Munich. The new BMW 3 Series range has once again
raised the bar for sports performance in the premium mid-size segment
with its superior powertrain and chassis technology. The
latest-generation BMW 3 Series Sedan and BMW 3 Series Touring models
are also built to excite with their new and extremely precise – yet
still recognisably BMW – styling and their cutting-edge innovations in
the areas of control/operation, driver assistance systems and
connectivity. Indeed, their attractive design and advanced
connectivity technology helped the sporty Sedan and dynamic, elegant
Touring to secure a brace of wins in readers’ surveys recently
conducted by the motoring magazines auto, motor und sport and Moove.
The BMW 3 Series was judged to be the best new car design of the year,
earning it the Autonis 2019 award. It also led the way in the Car
Connectivity Award’s blue-riband discipline, claiming the title of
best-connected car in the Connected Cars category.
BMW picked up three more accolades in this year’s edition of the Car
Connectivity Award. In a poll of the magazines’ readers, the BMW Live
Cockpit Professional, the Driving Assistant Professional package and
the Bowers Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System each took top
spot in their respective categories. The winning systems already
enhance driving pleasure, safety and comfort in several of the brand’s
model ranges. The prizes were presented yesterday at an awards
ceremony in Stuttgart.
Captivating design, progressive connectivity: a double success
for the new BMW 3 Series.
The design of the new BMW 3 Series is a modern take on the sporting
elegance for which BMW is renowned, and winning the Autonis 2019
delivers striking evidence of how much it appeals to popular taste;
with 32.3 per cent of the votes, the new BMW 3 Series was the clear
winner in its class. This was the 14th time a readers’ vote had
decided the Autonis winners. More than 13,700 readers of auto, motor
und sport took part in the latest poll and were asked to choose their
favourites from 100 new models spanning ten vehicle classes.
The Car Connectivity Award is also put to a public vote, with over
12,000 readers of auto, motor und sport and Moove participating in its
sixth edition. Standout systems and technologies from BMW in the areas
of connectivity, navigation, driver assistance and audio attracted the
most votes in four of the eleven categories. The new BMW 3 Series was
victorious in the Connected Cars category, taking 35.7 per cent of the
votes. The new BMW 3 Series Sedan was the brand’s first new model to
be offered with the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant as an option.
And the new BMW 3 Series range also offers an exceptional array of
online-based functions for increasing comfort and convenience, safety
and driving pleasure – from Real Time Traffic Information, On-Street
Parking Information, hazard warning, BMW Online services, Remote
Services and the BMW Digital Key to the seamless interaction between
the car and the driver’s digital devices via BMW Connected.
BMW also collects awards in the Navigation, Safety and Sound
categories.
The BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant is part of the BMW Live
Cockpit Professional system, which was judged to be the best new
product in the “Navigation systems” category with 33.5 per cent of the
votes. As well as connected navigation and the BMW Intelligent
Personal Assistant, this equipment feature also includes the new BMW
Operating System 7.0 – which comprises a fully digital screen grouping
made up of the instrument cluster and Control Display, plus
customisable graphics. It also enables multimodal operation via the
touchscreen display, iDrive Controller, steering wheel buttons or
voice and gesture control.
In the “Safety assistance systems” category, the Driving Assistant
Professional package was crowned the readers’ favourite with 29.6 per
cent of the votes. Its range of functions includes Active Cruise
Control with Stop Go function, the Steering and lane control
assistant, the Lane Keeping Assistant with active side collision
protection, the Evasion Assistant, Cross Traffic Alert, road priority
warning, wrong-way warning and the reversing assistant. The latest
version of the Driving Assistant Professional now also features
real-time 3D visualisation of the surrounding area using graphics in
the instrument cluster, plus – depending on the model – the Lane
Change Assistant. It therefore represents the state of the art in
driving assistance systems and helps the BMW Group to pave the way for
automated driving.
In the “Sound systems” category, the Bowers Wilkins Diamond
Surround Sound System – available for the BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series,
BMW 7 Series, BMW 8 Series, BMW X5, BMW X6 and BMW X7 – accounted for
every second vote cast. Boasting a fully active ten-channel amplifier,
dynamic equalizing, as many as 20 partly illuminated speakers and up
to 1,508 watts of music power (depending on the model specified), the
system delivers a beautifully precise and multifaceted acoustic
experience whose pristine quality can be enjoyed from all seats in
equal measure.