Gentex Corporation’s SmartBeam high-beam headlamp assist technology will be offered from this autumn on the BMW 5-, 6- and 7 series. This is the first time any type of high-beam headlamp assist system has ever been offered by a European automobile manufacturer or in markets outside of North America.
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“SmartBeam is a complex product, but because of the common vehicle electrical systems used by BMW, they are able to introduce SmartBeam concurrently on a number of new vehicle models,” a Gentex spokesman said.
Gentex is best known for its automatic-dimming rearview mirrors which often come integrated with additional electronic features, such as SmartBeam. This uses a miniature camera-on-a-chip to maximize forward lighting by automatically turning on the vehicle’s high beams according to surrounding traffic conditions. If it’s dark enough and no other traffic is present, SmartBeam will automatically turn on high beams. The system returns the headlamps to their low-beam intensity when detecting either the headlamps or tail lamps of other vehicles.
Although the technology is new, the idea isn’t. A similar system called something like ‘headlight sentinel’ was offered on Cadillacs at least 50 years ago.
SmartBeam, which BMW calls High-Beam Assist, will be introduced on the 5, 6 and 7 in autumn in Europe and other markets, and will be offered in conjunction with xenon headlamps.
