All the reasons for why
you shouldn’t consider buying a BMW with their camera-based Driving Assistant
Plus system (5AT) using the KAFAS equipment. This system is offered for most 1-series,
2 series (including X1 and X2. Their vendors at least here in Denmark keep
their mouth shut , even though customers specify that
the Adaptive Cruise Control is essential to them (every time a new customer complaints
about it to the vendor, they have never heard about the problem before, right) BMW
themself don’t tell you about it. They even get upset, when one of the staff at
the vendor passed the product sheet(link to it below)
to me.
You won’t be able to
use the Adaptive Cruise Control, when driving towards the sun. The system will
shut down for several minutes if it gets too much light (personal record is 12
minutes, even though the car changed direction just after the Adaptive Cruise
control deactivated. It can be deactivated by light reflections, shades from
trees signs, bridges, traffic lights, light weather conditions etc.
However that is just
the comfort part of the system that don’t work. When it get’s
to the safety features…..that’s really scary, the frontal collision warning /
Automatic emergency brake, which is supposed to be of aid to the driver, e.g.
the driver gets blinded by sunlight, so he/she misses a slowdown or complete
stop in the traffic, well guess what, the camera is really sensitive to the light so the system is
most likely disabled if you would ever need some assistance. The FCW/AEB also
have tendency to get activated with no obstacle’s miles ahead, hitting the
brakes on the motorway, so going from 130 Km/h to losing speed and acceleration
can be quite a shock for any cars behind you.
I tried to send the
following e-mail to Oliver Zipse (oliver.zipse@bmw.de)
the CEO of BMW, I was quite aware of that it would be filtered somewhere on the
way so it was handled by the Customer support team, which does what BMW do best,
stick their head in the ground, push it down in the organization leaving a
useless response from a puppet in customer support, where nobody dares to state
anything or commenting on anything.
Subject: The success of
the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible
action.....oder??
Sehr geehrte Herr Zipse,
.Do Long-term thinking and responsible action also relate
to communication and how you treat your customers?
If so, please read on,
if not you can stop here and go back to more important matters.
This will be the CEO
recap, so after this section, you can leave the rest of this email to others,
or just toss it into the bin:
I hope when you get to
end, you can answer one simple question, that apparently no one at BMW Denmark
or the BMW vendor wants to answer. There seems to be a philosophy to just
ignore this basic question, I don’t know if it due to fear, ignorance,
incompetence or just lack of plain decency.
So hopefully, as you’re
the CEO, you should be able to answer this:
“Does BMW find it acceptable,
according to their strategy and business plan, to sell Driving assistance
systems like 5AT to customers, without providing the information in the
attached product sheet?”
“BMW did a good job
branding themself as a premier car maker. As a potential customer, you get a
feeling of a brand that cares about security and reliability, making the need
for mobility a pleasant journey.
I admit we did pick one
from the entry-level, a 218d Gran Tourer, it seemed to fit all our needs and
requirements. Due to the use by a disabled person, we had a
some essential ones among those an Adaptive Cruise Control.
I see myself as an
enlightened man, at least I don’t need someone to explicit tell me that I can’t
dry my dog in the microwave oven, and I like to think we did some good research
on the car before even entering the store of the authorized BMW vendor.
Almost everything is
what we expected from a BMW, except product code 5AT, the camera-based Driving
Assistant Plus option. Let’s just say that our experience with the system is
well…. not so good
I’ve attached BMW’s
internal product sheet about the system. You might know of it, due to your long
career at BMW. Point 4 in the sheet: The customer must be informed about the
system conditions /system limits.
Nothing was mentioned
during the sale, the Danish BMW website (or any other BMW localized websites
for that matter) didn’t contain anything on the subject, so we had no reason to
expect anything else than a system that would be working according to our
requirements.
I’m quite realistic, we
didn’t have an illusion of a 100% autopilot-driven car far from that, so just a
plain Adaptive Cruise Control and the basic security features, AEB/FCW like all
your competitors.
The response from the
white-collar staff, sales manager, and the after sales manager at the vendor:
Oh, we are so sorry, we didn’t know of the limitations, but we can offer you a
trade-in on a radar-based model and then passed me on to the blue-collar guy.
Let’s just say he knew the product and was honest about it.
I’m sorry to say, that
I’m not the only one here in Denmark with that exact experience from the BMW
vendor and the system itself., so at least it’s the same for everyone, so BMW
got some kind of standard..
At the risk of sounding
a bit harsh, after almost two years of ownership, I can’t even believe that BMW
sells this system, it can only cause disappointed customers and occasionally
extremely dangerous situations in the traffic. 2021 and still branding and
selling a product that can’t be used when driving towards the sun, a system
that deactivates randomly, due to shades from trees/signs/reflections or
something else. a system that numerous times activates the FCW on the autobahn,
losing acceleration and speed, with no obstacles within miles, occasionally
fails to detect trucks and tractors, gets deactivated for up to 12 minutes due
to “disturbing influences” and so on and on.
