[froggo]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy used F11 (in Europe), with models from years up to 2015 being within my budget. One of the features I found convenient on the cars I've driven is Lane Assist, but I was quite surprised to find out that at least early implementations in F10/F11 were unable to keep the car within lane by gently controlling steering wheel (via Power Steering), instead being limited to alerting via vibration.

As I definitely want this feature (Lane Assist with self-steering) on the car I'll buy, and having spend quite a few hours already on this (and other) forums without finding an answer, I have a few questions to you knowledgeable people :

1. Since when were F10/11s equipped with steering-capable Lane Assist (as an option of course)?
2. When looking at offers, how can I check if the given car is equipped (I assume no way to tell by the looks, so a specific option name maybe?)
3. If the car doesn't have this functionality, but has regular "vibrating" Lane Assist, would it be possible to easily retrofit it (perhaps just with coding)? If so, would that depend on model year or being preLCI vs. LCI?

Thanks

[Qsilver7]

I don't think what you're looking for was available during the f10/f11 production run. If it was...it would have been offered in the last year or so of production. You'll need to look at the g30/g11 5 series for that type of interactive lane assist.

Below are some of the things that were introduced with the new G chassis 5 series in 2017:

State-of-the-art driver assistance systems for maximum comfort and convenience.

The all-new BMW 5 Series features an unusually large number of automated functions for a vehicle in this segment. These functions monitor the vehicle’s environment using a combination of a forward facing stereo camera mounted on the windshield near the rear-view mirror and optional radar and ultrasound sensors.

Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go for all driving situations.
With BMW’s latest Advanced Driver Assistant Systems clearing the way towards semi-automated driving, the all-new BMW 5 Series is the most innovative BMW 5 Series to date. Dynamic Cruise Control (DCC), which is standard on the BMW 5 Series Sedan, maintains any selected speed between 19 – 130mph. It also supports energy-saving coasting by decoupling the engine from the powertrain when the driver lifts off the accelerator at higher speeds. Active Driver Assistant Plus which includes the new and improved Active Cruise Control (ACC) with Stop & Go uses radar to adjust the pre-selected speed to the traffic situation. The system operates at all speeds up to 130 mph and is capable of braking to a standstill in stop & go traffic and automatically senses if the vehicle in front is moving once more. If the vehicle has been placed into standby mode by pushing the resume button on the steering wheel, the all-new BMW 5 Series can automatically start moving again up to 30 seconds after coming to a full-stop. Active Driving Assistant Plus now also takes into account highway exits and traffic circles, where it adjusts the acceleration dynamics to suit these special traffic situations. The control technology monitors two vehicles ahead so that vehicle speed can be adjusted earlier and smoother. Heating elements ensure that the front-mounted radar sensor remains fully operational even if snow is falling.

Active Lane Departure Warning.
The Lane Departure Warning system operates at speeds between 40 – 130 mph. If the forward-facing stereo camera detects that the vehicle is straying from its lane, Active Lane Keeping Assistant helps the driver steer back on course with smooth and seamless steering interventions. Utilizing the Blind Spot Detection system (12-130 mph), when switching lanes, Active Lane Keeping Assistant with Side Collision Avoidance steers the vehicle back into its lane if its sensors detect another vehicle in the next lane. Side Collision Avoidance, which operates at speeds between 40 and 130 mph, warns drivers by means of a visual signal or steering wheel vibration if another vehicle has drifted too close to the side of the vehicle. If the system detects sufficient room on the other side of the vehicle, it correctively steers the vehicle in this direction and out of possible accident prone situations. This corrective steering assistance can be overridden at any time by the driver.

Evasion aid: evasive steering around obstacles.
Another new function contained with Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go + Active Driving Assistant is the evasion aid. If a quick lane change is required, for example when the vehicle in front brakes aggressively, the evasion aid – which operates at speeds up to 100 mph – supports the necessary evasive steering action. Faster steering and counter steering during an evasive maneuver results in less vehicle instability, supported by Dynamic Stability Control (DSC). While executing the maneuver, the evasion aid also uses information from the vehicle’s sensor systems to check how much unobstructed space is available around the vehicle. At speeds over 100 mph, the system no longer provides actual steering support and instead focuses on maximizing vehicle stability.

Active Lane Keeping Assistant & Traffic Jam Assistant semi-automated steering.
Two systems, providing a semi-automated driving capability are Active Lane Keeping Assistant & Traffic Jam Assistant. Together, these systems operate between 0 – 130 mph and uses smooth, comfort-enhancing steering interventions to keep the vehicle in lane. The latest generation of the system features improved image recognition and software algorithms to keep the vehicle reliably on course. In certain situations, particularly in stop-start traffic, the system also uses the vehicle in front as an additional reference point. In very heavy or stop & go traffic, the Active Lane Keeping Assistant & Traffic Jam Assistant reduces driving stress. The system’s hands-on-wheel detection is very sensitive, and can identify hand contact even when only a few fingers are touching the wheel.

[froggo]

Thank you - that's too bad though, I indeed apparently misunderstood functionality available on F10s, I think I was mostly misled by this video (which shows auto-steering working well on preLCI F11 fitted with LCI components), but it actually shows traffic jam assist on low speed... Tbh I don't really understand this limitation, as AFAIK e.g. Audi had such feature around 2012-2013 already (if not earlier), probably some other brands similarly.
G11/G30 are unfortunately way outside my budget, so I will need to re-evaluate priorities and either give up on this feature or on BMW

[Hoa]

If you get a 2014-2016 with traffic jam assistant (TAJ), it will steer, stop and go for you. They are only available for RWD vehicles because it requires electric steering and xDrive (AWD) have hydraulic.

[froggo]

Thanks Hoa, while I was aware of TJA (though it only works at low speeds, so not really what I was looking for), I was not aware of xDrive's hydraulic steering, which makes it even worse - I was actually planning to get an xDrive and thus even that won't be available.

[walmark]

TJA by default works up to 35mph, but you can code it to go higher.
That said, it gets really squirrely above 55mph, so while possible it is not recommended. I keep mine at 35mph.

[BMW FOREVER]

Originally Posted by froggo

Thanks Hoa, while I was aware of TJA (though it only works at low speeds, so not really what I was looking for), I was not aware of xDrive's hydraulic steering, which makes it even worse - I was actually planning to get an xDrive and thus even that won't be available.

NOT ALL Xdrive is hydraulic though. For example 528i xdrive is electric. So you can get xdrive and TJA both on the 528i.

The reason BMW went with hydraulic on the 535i and above is because of space constraints. They couldn't fit the xdrive hardware along with the slightly bigger electric power steering components when the engine was taking up too much space. They fixed this in tbe G30 generation.

[jamesBebby]

By the sounds of it you need to be looking for TJA option, when coded it to 63mph.
Cheers, James