is from the instruction document that I got from one of the most experiences experts that I ever worked with on e-sys coding. They have an opened coding posted in GitHub and other places and that's what they do for living. I worked with him on coding the traffic light assist, and we achieved very good results. The document that I have mentioned the following about e-sys:

"A continuous power source of at least 12.6 Volts is needed. Failure to maintain proper voltage can lead to corruption of ECU Data. As such, ideally the car is connected to an external charger."

While I never had any event of an ECU failure ever and never tried the opposite of the advise above, I truly takes every single words by this person very seriously. I can't tag him because he is not on this forum (didn't find his name) and he is an active user in another BMW forum that I am a member of, and I am not fully aware of this forum's rules in terms of referring to other members on other websites, so I'd like to avoid that to be on the safe side.

However, if you are interested in coding, I can however guide you to a very useful GitHub page that many of us are helping to build or giving feedback to keep their developrs informed of how things work.
https://github.com/packetpilot/bmw-f.../Almaretto.xml

Keep in mind that this is for the F-series, but the idrive coding path can be similar (might need to do some research or edits as needed)

Thanks BMW5and7! The GitHub page is extensive and I bookmarked it for future reference. I am particularly interested in the Traffic Light Assistant listed on the page. I concur that care is of critical importance when programming; particularly the initial backup step.

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by rjabend

Thanks BMW5and7! The GitHub page is extensive and I bookmarked it for future reference. I am particularly interested in the Traffic Light Assistant listed on the page. I concur that care is of critical importance when programming; particularly the initial backup step.

Let me know once you get e-sys and I can assist you with TLA coding if you are interested (of course, for no charge, am glad to help).

The way It works may not be 100% up to your satifisfacation, but at least I use it as an "assisting" feature. When the vehicle in front of me moves away, if am not paying attention, the stop-and-go auto feature will prompt the vehicle to move and follow that vehicle even if traffic light turns red while promoting to follow it (this is how the X7 works by design now). But with TLA turned on (meaning coded), instead of keep following the vehicle, it will stop again right on the white edge if the traffic light is red (meaning if the person in front of you decides to move on red, or maybe just when on yellow, or maybe he is taking a right turn, the auto stop/go function will only follow that vehicle up to the traffic light edge where you need to stop). You can use it to auto-stop when traffic light is red, but again I do not trust it much in this mode in the U.S. though it is still useful as an assisting feature, but it works great in Europe. It should work the same for the G05 too. The LCI X5 ~4/2023 might have that feature available as factory in some countries.

[wtwo3]

I spent some extended time with the 2023 driving assistant settings today. There seems to be a lot of confusion going on, so I'll describe my experience with it.

I'll preface this by saying, while I hadn't tried the driving assistance systems on the pre-LCI X7, I had all of the systems on my previous car, a 2020 X5, which I'm assuming was identical to the systems found in the pre-LCI X7.

The immediate difference I found was that the lane keeping was much smoother and tracked significantly better. The car stayed centered in the lane, and any ping pong effect (not that there was much to begin with) with the previous system was completely mitigated.

I then experimented with the steering wheel. As others have noted, currently hands free driving is only available up to 40 mph. However I noticed that even the fabric of my pants barely touching the steering wheel was enough to satisfy the requirements to where I was doing 80+mph without touching the steering wheel with my hands. I did this for a good 40 minutes of highway driving, and did not touch the steering wheel once other than my pants fabric lightly touching it. No pressure needed at all. The car handled all driving duties incredibly well. The only time I used my hands was to flick the turn stalk so that the car would change lanes.

With that being said, I'm not sure what additional hardware would be needed to enable hands-free driving over 40 mph on the highway. It honestly feels like a software update to eliminate the need to touch the wheel - judging by the way the car handled everything. Unless the additional hardware provides better support for non-highway driving (i.e. local roads with traffic lights/stop signs etc), I don't understand the need for the additional hardware.

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

I spent some extended time with the 2023 driving assistant settings today. There seems to be a lot of confusion going on, so I'll describe my experience with it.

I'll preface this by saying, while I hadn't tried the driving assistance systems on the pre-LCI X7, I had all of the systems on my previous car, a 2020 X5, which I'm assuming was identical to the systems found in the pre-LCI X7.

The immediate difference I found was that the lane keeping was much smoother and tracked significantly better. The car stayed centered in the lane, and any ping pong effect (not that there was much to begin with) with the previous system was completely mitigated.

