BMW cars now drive themselves off the assembly line

BMW has been testing what it calls Automated Driving In-Plant (known by its German acronym AFW) since 2022, during a pilot project in its largest new vehicle production plant in Dingolfing, Germany. 

While over 17,000 employees build a wide variety of BMW models at Dingolfing (4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 Series), as well as EV components and Rolls-Royce bodies, the AFW technology there is currently being used to produce the 5 Series and 7 Series BMWs.

After recently receiving CE certification, which allows this technology to be used throughout the EU, BMW plans to go to series operation with the AFW system. New vehicles in Dingolfing are driving fully autonomously, without drivers, for a distance of almost one mile, from the assembly halls through a short test course to the finishing area.

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How BMW’s AFW self-driving system works

External LIDAR sensors along the cars’ entire route control their automated movements and do not rely on any semi-autonomous features that each individual vehicle may be equipped with. This has been achieved with state-of-the-art cloud architecture, combined with Europe’s largest LIDAR infrastructure.

BMW’s Leipzig plant is the next to have AFW integrated into its production process. Leipzig uses around 5,600 employees to produce about 1,000 vehicles per day, split among the MINI Countryman, the BMW 1 Series, the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé, and the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer.

In the future, AFW will do even more

Ultimately, Leipzig’s implementation of AFW will see about 90% of the MINI and BMW vehicles produced there using this automated driving system within the plant. Future plans include the use of AFW to drive through the full testing zone, ending up outdoors where the vehicles can be loaded onto trucks or trains for further distribution.

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BMW plans to constantly refine the AFW technology, potentially improving the system’s performance through the use of on-board sensors inside the production vehicles. This should enable the external LIDAR sensors to work better and more precisely. BMW hopes to use its learnings from the AFW system to enhance its implementation of autonomous driving systems in the upcoming years.

Final thoughts

Additional BMW factories that are slated to receive the AFW self-driving system are Regensburg in Germany and Oxford in the UK, with both slated to receive the system in 2025. The soon-to-open Debrecen, Hungary plant, where the BMW Neue Klasse EVs will be built, will also receive the AFW technology by the time it begins series production in late 2025.