BMW saying goodbye to largely-forgotten function they unveiled in 2015

BMW has announced that advances in technology mean it is removing a little-known – and under used – feature it first introduced back in 2015.

The German carmaker unveiled the feature for its new 7 Series and it’s since been introduced in other models. 

But almost a decade on, the company revealed at CES 2025 that the feature will be scrapped from its new vehicles. 

The move comes as the marque is poised to roll out all-new technology in its cars. 

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BMW is getting rid of the once-groundbreaking function

Improvements to cars come each and every year – from boosts to battery life in EVs to futuristic new in-car entertainment systems, there’s always something new on the horizon. 

And back in 2015, BMW proudly launched its ‘gesture control’ feature, which allowed motorists to carry out a range of small tasks – such as turning up the volume of the radio or skipping a song – by simply moving their hand.

While it was considered fairly groundbreaking at the time, the time has come for gesture control to call it a day. 

The German marque made the announcement during CES 2025 in Las Vegas, as it revealed that was it introducing a new highly advanced infotainment system that uses voice control. 

The carmaker also admitted that very few people were actually using its gesture control feature in the first place. 

New BMWs will come with an upgraded infotainment system

The new technology will be fitted on its upcoming Neue Klasse models – and will feature an upgraded version of the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant. 

It also means that if drivers want to turn the radio up or skip a song, they can simply ask the voice assistant to do so – rather than having to wave their hands about. 

The company said its new in-car system will be one of the ‘world’s best’ and plan to roll it out in all future models.

“The foundations are provided by the new BMW Operating System X,” Frank Weber said, a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG.

 “With this advance, we are giving one of the world’s best and most comprehensive infotainment systems even greater capability and once again setting the industry benchmark in multimodal interaction.

“Starting with the first series-produced Neue Klasse model at the end of this year, the new BMW Panoramic iDrive will form an integral part of all future models.”

Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?