I then experimented with the steering wheel. As others have noted, currently hands free driving is only available up to 40 mph. However I noticed that even the fabric of my pants barely touching the steering wheel was enough to satisfy the requirements to where I was doing 80+mph without touching the steering wheel with my hands. I did this for a good 40 minutes of highway driving, and did not touch the steering wheel once other than my pants fabric lightly touching it. No pressure needed at all. The car handled all driving duties incredibly well. The only time I used my hands was to flick the turn stalk so that the car would change lanes.

With that being said, I'm not sure what additional hardware would be needed to enable hands-free driving over 40 mph on the highway. It honestly feels like a software update to eliminate the need to touch the wheel - judging by the way the car handled everything. Unless the additional hardware provides better support for non-highway driving (i.e. local roads with traffic lights/stop signs etc), I don't understand the need for the additional hardware.

Thanks wtwo3

Questions and initial impression: What software did you have on your X5? Also, did your 2020 X5 have the DHP + actrive rear wheel steering compared to your X7 LCI "were they identical"? The active rear wheel steering reduces the inertia you feel when vehicle is doing micro or minor steering adjustments left/right on highway as both wheels turn to the same direction, hence you don't feel the drag at all and it's easier to maintain the position. You can even feel the difference between the X7, same year and same model, when comparing one with or without active rear wheel steering assist and DHP.

Ping-pong: The ping-pong effect was eliminated and the drive assist got improved really well after the 11/2021 and 3/2022 updates on one of my X7s. If the comparison is between the X5 with older software update, vs the LCI with newer software, perhaps the data point for the pre-LCI with same software is missing from the comparison. Also, I am not sure if the X5 has the same hardware or package as the X7. On my pre-lci X7 with the most recent software update, I don't see any ping-pong effect at all. I only need to touch the wheel via my knee for the entire duration of a road trip on a highway and does all the work perfectly.

Knee trick: As far as "fabric of my pants barely touching the steering wheel was enough to satisfy the requirements":
This also worked for my recent 6-8 hours road trip back and forth. The sensitivity to the touch got reduced after the two recent software on my pre-LCI. Before that, it used to require a snug hold on the steering, after the recent update, even touching it with my knew has become enough. The way that it works in most newer BMWs is not a pressure based anyway, but rather a capacitive sensor so it's not based on force to begin with. The knee-touch trick is what I've been using on highways since the last 2 software updates.

Hardware? I guess eliminating the pinp-pong effect, vs autonomous driving are two different subjects. It certainly takes a ton of research, upgrades as well as software improvement to get from (excellent lane centering) to autonomous driving. As far as hands-free beyond 40MPH, this is just BMW trick. This system was ready years ago but they won't open it and now keeping it for the new gen vehicles like the 7-series. We have a few users with confirmed/formal messages from BMA NA confirming that the current X7 does not have the hardware needed for the new highway assist and that a new hardware that current X7s will not be able to get will be required and retrofitted to future X7s soon. Leaks are confirming 4/2022 as such date. This is BMW trick to justify new techs and make it strictly available on newer vehicles only even when it can be "partially" applied to older ones. However, they have a good point that they tested all the new improvements with the new system only, so they have no plans to also make it work for the older hardware too even if they think they can. Hope that helps. The personal pilot is also a completely different type of tech that requires a lot more advanced equipment to do what personal pilot is supposed to be able to do later. Hands free driving in rural and city roads is another topic that the new hardware will support. See attached photos from internal slides for what features to expect with the refreshed/new system.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Thanks wtwo3

Questions and initial impression: What software did you have on your X5? Also, did your 2020 X5 have the DHP + actrive rear wheel steering compared to your X7 LCI "were they identical"? The active rear wheel steering reduces the inertia you feel when vehicle is doing micro or minor steering adjustments left/right on highway as both wheels turn to the same direction, hence you don't feel the drag at all and it's easier to maintain the position. You can even feel the difference between the X7, same year and same model, when comparing one with or without active rear wheel steering assist and DHP.

Ping-pong: The ping-pong effect was eliminated and the drive assist got improved really well after the 11/2021 and 3/2022 updates on one of my X7s. If the comparison is between the X5 with older software update, vs the LCI with newer software, perhaps the data point for the pre-LCI with same software is missing from the comparison. Also, I am not sure if the X5 has the same hardware or package as the X7. On my pre-lci X7 with the most recent software update, I don't see any ping-pong effect at all. I only need to touch the wheel via my knee for the entire duration of a road trip on a highway and does all the work perfectly.