At least let the
customers have a choice, by making sure that BMW’s authorized selected vendors
do their job, by providing the required information, so they know what to
expect. You even have a product sheet stating that it’s a requirement and from
personal experience, even though the product sheet is 5 years old, nothing has
changed despite I’ve been told that BMW continues the development of the
system.
I do admit that we
wouldn’t have bought the car if the information had been presented to us at
that time, so I guess on a short-term thinking it might make sense to not say
anything and sell one car, on the long-term well…. I’m not sure that’s the best
strategy.
I wonder, whoever did a
cost-benefit analysis on the decision to save a few bucks by using only a
camera as a sensor, were they only looking on the benefits side and missing the
entire cost side?
·
People tend to get
disappointed when their expectations aren’t met. It’s always easier/cheaper to
make an existing customer buy another of a company’s products than convincing a
potential customer satisfied using the product from a competitive company to make
a switch.
·
The white-collars guys
will have to either lie (having the knowledge but not telling is lying
according to my code of conduct as well) /or being incompetent to sell a
product with so many conditions and limitations. Neither explanation makes it
right to start blaming the customer for having false expectations. The sales
material states an Adaptive Cruise Control, not an Adaptive
Cruise Cancellation. It’s not a solution to tell the user to use
the normal cruise control or say: “Thank you for help improving our driver
assistance system, it’s because of customers like you, that one day, we can be
a passenger in our own auto driven car”.
·
The blue-collar guys
waste quite a few hours on every complaining customer, by replacing camera’s,
windshields, updating the software or the hardware controller (an everything is
a secret, even the blue-collar guys don’t always know what the updates are
supposed to fix) that must be quite an expense, but I guess that has been
calculated in the price of the car. From my point of view, that expense could
have been better spent on including a radar-based solution instead in the first
place.
·
The ACC/FCW/AEB,
driving assistance systems in general are supposed to assist the driver. Two of
the most frequent reasons for accidents are distractions, the driver is losing
concentration, or that the driver’s line of sight gets obfuscated, e.g.,
blinded by the sun and miss that the cars ahead have slowed down or come to a
complete stop. Well guess what? 5AT makes sure that the driver gets distracted,
by cancelling the adaptive cruise control due to numerous reasons and even
worse, due to the limitations of 5AT, the driver and the family are sittings
ducks, should the need for life-threatening assistance occur if the sun is shining,
when ACC/FCW/AEB is disabled due to sunlight.
Despite
my current ambivalent feeling towards BMW, You do produce some very nice cars
and I’m quite positive about the rapid move BMW has done towards
electric-driven vehicles….just….please from the bottom of my heart get rid of
5AT. If you can’t make it, don’t fake it, it’s essential critical safety
equipment, don’t differ on the level of basic security between customers for
entry and high-level models. Or at
least put it back in the lab, don’t make customers pay 60000 euros for being
part of a test, they’re not aware of participating in. Human lab rats usually
get paid for participating and are informed about the test process. When BMW thinks they’re done in lab….You can
start test the system in real life, in all weather conditions, 24/7/365, in real traffic scenarios(with trees, signs,
bridges, trafficlights, billboards, other cars etc. etc.), in different
geographic locations(the position of the sun might affect the system), using
test persons that have agreed upon being potential crash test dummies should
the system come to short.
The
product sheet fails on being completely straight in one place:
“Generally,
this takes place when the human eye also approaches its limits”
Whoever
in marketing that made that one-liner up, should get a temporary driving ban,
go see a doctor and have their eyesight checked. Generally, I hope that any
driver with a vision that bad would have their driver’s license revoked right
away.
Let me
rephrase my question from the beginning…Would You yourself ever even have
considered buying a car providing the
5AT option, if the information in
the productsheet was made available during pre-sales?. I know for sure I
wouldn’t(and I know of a few others that wouldn’t either), because I care about
my family and my fellow road users.
A
system with so many documented
conditions/limitations that should make it obviously that the system
wouldn’t work in real life. It’s a cover-my-ass document so you can refer to
it: It’s a feature, or it’s working within the conditions of the system when
customers are complaining. But none of these features or conditions have been
accepted by the customer, unless you provide the information during pre-sale.
End of CEO recap.
Here is a small story,
describing our experience with a BMW vendor and implicit BMW Denmark.
Back
in September 2019, we ordered a BMW 218d at one of your authorized dealers here
in Denmark. We were very happy when the deal was signed, the hunt for the right
car had lasted a year (several cars were studied and tested during that time😊. I did read quite a few reviews on the 218d as well, so I
like to believe that I did what I could to do my part to act as a responsible
customer, catching any pros/cons about the model.
We had
some quite essential requirements for our new car, due to the disabilities of
my wife, she is born without fingers and toes, that kinds of wear on the body
after nearly 50 years.
So we
wanted a car with a lot of adjustment options (seat, steering wheel, easy to
get in and out, etc), adaptive cruise control, automatic transmission, in the MPV segment and the car would be
registered as a service car for a disabled user, so the vendor was very well aware
of the importance of our requirements. The only thing stated in the danish list
of options about the driving assistance system at that time was that it was
camera-based and it would work in the range of 30-140 km/h.
