2019 BMW 3 Series Infotainment and Technology Review

BMW continues to push the traditional boundaries of automotive technology and the new crop of Bimmers showcase some impressively polished expertise in this realm.

We took the new BMW 330i M out for a spin to look at the inherent tech that BMW has imbedded into this core model of its line-up.

We first saw many of the features we are about to cover when we put the BMW 5 Series under the microscope back in 2017, and BMW has been head down bum up refining the systems ever since (the X5 and 1 Series now also feature the same technology).

BMW has also had spies in several other manufacturer vehicles looking at what is trending, how they are received and used by owners and the best way to present and integrate without compromising the brand expectations.

Knocking off this brand expectation is not a bad place to start. BMW has never really been on-board with Apple CarPlay or the Android Auto standardised application programming interfaces. Behind closed doors BMW (and for that matter, other prestige marque) spokespeople have often felt it cheapens the interior feel and homogenises the infotainment system in a way that makes sales folks nervous.

Better to provide a differentiation from the crowd with your own brand of infotainment.

Therefore the 3 Series (et al) offers no option of Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay only as a paid upgrade.

That Apple CarPlay option however, is well integrated and does not need an ugly cable to utilise like in so many other cars. Here you can Bluetooth your device, and then throw it into the wireless charging bay for the drive while utilising that familiar Apple interface.

We will say that with all our testing, the Bluetooth connectivity between vehicle and car was at times flaky. We needed to often reconnect devices, but also realise we were testing the limits of the system, switching between BMW infotainment connectivity and wireless based Apple CarPlay quite a lot. If you indeed pick a system and use it regularly, then the system is stable.

That interface is presented to the cabin via a couple of very nice screens. A 10.5-inch (27cm) touchscreen mounted high and central as well as a similar sized dash screen that initially feels busy, but ultimately is a vibrantly designed interface imparting a significant amount of info to the driver. It can be customised slightly, but this has no need to be, nor is it at Virtual Cockpit.

There is also a third driver visual interface, the full colour head-up display. BMW has refined this interface even further with efficient and impressive use of the space where they driver’s eyes spend the most time. The HUD further reduces the need for further razzmatazz on the instrument panel.

Other elements of the presentation include configurable ambient coloured lighting, a separate mid mounted climate control screen (that cleverly alters display colour at night) and hard buttons as well as a physical volume control knob and extensive line of pre-set selection buttons as shortcuts for anything in the infotainment system.

There are close to 50 pages in the cars manual devoted to Driver Assistance and CoPilot systems, and these are a showcase of the BMW.

Adaptive cruise control is integrated with the speed-sign recognition system, which works exceptionally well. The SET button on the steering wheel can be used to quickly reset the adaptive cruise control to the current speed limit – even if this is a temporary road-works speed limit for example.

We will say that if you want to finely set the cruise control speed with the steering wheel mounted toggle switch you may find it fiddly.

The camera and sensor system on the BMW read the road extremely well. We tested during bright sunshine, rain, dusk and dark, and rarely did the Bimmer not pick up the lane markings. This is both a testament to the on-board systems, and perhaps the council where we did our testing.

The lane-keeping system is aggressive though. Just be ready for a small fight if you want to override the automation system from sticking to the driving lane.

The Approach Control warning system is well calibrated, with little to know false-warning alerts during our testing period. For example, the system alerted to an approaching vehicle from the side that was travelling faster than it should, as well as a pedestrian jogging across a busy street some 30m ahead of the car. Whilst the alerts are there, they don’t cause panic, instead bringing the drivers attention to the job at hand.

When using the full CoPilot system, with Adaptative Cruise Control, Lane Keeping and the passive Approach Control systems the car will essentially drive itself. However, this is still nowhere near autonomy level 2 so BMW ensure drivers maintain a grip on the steering wheel with regular warnings including new LED indicators on the wheel itself.

The 330i M Sport’s CoPilot system also features a Driver Attention system via a camera monitoring the drivers eyes at the top of the dash. Interestingly, we found that having a clear line-of-sight to the camera meant having the steering wheel set higher than the ideal. So perhaps some refinement is needed on the ergonomics of this system.

Remote keyless entry and locking is a nice feature, though one story to relate: Our test car parked under the car-port detected the key in my pocket as I returned home from walking the dog. The doors unlock, lights come on, and mirrors unfold.

I continued inside my home and the car resets back to locked. Moments later my phone rings, it is my daughter saying that one of her friends had just driven past our home and noticed the lights were on with one of our cars and was worried we would have a flat battery. It is a nice caring neighbourhood.

Voice-Control in the BMW is a step up, giving a more modern twist onto the in-car disembodied vocal servant. You can give the car quite normal speaking commands, an example being “I’m too hot” which will spark a further conversation that sets the climate system temperature.

Whilst the voice-control system has been enhanced, the Gesture Control system is somewhat muted and limited. Which is fine, we are still not that on-board with waving hands in front of our infotainment for control or selection purposes. It just seems more distracting than even poking a touchscreen.

The BMW parking assistance system with extensive camera set up is almost magical selection of camera angles to help get into awkward, and even non-awkward parking bays. When hunting for a car-park this system will graphically show you which gaps are big enough to house your BMW.

One new feature is the ability to remember the last part of a journey, and with the flick of a button will steer backwards mimicking the path. This works well, in a slightly disconcerting way, to enable the driver to back out of a tight, even curved, driveway for example.

The connected vehicle model that BMW has been the vanguard of for some years now is refined in our test 3 Series. In-car apps allow the ability to check news headlines, weather situations and even Microsoft Office email and other documents. It works easily and is quite easy to set up if you already have in-the-cloud services such as email.

BMW has augmented the Connect App for smart phones, allowing an owner to remotely gain information from the car and activate some systems such as door locks, ventilation and lights. You can locate the position of your car, understand the fuel load and plenty of other info.

We had some trouble getting the remote access to a 3D view of the car despite having all of the “approvals” in the system set to yes. This is not the most useful of features, instead being able to precondition the cars temperature on a cold morning, and send the navigation system a street address are certainly options that are used more often.

The greatest luxury of the BMW ConnectedDrive system is the Concierge Service providing access to convenience services connecting the driver to useful information via human concierge.

All of these apps, information and services feed well into the exceedingly good BMW navigation system. This navigation learns your most frequent routes, gives traffic congestion information and – most importantly – is easy to read. Manual input of address information could be more elegant, but for the most part this is a great tool for getting between A and B.

BMW continues to push the boundaries of technology in modern vehicles, and the feature set continues to filter down from the more costly models. It is a nicely integrated set of systems that bring the BMW flavour to entertainment and information within the cabin, whilst tolerating the popular alternative of Apple CarPlay.

In the 5 and 7 Series originally, and now updated and implemented across the model range, BMW’s technology is certainly at the forefront.

What we liked:

Not so much: