BMW wants to take over your city turns from 2027. So what's left for the driver?
From 2027, starting in Germany, BMW's navigation-guided assistance will turn, change lanes and handle roundabouts in town. It stays Level 2, and official type approval is expected in early 2027.
So far, BMW's driver assistance has done the heavy lifting on the motorway, while in town it could at most stop at a red light and pull away again. From 2027, the Munich carmaker wants to go further: with a route set in BMW Maps, the car will be able to turn at junctions, change lanes in the city, deal with right-of-way situations and get through roundabouts. The rollout starts in Germany, with other countries following step by step.
What the new City Assistant actually does
BMW calls it SAE Level 2 partially automated driving. The driver stays responsible at all times and has to watch the traffic. The functions only work while the interior camera confirms you are paying attention.
Combined with the existing motorway assistant, BMW is promising for the first time one continuous navigation-guided route from the motorway, across country roads and into the city. Automatic stop-and-go at traffic lights already exists in Germany; what's new are system-initiated manoeuvres in urban traffic.
One interesting detail is what BMW calls Symbiotic Drive: with assistance active, you can accelerate, brake or nudge the steering without switching the system off, and the car adapts to your style.
Which models get it
The hardware is fitted as standard on the new iX3 and iX4, and on every version of the 3 Series, 7 Series and X5. The functions arrive via over-the-air update and can be activated after purchase. No price has been announced, and the exact 2027 date will come later, as ComputerBase also notes.
Approval: tests done, stamp pending
The system will be type-approved under the updated UN R171 (DCAS Series 2), which from 2027 allows system-initiated manoeuvres in cities for the first time. BMW says an independent technical service has already completed the real-traffic tests. Official confirmation is only expected in early 2027, so the approval isn't final yet.
And Tesla?
The comparison is obvious. Tesla Assisted Driving (formerly FSD Supervised) already does similar things in town, but it reached Europe by a different route: a provisional Dutch approval from April 2026, based on an exemption, later recognised country by country. According to public trackers, it is now valid in 10 EU member states, most recently Latvia on 26 October. Germany is not one of them.
An EU-wide approval needs a vote in the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles (TCMV). There was no vote in October, and Germany's transport ministry has pointed to December as a possible date, but a vote is not guaranteed. In short: Tesla already has the feature on the road in a handful of smaller countries, while BMW is taking the standard regulatory path and starting with the EU's largest market.
What it means for drivers
If you own or buy one of the new BMW models above, the hardware is already in the car, and the feature could arrive later by update, at least in Germany from 2027. There's no timeline yet for other markets such as Romania. It remains to be seen what activation will cost and how well the system copes with real traffic. Whether you pick a BMW or a Tesla, the rule is the same: it's assistance, not an autopilot, and you remain responsible.