And so
we lived happily ever after………….what could possibly go wrong,,,,, we bought a
car from a carmaker that likes to brand themself as Premium….
.
Well,
we had no expectation of a self-driven car, the autopilot thing still needs a
bit of work, and the driver is solely responsible despite any driving assistant
systems, soon we would know a thing or
two about the difference between BMW’s camera and radar-based driving
assistance systems. I know very well that radar-based solutions aren’t flawless
either.
At
first, we thought it was malfunctioning and just needed some re-adjustments.
Little
would we know, we went to the vendor a couple of times for adjustments but it
didn’t change anything. My BMW blue-collar technician did reveal a few truths
about the system on these Rendez-Vous. I wasn’t happy at that time. That was so
far from what we had expected and required.
I like to think that unless
I’m told otherwise in the sales process,
it’s fair to expect a system that would
work for daily use:
Not:
·
Being
limited by the position of the sun (only being able to use the adaptive cruise
control while driving in three directions)
·
Occasionally
fails to detect tractors and trucks. It really makes you feel safe since the
Front Collision Warning /AEB uses the same camera to know went to kick-in if
needed
·
Shades
from tree /sign etc. deactivates the system.
·
FCW/AEB
comes to short when the sun is shining
·
And
the list goes on and on and……………….
Confronting
the sales manager didn’t change a lot, besides he was fast to offer us a
trade-in for a radar-based model though. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of
having to spend more money on something that I thought that I already bought in
the first place.
He
stated right away that he wasn’t familiar with any general issues with the
system and passed me on to the aftersalest manager, who also claimed that he
didn’t have any knowledge of the system, and then passed me on to my regular
BMW blue-collar guy, and he was kind enough to pass me the attached pdf
document, as he added later on, ”it’s only fair that the customer knows what
they bought”. Passing me the document apparently upset management at BMW
Denmark and the management of the vendor. I wonder why? How dare BMW to pick on
the blue-collar guy?, he acted the way that
I would have expected from a premier car brand and any serious
authorized vendor. He should be in sales, might not be the best idea when it comes to short-term thinking, missing a sale, but people tend to return to vendors the next
time they’re looking for a car with different requirement, if staff acted honest and responsible on their first
visit.
The
information in the product sheet is easy to understand, and any freshman car
sales trainee should be able to provide the information to the customer during
the sale process, and any serious sales organization should be able to make
sure that their selected vendors have the knowledge. I guess the sales manager
was honest with me when I mention the lack of information, his response: “then
they probably wouldn’t sell many using this technology”. I find it hard to
believe that the information in the productsheet is unknown to all the
white-collar people at the vendor and BMW Denmark. I can only draw my own
conclusion if somebody is lying or are completely incompetent.
Apart
from the snow scenario, we have had all the experiences multiple times. It’s
BMW's product sheet on the camera-based system. It’s 5 years old and based on
our own experience, I’m sorry to reveal to you that the continuous development
by BMW got them nowhere.
-
Please
look a point 4. I like to think that BMW wants the customer to be informed
about the limits before the sale, to avoid false expectations, and unhappy
customers.
I know
a sales agent has a personal interest in selling me a car, and yes We would
never have bought the car if the information had been presented to us at that
time, but that would have been a responsible action from a premium car maker. I
know the vendors are independent, and the BMW Group is not responsible for the
way they run their business. But a sign of long-term thinking would be to make
sure that the vendors sell the products fair and square and respect the BMW
brand. Of course, it would also require that
BMW themselves would be open about their solutions, Volvo has an entire
section on their website describing their use of radar/camera-based solutions
and the pro/cons of them, unfortunately, we weren’t looking at Volvo during our
car hunt, otherwise, we would have acquired the knowledge ourselves of what BMW
likes to keep a secret.
BMW
Denmark even stated for several months last year on their websites that the
218d did contain 5AT and 5DF (the radar-based solution) and even though passing
this error directly on to the sales director of BMW Denmark nothing happened.
I
don’t know the intentions of what BMW Group was trying to gain by establishing
their own organization in Denmark back in 2003, and consolidating the vendors,
apart from demanding fancy shiny vendor shops. I don’t think I have ever met a
car brand that tries so hard to keep their customers at a distance by referring
to their vendors for any complaints, questions, interactions, or how they act
on social media platforms.
Of
course, you wouldn’t have to tell the customer about conditions and
limitations, if you can just say sorry, as an authorized BMW vendor, that you
did not know of it, and then just point back to the customer and say that
they’re sorry that you had false expectations. That approach seems to be quite
commonly used, based on the communication I have had with other BMW owners here
in Denmark on this matter, who also stated that the Adaptive Cruise control was
very essential to them.
Unfortunately
according to FDM (the equaliant to ADAC here in Denmark) it’s legit, not saying
anything, since you’re not obliged to talk badly about your product. Even
though it affects the security of those for whom you care, otherwise I would
kindly have asked for a refund.
Already
over budget(and with the degrading health of my wife, yes she really won the
lottery when she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease earlier this year), we
had to turn down the in-place-upgrade.
