The all-new BMW 5 Series long-wheelbase version made its global debut at the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show, setting a new benchmark for intelligent luxury cars with unprecedented breakthrough design and benchmarking flagship intelligence. The benchmark luxury experience is reflected in the all-sensory pleasure of driving and the peace of mind of using the entire scene, nurtured by BMW’s super-strong R&D system and “hellish” validation testing. 1. The BMW Group operates more than 500 test vehicles worldwide, with a total test mileage of 10 million kilometers, equivalent to circling the equator 250 times. The test environment covers roads and test sites all over the world, with comprehensive coverage of extremely hot, extremely cold, high humidity, and high-altitude regions; 2. More than 200 all-new BMW 5 Series long-wheelbase test vehicles underwent 240,000 kilometers of in-depth road testing; 3. Innovative pure electric BMW i5 battery technology and intelligent heat management system have been further upgraded to ensure excellent endurance performance and shorter charging times even in extremely low-temperature environments; 4. The power battery underwent 994 software tests and 155 hardware tests, far exceeding the industry average standards; 5. The L2+ level intelligent driving assistance system tested more than 130,000 kilometers, with over 100 updates for the Chinese market and over 2,000 local adjustments; 6. The all-new BMW 5 Series long-wheelbase version is about to roll off the production line at the BMW Shenyang production base and will begin nationwide deliveries in early 2024. Higher testing standards, “hellish” testing environments, and outstanding luxury quality BMW insists on no upper limit for testing and, through a powerful global R&D system and “hellish” testing, creates a vehicle product with outstanding luxury quality for users. For the all-new BMW 5 Series, the BMW Group operates more than 500 test vehicles worldwide, with a total test mileage of 10 million kilometers, equivalent to circling the equator 250 times. Half of these tests are for the drive system and chassis control system, ensuring that the new car still exhibits outstanding BMW driving quality. The test environment covers roads and test sites all over the world, with comprehensive coverage of extremely hot, extremely cold, high humidity, and high-altitude regions.
In order to optimize the dynamic performance of vehicles in extreme cold conditions, the 2022 new car underwent a year-long rigorous testing and winter climate daily driving on the Arctic ice cap. The fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology successfully met the long-term cold test, demonstrating excellent stability in the motor, charging device, high-voltage power battery, and the cabin and battery pack heat pump system. The innovative all-electric BMW i5 battery technology and intelligent heat management system have been further upgraded to ensure excellent endurance performance and shorter charging times even in extremely low temperature environments. The innovative all-electric BMW i5 also demonstrates exciting handling. Even in extreme conditions, the dynamic stability control system and active limited slip device can still flexibly cooperate, showcasing the globally renowned driving quality of BMW. As an intelligent luxury car tailored for Chinese users, the new BMW 5 Series long wheelbase also underwent comprehensive and rigorous testing in China with complex terrain and climate conditions. At the same time, the Chinese R&D team optimized intelligent driving assistance functions and in-car digital functions to better meet the needs of Chinese users, making the new car more suitable for the Chinese market.
More than 200 new BMW 5 series long-wheelbase test cars have undergone a deep road test of 240,000 kilometers, covering a vast area from 22° to 50° north latitude and 89° to 123° east longitude, with temperatures ranging from minus 40°C to plus 46°C. At the same time, more than 40 performance tests were conducted, with over 1,000 software test versions. The BMW China R&D team meticulously verified the vehicle’s durability, dynamic performance, and the stability of various systems in various complex environments, striving to deliver reliable luxury quality to Chinese customers. Invisible “car collision tests” build a powerful electromagnetic “immune system.”
The all-new BMW 5 Series is equipped with a large number of sophisticated electronic devices, which not only emit electromagnetic waves to the outside world while driving, but are also susceptible to electromagnetic interference from the outside. In order to ensure that the electronic system of the all-new BMW 5 Series can still operate normally in strong magnetic field environments, development engineers conducted an “invisible car collision test” on the new car through EMC electromagnetic compatibility testing comparable to aviation standards. The industry standard specifies an electromagnetic anti-interference test field strength of 30 volts/meter, while the average test field strength in the BMW EMC laboratory can reach 100 volts/meter, and can go as high as 140 volts/meter under extreme test conditions, fully simulating the various electromagnetic interferences that the vehicle can receive while driving on public roads, thus building a strong “immune system” for the vehicle. BMW also conducted 994 software tests and 155 hardware tests on the power battery, far exceeding the industry average. In addition to actual road tests, with the help of the internationally leading high-voltage power battery verification laboratory, a comprehensive range of mechanical verification tests such as fire, seawater immersion, dropping, puncturing, vibration, and compression fully verified the all-new BMW 5 Series power battery’s all-round safety design concept. Get in the car and start right away, refined human-machine interaction makes car operation smoother. BMW has established the largest and most comprehensive R&D network outside of Germany in China, with over 3,200 R&D engineers capable of full-process automobile R&D, as well as full-stack intelligent connected car software development capabilities, including powertrain, electronic/electrical infrastructure, software, digitalization, user interaction, design, driving experience, body, complete vehicle, and project management, and more.
