BMW 3 Series to score 7 Series tech

BMW Australia has confirmed that the next-generation 3 Series will score infotainment and safety technology from the latest 5 Series and 7 Series models.

Less than 18 months after the local launch of the 7 Series, which introduced a colour display central locking key, remote control driverless parking and gesture control functions, the technology has trickled down to the 5 Series that goes on sale locally this week.

BMW Australia head of product planning Shawn Ticehurst expected that the 3 Series would be next in line.

“It’ll definitely trickle down,” he said at the national media launch of the 5 Series in Adelaide, South Australia, this week.

“The trickle down is definitely there (and) I think in general that will continue. You see a lot of 7 Series innovations trickling into 5 Series.

“There’s a few things we’ve made standard on 7 Series that are optional on this car, so it trickles down but there’s a point where 7 Series will have it standard because everything needs to meet that buyer expectation – things like gesture control and remote parking, they’re part of an Innovations Package on 5 Series.”

Asked whether BMW could make the same leap with the next-generation 3 Series, due for global reveal in 2019, Mr Ticehurst replied: “I think we can, yeah.”“It’s still a few years away, but I would think we could expect to see especially in areas of connectivity and displays, that will move pretty quickly,” he added.

Mr Ticehurst also indicated that the pace of technological advancement meant the 5 Series gained some features lacking in the 7 Series, hinting that the same could happen with the next 3 Series.

“We’re seeing now in the industry that tech is moving so much faster than it used to.

“So there’s small things, some tech that’s appearing for the first time in 5 Series that will come on 7 Series but a little bit later – and that says so much about the speed of this technology now.

“It’s not rolling out every year or two years, it’s rolling out every six months.”