BMW analyzes image and sensor data to improve ADAS

Assistance Systems BMW Collects Image Data from Customer Vehicles

2026-04-02 From Silvia Lulei | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

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From April, BMW will be evaluating image and sensor data from customer vehicles. This will initially be possible with the iX3 and i3 models. The information will be used to improve assistance systems.

The new BMW iX3 50 xDrive enables automated driving with the BMW Highway Assistant. From April 1, 2026 - provided the customer agrees - data on event-related traffic situations can be collected to improve assistance systems.(Image: Uwe Fischer) — The new BMW iX3 50 xDrive enables automated driving with the BMW Highway Assistant. From April 1, 2026 - provided the customer agrees - data on event-related traffic situations can be collected to improve assistance systems.
(Image: Uwe Fischer)

The new BMW iX3, the new i3 and all other BMW New Class models will be able to capture environmental video data. Since April 1, 2026, the BMW Group has been collecting such image data in Germany. The manufacturer expects this to add great value to its assistance systems. These are to be improved using data from everyday use.

The prerequisite for using the image data is the customer's declaration of consent in compliance with all data protection regulations, writes the manufacturer. Data collection is to be gradually extended to all member states of the European Economic Area.

Continuously Improved BMW Assistants

The BMW developers for assistance systems are to concentrate on event-related traffic situations. In these cases, ADAS systems would have a particularly high benefit. As examples, the OEM cites prevented collisions when changing lanes on the highway, the intervention of the emergency brake assistant, heavy manual braking or a sudden evasive maneuver.

Sensor and image data recorded in these situations is relevant for understanding the situation and making improvements to the functionality based on this. This includes images of the vehicle's surroundings from the exterior cameras, data from the environmental sensors and dynamic driving information such as speed, direction of travel and steering angle.

The BMW Group has implemented so-called "privacy-by-design" measures for data processing in order to protect the data protection rights of persons who may be recorded and of vehicle users: As far as technically possible, faces and license plates of other road users contained in image data are already made unrecognizable in the vehicle before being transmitted to the IT backend, BMW states. It should also no longer be possible to assign the data to the vehicle. To this end, the vehicle identification number is deleted immediately after transmission to the backend.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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