Lane change assist for big BMW SUVs

THE first BMW X5, X6 and X7s fitted with the brand’s new lane change assistant technology have hit showrooms with no increase in price.

Now fitted as standard to the German marque’s biggest SUVs, lane change assistant is the latest addition to BMW’s intelligent driver assistance suite, more specifically the driving assistant professional package.

Using a combination of radar sensors and cameras, the system – when activated – monitors and analyses the vehicle’s surroundings, including the required space, to determine the safest time to move into the driver’s desired lane.

Once deemed safe, the car will automatically make the manoeuvre and return to lane guidance mode.

The system was first fitted to the X6 in August and later the X5 and X7 in September and can only be operated between 70 and 180km/h.

Nine prerequisites have been built into the system and have to be met before the system will help the driver change lanes, naturally the first of those be the system has to be activated.

According to BMW, the subsequent steps are: “the vehicle is travelling on a multi-lane freeway with clear lane markings, the turn indicator is held in the one touch signalling position for approximately one second, the driving lane to be crossed has been detected, hands on the steering wheel must be detected at the start of the manoeuvre, lane change warning is active and not issuing a warning, no vehicles or stationary objects have been detected in the manoeuvring zone to the side of the vehicle, the vehicle is travelling at a speed above approximately 70km/h”.

A BMW Australia spokesperson confirmed there are plans to install the technology in other models in the future.