So we
did another round of hardware troubleshooting:
After
the camera was replaced during troubleshooting
we experienced for the first time:
·
that
the FCW/AEB system gets activated on numerous occasions while driving on the
autobahn with no obstacles ahead of the car. That could be exciting one day!!
·
That a
traffic light/billboards can deactivate the Adaptive Cruise Control, and
disable the system for 5 minutes.
After
experiencing the AEB/FWC just kicking in for no reason, it felt like a gun to
my head, so yes we decided to re-open the possibility of a trade-in, not
voluntary though, but what kind of family guy would ever dare to risk the life
of their loved ones, because of technical “features”. Unfortunately due to the
facelift of the X3 and the pandemic, we haven’t been able to get a trade-in
price for the last 8 months. As time goes by
we’ve come to the conclusion that
the 60000 euros we paid for a so-called premier car was our upper limit.
How
can BMW and the sales organization claim that the customer has false
expectations and the system is working as expected, when they at the same time
claim, they weren’t aware of these “features” themself. In what other
situations would it be fair, in a B2C scenario that the customer knows more
than the vendor of a product, and the vendor find it reasonably to settled it
by requiring the customer, to put more money on the table to replace it with
another vehicle that doesn’t fit their needs, when the original deal would
never have taken place if the vendor/maker had taken their counseling and
responsibility seriously.
As the
system is so unreliable, I even dare to say useless in its current state and
since it apparently gets too complex for your vendors to keep track of the fact
that BMW uses two different systems,
please consider skipping the solely camera-based solution even though it
makes BMW able to offer the customer a
competitive system(might be on the price but then again…), and stick with the
radar/camera-based combined solution for now.
I know
Elon skipped the radar-based solution and started using a camera-based only
solution for two Tesla models on the North American market earlier this year, I
don’t know what it takes to get to that point, better cameras? improved
software? maybe Tesla will have the same flaws just a matter of company
branding, people tend to accept
“features” from a first-mover company. Despite Tesla’s known low
assembly quality they seem to be doing quite well.
BMW is
no such company. It obliges to be a
Premier carmaker, it requires solid well-tested solutions and that the
customers feel they are treated with honesty and respect, and by that BMW gains
loyalty from existing and new customers.
But
then again what do I know?, I’m not a
car expert, just a disappointed BMW
owner due to my wrong expectations about what BMW stands for.
If
this kind of behavior is BMW’s definition of Long-term thinking and responsible
actions, well..good luck. I’m sure that the rocket guy at Gigafactory
Berlin-Brandenburg would be happy to take the lead towards providing good
honest cars that you can trust.It will take a few years I know, Tesla needs to
pick up a bit of the well known german saying: “ordnung muss sein”, that some
other car-makers seems to have left in gutter in the hunt for innovation and
fancy words like long-term thinking and responsible actions.
If you
managed to stick to the very end, Thank you for your time. I sincerely hope
that BMW’s code of conduct, definition of long-term thinking, and responsible
actions, is very different from what we and other BMW owners have experienced.
One final
wish, probably impossible, but since
christmas is coming up soon , please consider releasing a affordable
retrofit radar-based solution upgrade for the
2 series. We love the rest of the car, it’s just the “minor” comfort and
security issues that annoys us😊
I wish
you a pleasant day
mit freundlichen Grüßen
Jakob Svarrer
The response from BMW:
Dear Jakob,
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us.
The Driving assistance system serves as a support to
the driver. Nevertheless, the driver must always be attentive and be able to
intervene in the process at any time.
Information about the Driving assistance system is
provided in the User’s manual. We
are however sorry to hear that you feel dissatisfied with the information
provided to you when you purchased the car. This feedback will be forwarded to
concerned department since all feedback from our customers can help us become
better.
Reaching out to our authorized dealer or workshop is
the correct thing to do whenever you have any concerns regarding your car. We
work closely together with our dealers and for us, it is important that you
feel the same confidence in them that we do.
In your feedback you mention that the dealer has
offered you to trade-in your car. If that is manageable, we kindly ask you to
continue the discussion with your dealer regarding your options.
BMW cars are manufactured in the highest possible quality and we are constantly developing our products. We are
glad to read your positive attitude towards BMW’s rapid development in electric
vehicles.
Thank you once again for sharing your experiences with
us.
Best regards,
BMW
Group Northern Europe
Original
Trustpilot review in Danish
Og så levede de lykkeligt derefter….aber dabei
Resume( ”Så slipper du for a læse de næste 5 siders selvynk og forsøg på at flytte ansvaret):
”Midaldrende lettere overvægtig bilanalfabet i en midtvejskrise, fundere over sit seneste bilkøb og prøver at projektere ansvaret for misforståelser og manglende teknisk indsigt over på forhandler og anerkendt bilmærke. ”, eller måske er det ikke helt selvforskyldt alligevel
Da jeg lavede min oprindelige anmeldelse af henholdsvis BAG og BMW lå de på 4 stjerner, røg op 5 stjerner, da de gav den lidt ekstra, som de ikke var forpligtet til. Det var sådan set købsoplevelsen, men når vi så oplever nogle uhensigtsmæssigheder under brug, som sådan set kunne have været undgå på en forholdsvis nem måde under købsprocessen, så må der nødvendigvis revurderes.
