Press Release
Part II: The New BMW 645Ci – In Depth
Article contents - Page referencePart I: The New 645Ci - In Depth
6 Series Photo album - 40 Photos added
Equipment:
Assistance Systems for Driving Dynamics, Motoring Comfort, and Superior Safety “Only the best is – just – good enough.� This demanding claim applies in particular to the equipment and features of the BMW 645Ci. And this means not only features concealed within the body of the car such as suspension assistance systems, but also the visible and invisible “helpers� within the interior. Adaptive Headlights turning night into day.Good light inside and outside the car is crucial to the occupants’ well-being and safety on the road – which is precisely why the Adaptive Headlights developed by BMW are available as an option also in the 6 Series, bi-xenon fixed-position headlights coming as standard. Adaptive Headlights improve illumination of the road ahead by up to 90 per cent, thus making a significant contribution to extra safety on the road. The headlight units are swivelled in their position as a function of the steering wheel angle, the yaw rate and road speed. They are activated as soon as the car starts moving. With the car at a standstill and with the wheels turned to the left (or, on right-hand drive cars, to the right) the Adaptive Headlights are required by law to face straight ahead in order not to dazzle oncoming traffic. A standard feature of Adaptive Headlights is dynamic headlight range control compensating any differences in load conditions and vehicle weight. A headlight cleaning system comes as standard. Dynamic brake lights helping to avoid bumper-to-bumper collisions.
Tail and brake lights in LED technology also serve to improve safety on the road. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are not just brighter than conventional bulbs, but also react more quickly and live much longer. A further feature of the new BMW 6 Series is BMW’s innovative adaptive brake lights (Brake Force Display) enlarging the area covered by the brake lights as a function of brake force application. This clearly shows other motorists following from behind how hard the driver of the 6 Series is applying the brakes, reducing the risk of rear-end accidents accordingly. Interior illumination: a superior lights concept providing a wonderful experience in space.
Featuring a special interior illumination concept, the new BMW 6 Series offers occupants pleasant and harmonious illumination and helps to enhance the feeling of safety and space inside the car when driving at night. The primary objective of this concept is to provide homogeneous interior illumination of the highest standard, meaning that all light units should allow ergonomic control without any dazzling effect in the interior. Free-area reflectors like on the new 7 Series ensure very homogeneous illumination of all working areas inside the car. Even in standard trim, the new 6 Series comprises a wide range of different lights, including a reading lamp with two LEDs above the centre console. With dazzle-free light being provided by the free-area reflectors, the illumination effect provided is very homogeneous in creating a genuine ambience. This light is supplemented by two footwell lights adding an extra touch of style and sophistication. The additional lights package available as an option comprises, interalia, light-emitting diodes in the door closing handles and on the door panels. In combination with the interior reading light and footwell illumination, these lights significantly enhance the feeling of space and, accordingly, the occupants’ well-being. Illuminated entry strips in the door cut-outs are also available as an option, providing a harmonious lighting effect to perfectly accentuate the exclusivity of the new 6 Series. Yet another feature in this special package is illumination of the outside area around the car’s doors with six light-emitting diodes on the bottom of the exterior mirrors. As soon as the driver unlocks the car by remote control, the LEDs illuminate the entry area in front of the doors for about 20 seconds. And again by remote control, the driver is also able to switch on the outside illumination when getting out of the car. iDrive: the ultimate in ergonomics.
Introducing iDrive, BMW has created a control philosophy leading to a new dimension in automotive ergonomics. In a nutshell, iDrive allows the motorist to intuitively operate a whole range of secondary functions while hardly taking his eyes off the traffic around him. Most functions crucial to motoring are arranged directly on or around the steering wheel, nearly all basic comfort functions are housed in the centre console. The driver and front passenger are thus able to operate all other services, settings and functions intuitively by means of the Controller and Control Display without even looking, the latter being a 6.5-inch colour display with 8-bit colour resolution featured as standard. The Control Centre as a whole thus integrates a complete range of functions, avoiding the confusion of a large number of individual switches and control units on the dashboard. The Control Display: transflective technology providing a brilliant picture at all times.
This new generation of display units is equipped with transflective technology reflecting daylight – which makes other displays unclear or even illegible on the surface – at the back of the display. This passive reflection including and incorporating the daylight effect helps to make the display even clearer and more brilliant. Under poor light conditions or in the dark, clarity is ensured by the transmissive background illumination with brightness adjusted by a sensor to current light conditions (or manually by the driver or front passenger, as required). And last but not least, the display comes with a heater in order to reach the optimum operating temperature as quickly as possible even with extreme temperatures outside. The main menu presented on the display is split up into four areas: Communications, Navigation or On-Board Information, Entertainment, and Climate Control. Pressing the Controller in the main menu, the driver or front passenger can access the fifth area, that is Information comprising sound and display settings, vehicle settings and maintenance messages. Controller: a wide range of functions in one hand.
