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Park your BMW with a wave, 3D instrument clusters, and more

Remote parking your car with a smartphone app is so 2015. In the future envisioned by BMW, you can park your car by giving it hand gestures. Meanwhile, the car will sync with your smart home and display traffic information on your hallway mirror. It's all part of a giant list of concepts and technologies BMW is bringing to the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. Let's break down some of the big ideas BMW's bringing to this year's CES. Park By Waving Actually, you don't even need to wave to get this i3 Concept to start moving. From inside your house, simply picking up the key can signal your connected garage door to open and tell your car to pull out into the driveway. Out in the wider world this concept takes automated parking a step further than current in-car parking assistance systems. Once a spot is found, the driver gets out and waves at the car. The i3 then does all the movement on its own. What's the benefit of watching your car park instead of sitting inside while it parks itself? Not much, other that the ability to fit into narrow parking spaces. But I'm a sucker for automation like this, as long as it works better than those infernal foot-kick tailgate opening systems. The Bumper That Snitches For You If you have a car already covered in cameras, why not use them for more than parking? Bumper Detect is BMW's take on the valet-mode recording in the Chevrolet Corvette. But instead of filming any motion, BMW's system monitors the body and bumpers for any unexpected impacts and immediately captures the footage. An alert goes to the driver's smartphone via the BMW Connected App, with available live streaming images. Samsung Smart Things And The Smart Home The i3 on display at CES intergrates Samsung's Smart Things app into the iDrive controller. This allow you to use connected smart home features inside the car, like turning off lights or adjusting the thermostat. BMW's vision further into future integrates the car into the home even more with what the automaker calls Open Mobility Cloud. You can call it a personal assistant or an evil digital spy, depending on your perspective of this kind on technology. In any case, Open Mobility Cloud uses predictive algorithms to plan the day and give relevent information through BMW's smartphone app or – in a super futuristic way – a Mobility Mirror inside the house.

BMW M6 amped up for track duty by Risden

Risden Engineering is a bit of an unknown, if we're being completely honest - we have yet to report on the company to date, and its corporate website is really an information desert save for the name and a few email addresses. Even the press release that we requested from Risden's contact person is short and vague. That's all pretty much okay with us as long as the shadowy tuners, you know, make good on this sweet-looking BMW M6 racecar thing.
Dubbed the Risden 6R, we're told that the M6 modification will result in a vehicle that is more adept at track work, while still being street-legal. In terms of specifics, we read that a full aero kit will be involved, with one fixed and one retractable rear wing (hard to miss). There are obviously new wheels, and the company has also added a fully adjustable suspension, a four-point roll bar and a new braking system - all while reducing curb weight overall.
Apparently more details are to follow after the 6R's official release in the first quarter of 2013. We wait with bated breath.

Nissan and BMW want the UK to stay in the EU

Nissan and BMW are saying that the Brexit shouldn't become reality. It's a mixture of hope and threat because their planned investments in the UK risk to be damaged by the referendum's result. While those brands are still saying that every decision from the UK's people will be respected, you can sense a fear that every plan is going to be messed up. The problem is simple according to Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn: "For us, a position of stability is more positive than a collection of unknowns. It makes the most sense for jobs, trade and costs." For sure Nissan is not going to shut its plant in northeast England if the country exits the Union, but this could change plans for the future, as the so-called Brexit could cause an increase on costs and above all on competition. Nissan employs 8,000 people in the UK across its manufacturing, engineering, and design facilities, and a further 32,000 indirectly through dealerships and its supply chain. All these people produce almost half a million cars and 80 percent of those are exported, so just imagine how taxes could affect prices and sales. If the EU's borders get smaller, Nissan will face some problems with customs duties the foreign products struggle with, as other Japanese automakers have so far, while importing their cars into the Union. Nissan is not the only maker interested in the outcome of the referendum to be held June 23; BMW is of the same mood, hoping Brexit won't become reality. The Germans already warn Mini and Rolls-Royce employees that the exit of UK from the Union could cause problems with increasing costs and higher prices due to tariff barriers. BMW CEO Harald Krueger at the Geneva auto show said "a UK vote to exit the European Union would cloud the future of the automaker's UK brands, which include Mini, along with Rolls-Royce". What's happening in this case is not only an English issue. In fact, although every decision taken by the UK's people must be respected, the automakers are right when saying they hope it is not going to happen, as you hope no one changes the cards during the game. Image Credit: Nissan Government/Legal BMW Nissan brexit open road