Jeg mener selv, at jeg efter bedste evne, og hvad der kan forventes af en almen bilkøber, lavede det forventelige indledende arbejde med at læse test/anmeldelser af 218d Gran Tourer, for at fange plusser og minusser med modellen, inden vi kontaktede forhandleren.
Indledningsvis: Jeg har haft en fin dialog med salgschefen hos BAG Århus, som har beklaget hvis jeg føler jeg har fået en mangelfuld rådgivning, og han tager min kritik til efterretning og vil tage det med i de løbende overvejelser omkring den måde, hvorpå man afvikler deres kunderådgivning i huset.
Han var ligeledes hurtig til at tilbyde muligheden for en indbytningspris, den mulighed tænker jeg så reelt set at alle har mulighed for uanset baggrunden, og en sælger går vel aldrig af vejen for en ekstra handel. Vores økonomi er ej heller til 2 bilskift inden for et år, derudover har BMW ej en anden bilmodel som passer til vores behov, i hvert fald ikke inden for vores budget😊, så det er ej en løsning vi kan bruge til noget.
Nedenstående er min egen personlige subjektive holdning til, hvad der er god rådgivning/hvad jeg som almen forbruger mener jeg kan forvente af en forhandler/importør/producent af et Premium bilmærke. Evt. tekniske konklusioner er helt mine egne, og jeg er ikke bilkyndig, så opsøg den rette faglige kompetence for assistance.
Med fare for at stille min ringe viden om biler til offentlig skue kommer vi nu til sagens kerne:
Kære BMW Danmark, Kære BAG og ikke mindst kommende/nuværende kunder til BMW’s kamerabaseret Driving Assistant Plus
Efter at have tilbagelagt små 20000 km, og efterhånden alle 4 årstider i vores Gran Tourer 218d, to besøg på værkstedet for at rette op på et par småting, som blev løst til UG+ af vores BAG mekaniker, er der kun vores smertensbarn tilbage:
Det kamerabaserede Driving Assistant Plus system, som blandt inkludere den adaptive fartpilot, den ”automatisk nødbremse” (Approach control/Front Collision warning with light breaking function) mv.
Lad os starte med et par af mine forventninger til et førerassistent system
- Jeg forventer ikke en selvkørende bil. Der er vi langt fra endnu. Jeg er bevidst om at alle førerassistentssystemer, hvad enten de er kamerabaseret/radarbaseret /kombi kan deaktiveres af forskellige årsager.
- Jeg forventer at kunne anvende en aktiv fartpilot uanset om jeg kører syd, vest, nord eller østlig retning uagtet tidspunktet på dagen.
- Jeg forventer ikke at en adaptiv fartpilot jævnligt er årsag til spørgsmål i den store: ”Hvorfor slog den adaptive fartpilot fra lige der – Quiz”. Der er nok af andre distraktioner i trafikken i forvejen.
- Jeg forventer ikke at jeg får behov for den ”automatiske nødbremse”. Men jeg er jo kun et menneske, så det er rart at vide, at jeg muligvis kan få lidt hjælp af teknikken til at begrænse konsekvenserne, hvis jeg misser noget i trafikken. Det kunne jo være den klassiske hvor man overser en stillestående kø pga. evt. sollys.
Reelle Oplevelser med den aktive fartpilot:
Den fungere fint 90 % af tiden. Det formoder vi i hvert fald, med tiden bliver man lidt mere modig og lader bilen komme lidt tættere på før man trækker ud eller selv bremser lidt ned, her oplever vi at traktorer og lastbiler til tider ikke bliver detekteret overhovedet. Og eftersom nødbremsen anvender samme kamera, tjah så er der ikke megen hjælp at hente der, hvis du er uopmærksom den dag 5 tons Massey Fergusson svinger ud foran dig, hvis systemet har en dårlig dag.
Solen er den største ”fjende”, et system der ikke eksempelvis ikke vil kunne aktiveres på en tur fra København til Esbjerg pga. modlys trækker gevaldig ned, og det mener jeg ikke man kan nøjes med at nævne i en generel fodnote omkring sollys, og det forekommer ikke kun ved lavtstående sol(her er lavtstående selvfølgelig et definitions spørgsmål). At man overhovedet vil være bekendt at sælge noget under betegnelsen adaptive fartpilot, som ikke kan fungerede i sollys i 2019, er mig en gåde.
Et system der regelmæssig De aktivere ud af det blå, måske er der en gren der kaster en skygge på vejen, måske en trækvind fra en museprut, jordstråler, lysreflektioner, bidrager ikke til komforten.
Ved den indledende første samtale ved BAG Århus, lagde vi vægt på, at den adaptive fartpilot var et væsentlig parameter bl.a. fordi at bilen skulle indregistreres og bruges som handicapbil, så alt hvad der kunne aflaste under kørslen var relevant i vores købsbeslutning, derudover er en adaptiv fartpilot bare toppen af komfort😊.
