Article Summary
- Personal Pilot L3 had been available in the 7 Series for about two years.
- The luxury sedan’s facelift will feature level 2 driver assistance without touching the steering wheel.
- BMW claims demand for Level 3 wasn’t at a profitable level.
If you stumble upon a 7 Series with this unusual grille, there’s a reason why the kidneys look different. BMW had to make room for extra sensors necessary for autonomous driving. They’re necessary for the car’s Personal Pilot L3, an optional feature that enables Level 3 self-driving. It’s an eyes-off, hands-off system that works at speeds of up to 37 mph (60 km/h). However, there are some caveats.
It doesn’t function in construction zones or toll plazas, nor in rainy or wintry conditions when temperatures drop below 3°C (37.4°F). It’s also far from cheap, with BMW listing the option in Germany at €5,110. Two years after its launch, it hasn’t proven popular enough to secure a spot on the options list for the upcoming 7 Series facelift.
Debuting next month, the G70 LCI will skip this autonomous driving technology. In a Q&A session following the company’s annual conference, BMW confirmed that the Level 3 self-driving system is being dropped. We first caught wind of the move last month, when German business magazine Automobilwoche reported Munich’s intention to phase out Personal Pilot L3. Now, it’s official.
“We had the level 3 system in the vehicles, but we realized that the demand for this was not at a stage where we could be profitable. We have to be profitable in our business, of course. That’s why we no longer have a level 3 offer, but that doesn’t mean that we are going to disregard higher levels. As soon as we have business models that are feasible, we will pursue them.”
R&D boss, Joachim Post, explained the reasoning behind discontinuing the Level 3-certified setup. It ultimately comes down to demand and cost, as too few customers opted for the system to make it profitable. The 2027 7 Series will instead receive the hands-off, eyes-on Symbiotic Drive Level 2 system that debuted in the new iX3. BMW will likely offer this feature on the reborn i3 when the electric sedan debuts tomorrow.
On the Neue Klasse crossover, the Level 2-certified system costs €1,450. That’s roughly three and a half times less than the 7 Series’ Level 3 tech. An iX3 equipped with this feature can detect traffic lights, automatically stop at red, and set off at green. However, the car won’t move if the onboard camera determines the driver isn’t paying attention to the road. In the iX3, the camera sits below the rearview mirror, giving it a much wider field of view.
BMW isn’t abandoning the goal of having more advanced self-driving systems. That said, Level 3 won’t return until the company is confident it can turn a profit. For now, Level 2 will suffice, and it’s set to arrive in the United States with the iX3’s launch this summer.
