The international auto show has always been the vane of the automotive industry, and the future trends and development plans of major automobile companies can be seen with some clues. But the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, after four years, is a little different, and people's rush to traffic topics overshadows the technology, technology and future trends that should be the protagonists. But the author believes that the flow is a gust of wind, when the limelight is strong, but there is always a time when the wind blows, just like fashion and trends, there is a season different, but the classics will last forever, can cross time and space, leave a deep impression on people of different generations, and resonate and emotionally.
Staying true to one's principles and driving on the established track is the most unique and pure feature of the BMW brand. Since its establishment in 1916, with a history of more than a century, from the perspective of a hundred years of time, the traffic topic of the 2024 Beijing Auto Show is really small, and even the great changes we are experiencing in the switching of oil and electricity, similar drastic changes have occurred more than a dozen times in BMW's past 100 years of history. No matter how the climate changes, BMW has always been working on extreme handling and driving pleasure.
The BMW booth at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show allows us to see BMW from the future, but at the same time, we can also find that BMW is reinventing the classics and still has a pure pursuit of handling, and there is still that calmness in the noise. The BMW New Generation Concept Car in China for the first time can be glimpsed in the tube, although it is a concept car, but it is not far away, and the first mass-produced BMW New Generation Model will be launched in 2025.
Let's start with what the "new generation" is. The design of the BMW 1500 amazed the world at the time and was an instant hit. The classic "Horn Angle" design has influenced the BMW 1500 and its successors to this day, and the BMW 1500 and its successors are collectively known as the Die NEUE KLASSE (German New Generation). BMW's new-generation concept car pays homage to the classics, with a sci-fi and retro look, and the C-pillar design interprets the "Hofmeister Corner" in a new angled way. The classic kidney grille and angel eye headlights are retained, but the grille is romantically exaggerated, and the daytime running lights are abstractly simplified.
On the other hand, the concept car has a futuristic sense of technology, and the purpose of creating a sense of technology is to control and drive. The concept car showcases the BMW Panoramic Vision Bridge, with a screen running from left to right at the bottom of the windshield to display important information with brighter light and contrast. Because the screen and the road are in the same line of sight of the driver. The purpose of technology is still to serve control. For the first time, the central display has an irregular shape that can be optimised according to the driver's line of sight, always ensuring that the screen is seen optimally and that the "eye forward" is always the driving concept.
Other models are no exception. The new pure electric BMW i4 made its world debut, the author has test-driven the old BMW i4, which is very special, although it is a pure electric model, but it brings you almost the driving texture of fuel rear-wheel drive, and the driving pleasure of this electric car is unique. The world premiere of the new MINI family, the application of the industry's first round OLED display, the MINI go-kart-like driving texture is unforgettable, continue to maintain a unique driving feeling, and lead the way in cuteness and fun.
If you think that the new generation of concept cars is still a bit far away, I suggest that you really pay attention to the new BMW 5 Series, which still spares no effort to interpret BMW's driver-first principle. Even when intelligent driving has become the hottest topic in 2024, when all car companies are frantically involuting without urban pilot assistance, they are afraid of falling behind.
BMW remained unmoved, insisting on pure driving. There is a very special term in BMW's R&D system called "driving in the ring", which refers to ensuring that the user is always in the driving mechanism during the driving process, so that the user has a clear boundary of use, knows what he can do, and what kind of help the system can provide for himself. Maintaining this awareness is essential for driving safety.
BMW is not lagging behind, but cautious and persistent. The new BMW 5 Series also has Autopilot features, and it's particularly magical. The all-new BMW 5 Series has launched an automatic lane change function with gaze confirmation, when driving on the highway, the system will automatically judge the surrounding car conditions, and then provide the driver with a left or right lane change overtake, the car prompt, the steering wheel will also appear corresponding UI prompts, if the driver's eyes look left or right in the rearview mirror, the system confirms the action, which means that the driver has confirmed, and will automatically perform the autonomous lane change.
The action of looking in the rearview mirror is exactly the same as the driver needs to look at the rearview mirror when driving to change lanes, and it is natural to take a look. This function is very BMW, BMW in the design of intelligent driving into account the consciousness of people, in the driving of human consciousness has a decisive impact on the final performance results, the final feeling is that BMW's intelligent driving is in line with the hearts of the people, and I think the same, the heart has a heart, man-machine integration, intelligent driving perfect integration in the BMW care about the control of driving.
When intelligent electrification has become the theme of people's conversation, talking about driving has become a precious topic, the new BMW 5 Series has achieved the same combination of oil and electricity, and the appearance of oil and electricity is the same, which is the only luxury brand, BMW is changing, keeping pace with the times to adapt to the Chinese market, but at the same time, BMW has not changed, still insisting on handling.
The handling of the all-new BMW 5 Series is as smooth as jade and as delicate as water in the author's test drive experience. The new BMW 5 Series can control the curve of the suspension during the wheel jump, and deliberately designed a roll axis that is almost parallel to the ground to make the vehicle more stable. The applied lateral dynamics management system has been developed to the 9th generation, which can very sensitively monitor various dynamic parameters of the vehicle through sensors, analyze and predict the next dynamics of the vehicle, and then accurately and stabilize the low-coordination chassis systems. It can make the vehicle as a whole in a very stable sense of control, without pushing the head or tail, so that the driver can clearly perceive the current state of the vehicle and the upcoming changes.
The all-new BMW 5 Series is also equipped with an electronic power steering system with variable steering ratio as standard, which takes into account steering precision and clarity. Jumping off to a fast start and being on call is a hallmark of BMW, but the all-new BMW 5 Series does the deceleration too! The deceleration feedback produced by deceleration is very much in line with the driver's intuitive expectations, with no lag or dragging.
At the hustle and bustle of the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, we saw the unchanged BMW, still insisting on handling and driving, and also saw the changed BMW, fuel, pure electric, plug-in hybrid, hydrogen energy power multiple drive forms, concept cars, BMW "panoramic vision bridge", the sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology, but the core of these technologies is still the same handling and driving. The all-new BMW 5 Series, which was launched in the first year of intelligent driving, still integrates intelligent assisted driving into the control, integrating people and vehicles. BMW's success as a classic is not immutable, the vitality of the classic is innovation, and the core of the classic is the penetration of the product, which can cross time and space and reach the hearts of the people. reminds me of Li Bai's poem full of romantic feelings and historical vicissitudes, "Today's people don't see the ancient times and months, and this month once looked like the ancients." The same is true of the classics, people today do not see the old BMW, BMW used to be the same as the old people.