Det er nemt nok under demoturen at afprøve betjeningen af en fartpilot, som er super fin, men funktionaliteten ved daglig brug, oplever man først, når bilen er købt og er kommet hjem i indkørslen.
Bilen bliver taget i brug og det er den rene fornøjelse, en verden til forskel fra den 14 år gammel Ford Mondeo med 445000 km på tælleren, som den skal afløse.
Instruktionsbogen bliver taget i brug med jævne
mellemrum når nye features og
funktionaliteter skal studeres. Den
adaptive fartpilot har sine små finurligheder, og for at gøre en lang historie
kort, efter at instruktionsbogen bliver konsulteret, så må vi nok erkende at vi
står med det som BMW/BAG i en anden trustpilot anmeldelse kalder : ”at den aktive fartpilot i din bil virker som den skal og bør med
de egenskaber, den nu engang har”.
Og hvilken egenskaber refereres der så til?
Instruktionsbogen referer
til en række begrænsninger, men ikke engang instruktionsbogen er komplet på det
område. Vi oplever flere gange at systemet slår fra pga. sollys og derefter
ikke kan slås til igen med det samme, selv om der skiftes kørselsretning, og
der kan så gå alt fra 1 sekund til 15
minutter før det kan aktiveres igen. Når
systemet så er lukket ned på den måde, så virker ”nødbremse” systemet så heller ikke , før systemet har fået
behandlet den ”traumatiske oplevelse”, så et solstrejf kan indenfor 15 minutter derefter resultere i at du kollidere med en anden bil,
hvis du er så uheldig at din egen indre chauffør svigter bag rattet i det
tidsrum.
Efter 2 besøg på værkstedet hvor min faste dygtige BAG mekaniker gør hvad han kan med
softwareopdateringer og tjek af bilruden for urenheder og revner og hvor jeg
får lidt mere at vide om begrænsningerne
ved systemet, så må jeg nok erkende, at jeg føler at kamerabaseret Driving Assistance Plus på ingen måde lever op til min opfattelse af
hvad BMW står for.
Jeg kontakter pr. mail(ikke min mest positive af slagsen😊,
salgschefen hos BAG Århus, , for at finde ud af hvad der er op og ned på det
system. Han er ikke inde i den tekniske
del af systemet, jeg er nu også mere interesseret i viden om systemet i daglig
brug, så han sender mig videre til eftermarkedschefen, som ligeledes blankt
erkender at han ikke kender til systemet, så han sender stafetten videre til
min vanlige mekaniker, som så sender mig et officielt BMW forhandler
produktark……
Produktarket kan ses her:
Eller google det med denne streng (inklusiv ”)
"System
limits of the camera-based driver assistance system"
Da jeg har læst det 4 siders pdf dokument igennem, sidder jeg
hovedrystende tilbage. Jeg tror ikke jeg nogensinde har set et produktark indeholdende
så mange forekomster af ”limits”
og ”limitations” på så få sider. Dokumentet er ganske vist 4 år
gammelt, ,men vi har stort set oplevet alle de scenarier der er nævnt i
begrænsningerne, inklusiv ”jeg tror ikke systemet har opdaget de 4 tons traktor
der kører foran os skat” oplevelsen , så til trods for softwareopdateringer
siden da, har jeg følelsen af at være
first movers på et produkt, som jeg tænker forudsætter et obligatorisk
krav om at BMW/forhandler aktivt gør
kunden tydeligt opmærksom på begrænsninger/egenskaber inden et evt. køb .
Produktet bliver i
produktarket decideret beskrevet som et prisbillig konkurrencedygtig produkt
pga. at det kun benytter et kamera som eneste sensor. Jeg kunne da godt tænke mig at vide, når jeg står og overvejer en
Berlingo+ familiecontainer, med plads til 7 personer, at BMW synes at man ikke kan få det hele for
en halv million, og man derfor har lavet en budgetløsning, som fortsat er noget
dyrere end konkurrenterne og på ingen måde, når en radarbaseret løsning til
sokkeholderne, hverken når det kommer til komfort eller sikkerhed. Jeg tror
selv Renault vil have haft den pli at skrive Dacia på bagsmækken, hvis de vil
lancere et prisbillig andenrangsprodukt, men BMW? (så lad dog hellere vær!) eller
gør da i det mindste hvad der står i produktarkets punkt 4: ”Customer information. The customer must be informed about the system conditions/system limits ” etc., om BMW så har tænkt at
informationen skal falde i pre-sale fasen, eller bare
inden bilen overdrages til køberen, så BMW har ryggen fri i tilfælde af uheld,
hvor føreren måske har haft for megen tiltro til systemet skal være usagt.
Juridisk operere man desværre med et begreb som hedder forventeligt, så fordi alle kamerabaserede systemer har de samme begrænsninger(ifølge FDM), så er sælger ikke forpligtig til at informere om evt. begrænsninger ved et produkt, så hvad enten det er med fuldt overlæg, dog må der ikke gives direkte misvisende informationer, eller pga. manglende viden, så det er ikke muligt at påpege en væsentlig mangel.