Human-computer interaction is one of the core components of user digital experience. BMW has over 20 years of software development expertise. The BMW software development team builds software approximately 100,000 times per day. BMW’s Chengmai Information Technology Co., Ltd., with its deep software expertise and professional knowledge, was fully involved in the software development for the new BMW 5 Series digital experience. This includes the in-car BMW floating screen, the latest generation operating system, BMW intelligent personal assistant, online BMW navigation, digital ecosystem, and the My BMW App for mobile phones, as well as the L2+ level intelligent driving assistance system optimized for China, covering all aspects of the digital experience. China is the only country outside of Germany to establish the Skylab human-computer interaction design team and Usability Lab user research laboratory. In order to better understand the needs of Chinese customers, the BMW research team has also included a cognitive psychology doctor. Since 2020, BMW has conducted customer research on screen interaction experience in China, completing three rounds of customer research before the product launch, with over 120 customers invited to participate in in-depth interviews totaling approximately 300 hours, contributing to the highly praised human-computer interaction experience of the new BMW 5 Series. Combining virtual and real-world testing to achieve the best partnership between humans and machines. As a luxury brand that is “customer-centric,” BMW is committed to delivering mature and stable functions to customers, and then pursuing a high standard of driving and riding experience. In the field of autonomous driving, BMW will conduct global testing of up to 2.4 million kilometers before mass production of the system. In China, BMW has established a dedicated team for the development of autonomous driving and demand analysis, focusing on the more complex traffic conditions and special scenarios in China, and conducting local development, testing, and optimization of intelligent driving assistance systems to adapt to Chinese road conditions and driving habits. The new BMW 5 Series is equipped with an L2+ level intelligent driving assistance system, which has been tested for more than 130,000 kilometers and updated over 100 times for the Chinese market. The system’s updates and optimizations have made it more suitable for Chinese road conditions and user driving habits, including the automatic lane change function, which has been optimized based on Chinese customers’ physical characteristics and driving habits to ensure their safety and convenience. The highlight of the BMW intelligent driving assistance system is its high safety and advanced digital intelligent simulation tools, which bring real roads into the laboratory and combine real testing with simulator data for a double guarantee in research and development. The world-leading driving simulation center in Munich has provided significant advantages for the development of the L2+ level intelligent driving assistance system in the new BMW 5 Series. The BMW Group Driving Simulation Center covers an area of 11,400 square meters and has 14 high-fidelity simulators and high-dynamic simulators, capable of conducting up to 100 simulations per day. In addition to daily driving scenarios, the driving simulation center can comprehensively test dangerous or rarely occurring road scenarios to develop the most reliable and safest products for customers. Simultaneously, simulation testing can frequently reproduce various complex, specific driving scenarios, greatly improving evaluation effectiveness.
As the largest global test site for autonomous driving and parking, BMW Group’s Future Mobility Development Center in Sokolov, Czech Republic, is developing different levels of autonomous driving systems with the highest safety standards through on-site testing. The Future Mobility Development Center covers an area of 6 million square meters, equivalent to 840 standard soccer fields. It consists of 6 tracks, including rural and urban road traffic modules for testing advanced L4 level autonomous driving technology and systems. With high flexibility and efficiency, BMW can continuously test all possible driving scenarios to achieve real, reliable, and customer-oriented test results. As the standard for autonomous driving levels increases, the complexity of technology development will also increase exponentially. BMW will adhere to the highest safety standards to develop different levels of autonomous driving systems, providing users with a pleasant and comfortable driving experience. From small to large, from function, system to the entire vehicle, the entire set of strict R&D testing and verification processes has a clear goal – the perfect user experience. The all-new BMW 5 Series long-wheelbase version is about to roll off the production line at the BMW Shenyang production base and will begin nationwide delivery in early 2024.