Within these areas, the driver or front passenger is able to select and operate various functions on various levels by means of the Controller. Positioned conveniently at the front end of the armrest, the Controller fits perfectly into the driver’s hand, the driver operating the multi-function button with his fingers while resting his arm on the armrest. Pushing the Controller in the four directions of the compass (Low Controller with 24 rest points), the driver is able to change from one area to the other or adjust the focus within one menu. Turning the Controller, the driver is able to navigate within the menu, pressing the Controller to select and confirm the menu point currently marked by the cursor. Pressing a button behind the Controller, finally, the user can access the main menu directly for extra convenience. A Controller with variable surface touch moving in 8 directions is available as an option. The variable touch effect gives the user an even better feeling for the specific operation being carried out. To provide the desired effect, the Controller comes with an electric motor generating a certain turning force or resistance, rotary motion of the Controller being detected by an optical sensor with the software dynamically calculating the new torque value to be built up by the motor in response to even the smallest change of the Controller’s angle. The additional diagonal positions in setting the Controller allow the user to navigate in the Professional navigation system map, a button on the Controller serving to activate the voice entry function integrated in the system. This High Controller comes with an 8.8-inch colour display featuring 256 colours, 16-bit colour resolution, and an image resolution of 640 x 240 pixels. Making a clear statement: new voice entry for even easier control.
The voice entry function available as an option on the 6 Series opens up an entirely new dimension in iDrive control – the voice dimension. Hence, this technology now goes much further than former voice input systems. Voice entry features a precise and reliable speaker-oriented user interface (UI), offers a much larger range of speech dialogues, and comes with many other enhanced functions. The new Text-to-Speech Engine function, for example, is able to read out texts such as e-mails, short messages or the names of radio stations to the driver. Another new feature is the interaction of graphics and speech: Previously separated from one another, these two functions have now been combined, the display, via voice entry, showing the operating mode and menu item currently chosen. Even the navigation system follows your voice.
Voice entry is able, conversely, to activate everything presented on the display. The name of this function, accordingly, is “You can speak out what you see�, the function enabling the user through short-cut terms to go into even greater detail either in the menu selected or in other menus. Previously the user had to do this by hand through the Controller. Use of the telephone has also been greatly facilitated, the driver now only being required, after activating the telephone menu, to speak out the name of the person he wishes to call and the appropriate number will be dialled automatically. This new voice entry and output system is able to control and mastermind nearly all functions and operations on the Control Display: the telephone, telephone directory, address database, SMS, BMW Assist, BMW Online, navigation, notebook, radio, CD/DVD/MP3, and the automatic air conditioning. In an nutshell, therefore, this comprehensive but easy-to-use technology supports the driver without distracting him from the road and traffic conditions. Head-Up Display enhancing the iDrive concept.
The innovative Head-Up Display, another important enhancement of the iDrive concept, also makes an important contribution to active safety and superior motoring comfort by presenting important information directly in the driver’s line of vision. The driver is therefore able to take up this information without even taking his eyes off the road, information to be presented in this way being selected via the Control Display and the Controller from a specific list of items and thus serving to meet the driver’s individual requirements. Personal settings such as the brightness of the instruments are memorised by the Key Memory, the Head-Up Display being able to present navigation messages and information on the car’s active cruise control, warnings from the Check/Control, and your current road speed (this latter item being the only information permanently presented by the Head-Up Display when activated). Important information always where you need it.
The virtual picture presented by the Head-Up Display is generated by a projector integrated in the instrument panel and transmitting the image on to a special windscreen, where from the perspective of the driver it appears roughly at the end of the engine compartment lid. Benefitting from this very ergonomic position of the image, the driver is able to concentrate on road traffic, not looking down at the cockpit unless absolutely necessary, and not suffering any problems in adjusting his eyes when changing his perspective from the road ahead to the instruments and vice versa. To provide a clear, easy-to-read image even under changing light conditions, the rain/light sensor controls the brightness of the image presented. Even a wet road or complete darkness will not reduce the quality of the image, since it adjusts to surrounding conditions at all times. You switch on the Head-Up Display by means of the lights switch centre.
