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BMW teases Airtouch gesture-based infotainment ahead of CES

At the last Consumer Electronics Show BMW revealed a gesture control system that employed a 3D sensor in the roof of a car to read hand movements made in front of the dashboard. That appearance in Las Vegas was a tease for the system we'd get in the brand new 7 Series. At next month's CES BMW will showcase a "Vision Car" with a concept interior of the future that incorporates the evolution of the current gesture system. It is called Airtouch. Permitting a wider variety of iDrive control, 3D sensors on the instrument panel read movements made with a flat hand so that driver or passenger can work their way through entertainment, navigation, and communication menus. Users can confirm actions with hand gestures, or with a button on the steering wheel or another in the passenger's door. We'll find out next month what the rest of the Vision Car includes. If this year's template is a guide, we'll also keep an eye on the coming 7 Series flagships to see if they include production versions of Airtouch. There's a press release below for more information. Related Video: BMW Group at the CES 2016 in Las Vegas. BMW presents the principle of the contactless touchscreen with AirTouch.28.12.2015, Munich/Las Vegas. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES, 6 to 9 January 2016) in Las Vegas, the BMW Group is presenting a Vision Car to demonstrate what the interior and the user interface of the future might look like. The rapid advance of networking between driver, vehicle and environment is becoming increasingly intensive and is facilitating new services. One example of new technologies in seamlessly networked vehicles is provided by AirTouch. This feature empowers intuitive control of entertainment, navigation and communication functions using simple gestures made with a flat hand. AirTouch allows the display in a vehicle to be operated like a touchscreen without actually having to make contact with the surface. Sensors record the hand movements in the area between the central console and the interior mirror. This enables drivers or passengers to change the focus on the surface of the large panorama display. Simple confirmation selects the relevant menu item or activates an icon.Sensors on the instrument dashboard permit 3D control.One year ago, BMW already presented the new gesture control at the CES. This enables simple movements of a finger to carry out actions such as adjusting the loudness or accepting phone calls.

BMW to offer carbon fiber wheels in a year or two

The Citroën SM sat on the first set of production glass fiber and resin wheels in 1972 when parent company Michelin developed the exotic hoops in order to take the SM rallying. It wasn't until 2008 that we got the first all-carbon-fiber wheel for passenger cars in the form of a prototype model from Weds Sports in Japan that remained a prototype. Australian company Carbon Revolution followed that a year later with its CR-9 all-CF wheel, first introduced on the Shelby Ultimate Aero and now available for independent purchase for about $15,000 per set. BMW could be the first OEM to offer entire wheels in carbon fiber reinforced plastic in two years.
The wheels - either all-CFRP or using a CFRP rim and alloy spokes - were shown off during BMW's Innovation Days in Munich and are products of the development work done on its i-branded cars. The full-CFRP wheel is 35-percent lighter than a forged alloy wheel, the hybrid alloy and CFRP wheel is 25-percent lighter, making for a decent drop in unsprung rotating weight. As demonstrators during a tech day the wheels aren't yet in the pipeline for production and EU approval, but an article in Auto Express claims that they could be on the market as soon as two years from now.
Other possible parts include a full carbon fiber steering wheel and propeller shaft, the latter of which is coming as a single-piece component on the new M3 and M4. BMW is also talking up its use of secondary carbon fiber - waste material from i3 and i8 production - that can be used for items like IP support structures, seat frames and spare wheels in place of traditional metals like aluminum and magnesium. There's an excerpt of the Innovation Day press release below with more details.

BMW wants world drifting record back in US

BMW just can't stand the thought of the world record for the longest drift winding up in the hands of someone else. The German automaker is set to take a crack at setting a new record by blowing the old one straight out of the water. A driver in China holds the current title after kicking a car sideways for a full 3.6 miles. Now, on May 11, BMW Performance Driving Instructor Johan Schwartz will attempt to pitch a BMW M5 sideways for some 40 miles as part of a stunt to raise funds for the BMW Pro-Am Charity.
We've had the distinct pleasure of riding with the instructors at the BMW facility in South Carolina, and we can tell you that if anyone can keep an M5 at full tilt for 40 miles, it's these guys. BMW has released a teaser video to drum up attention for the stunt. You can catch it below.