BMW continues to rapidly launch new car models and attract buyers. As every year, a BimmerFest was organized for this year 2021 as well. Not only BMW owners, but also people who drive other brands participate in this two-day event.
This time, the company gave bad news at the festival. He announced that some models to be released will not have a touchscreen due to technical glitches. While it is not yet known whether this will be a big enough obstacle to reduce the company’s sales, it will greatly reduce the comfort of use offered by the brand.
Why won’t the new BMWs have a touchscreen?
According to a forum post at BimmerFest, most upcoming cars will not have touchscreens, as the company is suffering from chip shortages. This information was later confirmed by the auto company Edmunds and AutoBlog.
Some other automakers had the same problem and had to pause or even cut production. But for a world giant brand like BMW, this is a big problem. The touch screen has now become quite common and has become a standard function. The interruption encountered in direct proportion to this will greatly affect the interaction with the car in daily life.
The models in question will be the 3 Series sedans and the X5, X6, X7 SUVs. According to the BimmerFest post, these tools will also lose access to the backup assistant, which records the paths you take to the places you go. Aside from the knowledge that cars shipped without a touchscreen will come with a $500 credit, the vehicle will require a software update. In addition, the customer will need to sign a form with the dealer that they know these features are not available.
What will be used instead of the touch screen?
As compensation for the touchscreen, there will be a controller with touchpad-like capabilities available in the center console. These changes are likely to confuse buyers. Considering that the car is a long-term investment, it is thought that most customers will not prefer vehicles without touchscreen capabilities.
BMW isn’t the only company making cuts to its cars due to chip shortages. General Motors had to give up the HD radio feature, which was a minor problem compared to the touchscreen. It also removed important functions such as fuel management modules and auto-stop from the built-in wireless charging on some models.
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