Knee trick: As far as "fabric of my pants barely touching the steering wheel was enough to satisfy the requirements":
This also worked for my recent 6-8 hours road trip back and forth. The sensitivity to the touch got reduced after the two recent software on my pre-LCI. Before that, it used to require a snug hold on the steering, after the recent update, even touching it with my knew has become enough. The way that it works in most newer BMWs is not a pressure based anyway, but rather a capacitive sensor so it's not based on force to begin with. The knee-touch trick is what I've been using on highways since the last 2 software updates.

Hardware? I guess eliminating the pinp-pong effect, vs autonomous driving are two different subjects. It certainly takes a ton of research, upgrades as well as software improvement to get from (excellent lane centering) to autonomous driving. As far as hands-free beyond 40MPH, this is just BMW trick. This system was ready years ago but they won't open it and now keeping it for the new gen vehicles like the 7-series. We have a few users with confirmed/formal messages from BMA NA confirming that the current X7 does not have the hardware needed for the new highway assist and that a new hardware that current X7s will not be able to get will be required and retrofitted to future X7s soon. Leaks are confirming 4/2022 as such date. This is BMW trick to justify new techs and make it strictly available on newer vehicles only even when it can be "partially" applied to older ones. However, they have a good point that they tested all the new improvements with the new system only, so they have no plans to also make it work for the older hardware too even if they think they can. Hope that helps. The personal pilot is also a completely different type of tech that requires a lot more advanced equipment to do what personal pilot is supposed to be able to do later. Hands free driving in rural and city roads is another topic that the new hardware will support. See attached photos from internal slides for what features to expect with the refreshed/new system.

I guess the point of my post was, I personally don't see a need to wait for the spring '23 hardware when this current system works as well as it did for me today. Seems my X5 was on 11/2021 software still so perhaps improvements would have been made to that system. I was quite impressed with how the system behaved today in the X7.

[Brigitte]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

I spent some extended time with the 2023 driving assistant settings today. There seems to be a lot of confusion going on, so I'll describe my experience with it.

I'll preface this by saying, while I hadn't tried the driving assistance systems on the pre-LCI X7, I had all of the systems on my previous car, a 2020 X5, which I'm assuming was identical to the systems found in the pre-LCI X7.

The immediate difference I found was that the lane keeping was much smoother and tracked significantly better. The car stayed centered in the lane, and any ping pong effect (not that there was much to begin with) with the previous system was completely mitigated.

I then experimented with the steering wheel. As others have noted, currently hands free driving is only available up to 40 mph. However I noticed that even the fabric of my pants barely touching the steering wheel was enough to satisfy the requirements to where I was doing 80+mph without touching the steering wheel with my hands. I did this for a good 40 minutes of highway driving, and did not touch the steering wheel once other than my pants fabric lightly touching it. No pressure needed at all. The car handled all driving duties incredibly well. The only time I used my hands was to flick the turn stalk so that the car would change lanes.

With that being said, I'm not sure what additional hardware would be needed to enable hands-free driving over 40 mph on the highway. It honestly feels like a software update to eliminate the need to touch the wheel - judging by the way the car handled everything. Unless the additional hardware provides better support for non-highway driving (i.e. local roads with traffic lights/stop signs etc), I don't understand the need for the additional hardware.

Thanks...great explanation! That's good to know. As I posted before...the agent from the Genius dept insisted that the hands-free driving up to 80 mph would only need a software update. But he basically said that I will definitely get that if I place my order for the August production! It looks like all it needs is a slight touch of even a fabric!!

[BMW5and7]

By the way, can any of you with the LCI, share the software number and release date that you have on the LCI? To my knowledge, the latest software that any pre-lci received is the 3/2022. Curious to know what do we have now for the LCI. When the 11/2021 and 3/2022 software was released, it was an equivalent release for all idrive 8 vehicles including the iX, just like what the pre-lci X7 got. Am curious of the current LCI has a 7 or 8/2022 update that the pre-lci is yet to gate as far as I know.

[rjabend]

Originally Posted by Brigitte

Thanks...great explanation! That's good to know. As I posted before...the agent from the Genius dept insisted that the hands-free driving up to 80 mph would only need a software update. But he basically said that I will definitely get that if I place my order for the August production! It looks like all it needs is a slight touch of even a fabric!!

The steering wheel senses a change in electrical capacitance. On a test drive, I could keep a single finger lightly touching the wheel. There is a membrane on the wheel that generates a certain level of capacitance and the vehicle calibrates to that capacitance on start-up. The vehicle then requires additional capacitance to continue steering for you. There are likely other methods that might work besides touching the wheel.