Når jeg har en sælger, en salgschef og en eftermarkedschef ved BAG Århus, og dertil kommer minimum en sælger og en eftermarkedschef ved BAG Aalborg, som Henrik Jensbys Trustpilot anmeldelse af bmw.dk fra 10 oktober 2019 vidner om, som tilsyneladende ikke kender til hvordan systemet fungerer, så er der vist ikke noget at sige til, at selv ikke jeg kan gennemskue ulemper/begrænsninger og hvad der er forventeligt ved en kamerabaseret løsning ud fra den information BAG og BMW stiller til umiddelbar rådighed.
Henrik opsøger BAG Aalborg, da han er interesseret i en BMW X1’er, for Henrik er den adaptive fartpilot en feature, som var fundamental for hans valg. Da X1 demobilen i Aalborg ikke har en adaptiv fartpilot, sender man ham afsted i en 5 serie, så han kan prøve fartpiloten af, den virker superfin…. men man glemmer jo så lige at 5 serien anvender en radarbaseret løsning og ikke den kamerabaserede, som Henrik jo så må lide med efter købet. Henrik får på intet tidspunkt info om systemets egenskaber i forhold til en radarbaseret løsning. Glemsomhed eller manglende viden om forskellene på BMW’s forskellige løsninger?.
Det skal simpelthen være rygradsviden, som kunden skal have serveret uden filter og uopfordret, ikke mindst fordi det ikke kun påvirker komfortsystemerne, men ligeledes sikkerheden.
Med fare for at generalisere, når detailleddet glipper i at give faglig/fair/kompetent rådgivning må vi som forbruger søge information andre steder for at være klædt på.
Et fysiske katalog var ikke tilgængelig hos forhandleren i tiden op til vores køb, instruktionsbogen får man først i hænde når bilen leveres, online instruktionsbogen kan du kun downloade, når du kan indtaste et stelnummer. Men et oplagt bud, lige til højrebenet kunne jo være…dam dam dammmm,.. trommehvirvel : www.bmw.dk.
Find online kataloget på 2-serien Gran Tourer. Kataloget er på engelsk, dog med en dansk note på side 2: ”Velkommen til udstyrssektionen. De efterfølgende sider i kataloget er en oversigt over det ekstra-og standardudstyr, bilen leveres med i Tyskland. Udstyrslister gældende specifikt for det danske marked finder du her www.bmw.dk/udstyr. Med venlig hilsen BMW Danmark A/S”
Her er der muligvis allerede nogen kunder, der straks hopper over til den danske udstyrsliste, men lad os bladre videre i kataloget. På side 20 og 35 kommer så beskrivelsen af The Driving Assistant Plus pakken, flankeret af et par små tal for at gøre opmærksom på et par fodnoter: 2: Function may be limited in darkness, fog or bright glare. Er det linien, som BMW mener gør at kunderne bør kende systemets begrænsninger/egenskaber i forhold til det 4 siders produktark?
Hvis man googler ”camerabased Driving Assistent Plus limitations” vil der bl.a. dukke links op til BMW Yemen, Nigeria og Myanmar, hvor begrænsningen så kun er : This fuction can be limited by darkness and fog. Så om man på disse markeder får en solbrille/cap med til kameraet, så bright glare ikke er et problem alternativt bruger et bedre kamera ved jeg ikke.
Lad os prøve ”Byg din BMW” funktionen, den var ikke tilgængelig på den danske side, da vi købte vores bil. Vi vælger her Driving Assistant Plus førerassistentsystemet. Ingen noter om begrænsninger i den ellers omfattende tekst om systemet. Hvis man vælger tilsvarende på den franske søstersider på bmw.fr, får man et lille hint, for her står udover, at de roser systemet i forhold til et system der kun er radarbaseret, da det kan detektere holdende biler at: Pour les plages de vitesse non prises en compte ou lorsque le fonctionnement de la caméra est restreint en raison des conditions météorologiques, un mode sans maintien de la distance est disponible., ergo at man kan køre med den almindelige fartpilot, når der er vejrmæssige udfordringer eller at man kører med en hastighed, der er uden for systemets operationelle område..
Lad os hoppe videre til www.bmw.dk/udstyr
Vælge BMW 2-Serie
Vælge BMW 2-Serie Gran Tourer
Vælge Ekstraudstyr (Fabriksmonteret)
Vælge 218d Advantage
Vi går under assistentsystemer
Finder Driving Assistent plus, hmm ingen begrænsninger nævnt, da vi købte stod der nævnt at den aktive fartpilot opererede inden for 30-140 km/t i denne rubrik.
Men, hov der er kommet en ny rubrik siden vi købte. Produktkode 5DF: Aktiv fartpilot med stop&Go Funktion, hvor info nu siger Radarbaseret førerassistance system, interessant så nu kommer den både med kamera og radarbaseret førerassistance system… bliver der mulighed for at der kommer en eftermonterbar løsning til os, som i almen uvidenhed havde for store forventninger til et produkt fra BMW….eller Jeg kan godt nok ikke lige finde referencer andre steder til at Gran Tourer 2 serien, er blevet beriget med radarbaseret førerassistentsystem
Den nye BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe ser dog ud til at kunne leveres med det, hvis man krydsreferere med andre BMW sider og Google, så kunne der være en fejl i ekstraudstyrslisten for Gran Tourer?.
