BMW is taking on Tesla’s FSD with urban driver assist starting in 2027

BMW says that it will expand its navigation-guided, partially automated driving capabilities into urban environments starting in 2027, launching first in Germany with other markets to follow.

The new system can help steer, speed up, and slow down the vehicle on both highways and city streets using its built-in GPS navigation. While driving in town, it can assist with changing lanes, making turns, yielding to other cars, and driving through roundabouts. But as a Level 2 driver assist system, it still requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road and stay ready to take over at any moment. On the highway, BMW will allow drivers to remove their hands from the steering wheel — but on local roads, they’ll need to keep their hands on the wheel.

BMW is the latest automaker to commit to releasing a partially autonomous city driving feature to its customers, as the industry races to keep up with Tesla and its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. BMW, in particular, recently introduced its next-generation Neue Klasse platform, which includes a driver assist system partly powered by Qualcomm’s technology. And with hands-free highway driving now widely available in many mass-market vehicles, the next frontier is a safe and capable city driving feature that rivals FSD.

1/6Image: BMW

BMW says its system works cooperatively with drivers rather than fighting their control, which means they can steer, brake, or speed up at any point to adjust their driving without shutting the system off. At the same time, the car shows what it sees and what the assistance system is doing right in your line of sight through the heads-up display and in a clear 3D map on the main dashboard screen.

The necessary cameras and sensors already come built into models like BMW’s 3 Series, 7 Series, X5, iX3, and iX4. BMW can activate the feature through an over-the-air software update. The system follows new European safety rules that let cars suggest and make automated driving moves on city streets for the first time. BMW says that outside experts have already road-tested the setup and confirmed it meets the technical standards, with final official government approval expected in early 2027.

With more cars equipped with partial automation hitting the road, safety researchers are growing increasingly worried about driver attention and the potential for these systems to cause crashes. There is compelling evidence that, regardless of the company, most driver-assist systems are less safe than normal human driving. Drivers tend to develop an overreliance on these systems to drive the car for them — even after a short period of use. And when it’s time to take back control of the vehicle, their reaction times are slower than what’s considered safe.

BMW is entering risky territory with the adoption of a Level 2 driving feature. Much like Tesla, the company is emphasizing that drivers remain responsible for the vehicle even while using the partially autonomous system in urban environments. Tesla does the same for its FSD feature, but some customers have successfully argued in court that the company bears some responsibility for crashes when they occur.

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