Technical data

Full-color BMW Head-up Display38 39
THE ART OF
KEEPING YOUR EYES
WHERE THEY BELONG.
The full-color Head-up Display projects
all important information in the driver’s
direct fi eld of vision. This lets you keep
track of everything that’s happening on
the road ahead.
The term “eyes-off-the-road time” means
the amount of time it takes you to read infor-
mation displayed in a vehicle’s instrument
panel, such as current vehicle speed and
Navigation system instructions. Depending
on the complexity of the data, eyes-off-the-
road time can last between one and three
seconds. However, in just two seconds, a car
driven at  mph will have traveled a distance
of  feet with the driver unable to pay full
attention to what’s happening on the road.
In , BMW was the fi rst European
automotive manufacturer to offer a
Head-up Display.
The concept of Head-up Display technology
is to project essential information onto the
windshield in the driver’s fi eld of vision. The
projected image appears at an ergonomically
ideal distance, seeming to hover above the
front edge of the hood. The name of this
technology speaks for itself: you can literally
In addition to vehicle speed and Check Control
data, the full-color Head-up Display can show
Navigation system prompts, as well as warning
messages from Active Driving Assistant and
Night Vision with Pedestrian Detection system.
From the driver’s point
of view, the Head-up
Display seems to hover
above the front edge of
the vehicle’s hood.
keep your head up. The system allows you
to keep an eye on key driving information
while staying focused on the traffi c ahead
– so looking at the instrument panel is rarely
necessary. Understanding data projected by
the Head-up Display takes only half as long
as reading them off the instrument panel.
This minimizes the risk of missing the brake-
lights of a vehicle ahead, as well as potential
hazards in the roadway.
The display creates an optical illusion
of hovering further out over the hood,
to make focusing on traffi c easier.
The Head-up Display projector is positioned
behind the instrument panel. The image is
projected onto the windshield, and refl ected
by it. To you, the driver, it does not appear on
the windshield itself – instead it seems to
hover outside the vehicle, at a distance of
around two and a half feet. This virtual length-
ening of the viewing distance makes reading
data off the Head-up Display much easier
than consulting the instrument panel. Your
eyes do not have to adjust from near to far,
or adapt from the well-lit road to the darker
displays in the cockpit. This increases com-
fort and reduces eye strain.
The  Series Coupe and Convertible
feature a full-color Head-up Display.
While previous versions of the Head-up
Display showed only red, orange, yellow
and green, the latest system can display
the entire color range. In addition to vehicle
speed and Navigation instructions, the
Head-up Display can show warning
messages from driver assistance systems,
such as Speed Limit Info, Active Driving
Assistant and the infrared BMW Night Vision
with Pedestrian Detection. The Head-up
Display greatly reduces eyes-off-the-road
time, providing an important contribution to
active safety. You can access the Head-up
Display features and adjust brightness and
image position via the iDrive Controller.
As a result, you can react faster in extreme
situations – and you’ll be less prone to fatigue.
Get the latest information on BMW standard and optional features, packages and technical specifi cations.
Visit bmwusa.com, select the BMW model of your choice, and click on “Features & Specs.”
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