No Sweat Parking!!!!!!!!!

[MyHarley]

Did you all read this in the BMW Magazine??


In the near future, parking in tight spaces will be a cinch with BMW's intelligent parking system. Here's how it works: As the car passes a potential parking space, a sensor on the side of the rear bumper measures the space's length and width. If the space is large enough, the driver hears a beep. Then all that has to be done is stop, shift into reverse, activate the parking assistant and---this is the clever part--take both hands off the steering wheel. Gentle pressure on the accelerator pedal lets the parking assistant guide the car smoothly into the parking space, as an electric motor automatically does the steering. When Park Distance Control signals that the backing-in maneuver is finished, the driver simply applies the brakes. The intelligent parking system straightens the steering wheel; the driver then shifts into forward gear and proceeds to center the car within the space. The system is currently being tested in research vehicles; unfortunately, no launch date has yet been announced.

I was laughing..........I'm hoping that eventually the BMW itself will be my chauffeur.......

 

[coyotefreek]

nifty, hope it dosent turn into another idrive incident where it is not properly tested before release and becomes cumbersome instead of helpful.

 

[CosmosBlack]

How Coool...but oh boy, another maintenance nightmare and expense!

Come to think of it, future drivers will all be inadequate drivers, being pampered and spoiled in every way. Even today, so many drivers who have been driving for many years, cannot drive a stick-shift! And many cannot park their cars in a side-parking lot, especially common in cities. They are so used to the straight-in lots found in suburban parking lots, like those at Walmart, Lowe's, etc.

 

[epj3]

what if you park in front of a semi that's parked 2 feet from the curb, and that semi leaves? The car does not measure where the curb is (since some roads HAVE no curb) and that truck leaves. Then you're left with your bmw 2 feet from the side of the road.

I know people who would just let the car sit there too...

 

[andreyiv]

Toyota has a car called Echo that has that feature already. It's only available in Japan for now and adds about $1,500 to the price of the vehicle.

 

[MrElussive]

Toyota has a car called Echo that has that feature already. It's only available in Japan for now and adds about $1,500 to the price of the vehicle.

Is that a joke? Because that would be a sick feature !!

 

[andreyiv]

It's not a joke, it's for real, but the car is prius, I made a mistake, sorry.

 

[MrElussive]

Oh well, too bad the Prius sucks. Either way, I have no trouble parallel parking on my own.

 

[coyotefreek]

I was going to say, the echo is toyota's cheepest car in the US, why would they put that feature on that car of all the cars they offer. The prius wich is a hybrid car is being pushed heavly in the US due to fuel costs so I would not be supprised if they put that feature on that car and not others to boost sales on that specfic car.

 

[andreyiv]

I don't thin that feature is usefull either for many reasons. First of all, I think you would be able to park in a smaller space that the car can since it parks going in reverse only and you can go back and forth a few times to fit into some really tight spaces. If you can't, then you shouldn't drive, it's like flying a plane without knowing how to land it. Just imagine how many more accidents there will be with all those idiots on the road who can't drive.

 

[xLibelle]

yeah, give people this system, and they will lose everything they know about the mechanics of parallel parking. hell, i do it in a few seconds and perfect almost everytime.
thats what i like about my e30, its got all the things that are needed, and none of the extra junk.

 

[mrferg]

...its got all the things that are needed, and none of the extra junk.

Could not have said it better myself.

 

[Dinan55]

All this technological shit is starting to get on my nerves. It's like we're not driving anymore; we're getting to the point where the car thinks for you. All of this leads to dumber people and worse drivers. Imagine in the future if everything is driven and controlled by computers, and all of a sudden the power goes out. What then? People will raise hell and thousands will probably die. If this useless crap invented for the average moron actually starts being used, I'm gonna go out and buy the oldest, best-maintained BMW I can find and drive it until I die. We might as well start driving computers.

 

[PuShAkOv]

Will never trust my car to a machine.

 

[Dinan55]

Will never trust my car to a machine.

Exactly, you control the car, the car doesn't control you (most of the time...).

 

[MrElussive]

Will never trust my car to a machine.

That's what you do every time DSC flashes on.