Mens vi alligevel har ekstraudstyrslisten åben for Gran Tourer:
Da vi stadigvæk var i kiggefasen sidste år, sendte jeg en
mail den 16/8-2019 til dk.kundesupport@bmwgroup.com, da jeg
fandt to fejl på den danske hjemmeside, den 24/9-2019 modtager jeg så en: ”tak
for din email og feedback og vi kigger på problemet”
besked retur. Tja den tekniske fejl forsvandt efter et stykke tid, da I fik redesignet hjemmesiden, så webdesignet var ens, uafhængig af hvilken model man
kiggede på. Men Vejl. Udsalgspris (85%) kr. for
komfort adgang (produktkode 322) er stadigvæk forkert, den skal vist lige have
et lille nøk opad, sådan ca. 3000 kr.
I min søgen rundt på information faldt jeg ligeledes over:
På https://erhverv-bmw.dk/2-serie/gran-tourer/ og på www.finans-bmw.dk står det nævnt at 218/220 Gran Tourer Connected Aut. bl.a. leveres med:
Crossing-traffic warning front
Er det ligeledes noget der kommer som noget eftermontering?, eller er det en speciel business edition? eller er der fejl i informationerne? (synes ikke jeg kan finde det i brochuren og ej heller andre steder)
BAG har tilsyneladende ikke kunne finde/få svar på to tekniske spørgsmål, jeg har stillet, så nu håber jeg at i ved BMW Danmark kan trække på jeres bagland (det hjælper jo ikke,at I henviser til jeres forhandlere, når oplysninger ikke er tilgængelige for dem)
1. Fjernlys Assistenten (FLA), hvor få Lux skal der være før at det fungere. I Juli måned klokken 23.30 på en øde jysk hovedvej var det tilsyneladende ikke mørk nok til at systemet kunne aktiveres.
2. Nå vi nu skal lide med Driving Assistant Plus manglerne, er der så et roadmap for udviklingen er softwaren. Der er jo tilsyneladende ikke sket det store vilde siden produktarket er dateret, så kunne I løfte en lille smule af sløret for hvilke af begrænsninger der arbejdes på?
Beklager den kraftige nedgang i stjerner, måske er det selvforskyldt,
måske var min undersøgelsespligt mere omfattende end jeg anede, men om 10 år,
når vi skal have ny bil igen, så starter jeg helt fra bunden og tæller dæk,
sæder, hver en hk osv. Jeg vil ikke
udelukke en BMW igen. Jeg håber så bare, at de ændringer der blev
lavet/startet i 2003 i forhold til
importør/forhandlernettet og at BMW Group overtog markedsansvaret for det
danske marked udover at sikre de økonomiske mål også på tilsyneladende meget
lang sigt, er at sikre en god ensartet og fyldestgørende
information til kunden ved at samle fagkompetencerne ved færre antal
forhandlersteder.
Som producent/forhandler kan man jo ikke tvinges til at tale sit
produkt ned og formidlingen af indholdet af
det 4 siders dokument havde
nok gjort, at valget var faldet på et
andet mærke. Men hvis det var endt med BMW’en
alligevel havde spillereglerne,
begrænsninger og egenskaber, været kendt og ikke som de gør nu, fremstå som væsentlige mangler både indenfor
sikkerhed og komfort. Ikke hvad jeg forbinder med BMW brandet,
men man lærer jo hele livet, det har så bare været nogle dyre lærepenge denne
gang.
Til andre, der er på mit bil analfabet niveau og ej heller er helt
med på hvad der er forventeligt , så gør eks. Volvo, noget i at fortælle om de
forskellige førerassistancesystem både
kamera og radarbaserede på deres hjemmeside.
Så kan du altid henvende dig til BMW efterfølgende og indlede dialogen
derfra. Om et kamerabaseret systemet er
acceptabelt er en individuel vurdering, for mit eget vedkommende hvis BMW’s
system er det forventelige, så er det et no-go
herfra. Radarbaseret som minimum og gerne en kombination af Radar og kamera vil
være at foretrække.
Nå sådan blev et udeladt 4 siders pdf dokument, med et væld af
forekomster af limits og limitations til knap 6
siders væven med et rekordhøjt antal grammatiske og tegnsætningsfejl.
Ikke mere brok for nu. BMW/BAG stram op på jeres produktion information-/kendskab, fortæl tingene som de er, trods manglerne….øhhh begrænsningerne/egenskaberne, så der er overensstemmelse med forventningerne.
Og bare rolig…….Vi skal nok leve lykkeligt og længe……….. i hvert fald så længe vi undgår behovet for nødbremsen i en modlys situation, eller en traktor på afveje. Og med BMW’s implementation af ACC = Adaptive Cruise Cancellation, så har vi jo en fået en form for en udvidet driver alertness assistant u/b, som lige kommer med et opkvikkende pling med jævne mellemrum, når systemet slår fra pga. tjah dets egenskaber.