BMW has drawn a wave of criticism online after releasing a two-minute video of its navigation-guided City Assistant, with commentators seizing on a driver takeover, gaps in the on-screen visualization and the system’s 2027 timing.
The Munich-based carmaker said on Monday that it plans to introduce “navigation-guided, partially automated driving in cities” in Germany from 2027, with the system assisting drivers with turns, urban lane changes, right-of-way situations and roundabouts.
The video, filmed in Munich, quickly became a reference point for comparisons with Tesla‘s FSD (Supervised), which is being renamed Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe and is awaiting an EU-wide vote.
The Parked Van
The most-cited moment came at a parked delivery van. “The driver did however have to take over in the video due to a parked van on the side of the road, so there are clearly some limitations,” Sawyer Merritt, a Tesla investor with over a million followers, wrote on X in a post that became the main thread for reactions.
“BMW proudly posted its self driving system heading straight for a parked van as someone exited the back. driver had to intervene,” wrote AI DRIVR, a Tesla FSD video creator, adding: “why not just license FSD?”
“They really posted this with that basic disengagement?” X user Mike P wrote in reply.
“Seems like it can’t deal with stopped vehicles on the road. Doesn’t look like an end to end system. More like a code based system,” wrote X user Vekay, to which Merritt answered: “Yeah.”
Investor Jason Calacanis was among those comparing it with Tesla. “Feels like this is three years behind… awesome to see so many folks making progress!” he wrote. “Probably more,” Merritt replied.
An account called Not an FSD Tracker, which says it went through the demo frame by frame, said that at the van “the driver has both hands on the wheel, and it turns with them, so you can’t tell whether the car or the driver is steering.”
Whether the driver actually disengaged the system is not clear from the footage. BMW Symbiotic Drive lets the driver steer while assistance stays active, so a driver turning the wheel past the van does not by itself mean the system was switched off.
It also flagged a moment where the wheel “flicks right and straight back in about a third of a second” in the shadow of an underpass, and a pop-up covering the whole map as the driver confirms the Motorway Assistant at motorway speed. It noted the video’s many cuts and said Tesla’s videos “are often one continuous drive.”
Shadow and Signals
Automotive reviewer and content creator Kyle Conner wrote that BMW’s system “got stumped by a parked car (0:28) and then swerved for a shadow (1:20),” adding: “Solving self-driving isn’t as easy as all of the timelines given in the early 2020s.”
Not an FSD Tracker also flagged the underpass moment, where it said the wheel “flicks right and straight back in about a third of a second” with the driver’s hands off it, and a pop-up covering the whole map as the driver confirms the Motorway Assistant at motorway speed. It noted the video’s many cuts and said Tesla’s videos “are often one continuous drive.”
Several viewers said the car changed lanes without indicating, a jab at BMW drivers’ reputation. “The demo swerved for a shadow and didn’t auto-signal. Maybe that’s just on brand for BMW,” Michael Waitze wrote in a reply on X.
“BMW teaches its car to drive itself, but nobody taught it to indicate,” Not an FSD Tracker posted separately. The indicator lights are too small to read in BMW’s footage, so the claim could not be confirmed.
‘There Is No Bus’
A second wave of criticism focused on the 3D view BMW calls “BMW Maps with Driver Assistance,” which the carmaker says shows “how the vehicle perceives its surroundings.”
“There is no bus. In BMW, we trust,” X user ‘Genma_Jp’ wrote over a still in which a large coach passes alongside the car but does not appear on the central display.
“The on-screen car graphic bumps into the side of the road as if it were bumper cars lol. The parked cars are also on top of the trees. Definitely some UI stuff to work on before launch,” Merritt wrote in a follow-up post.
‘Genma_Jp’ later argued that the gaps go beyond cosmetics. “The rate of occurrence of missing or incorrect objects on the BMW HMI is nothing like the rare cases visible on the FSD HMI. This points to very poor perception performance,” the account wrote, adding that “the number of missing vehicles, pedestrians, or two-wheelers is simply enormous.”
BMW has not said whether the visualization shown in the video reflects the final production software. BMW has not addressed the online reactions publicly, and it has not posted the video on its main X accounts.
Co-Driving Questions
Part of the debate centered on BMW Symbiotic Drive, which lets drivers accelerate, steer or brake while the assistance stays active.
“When driver assistance is active, the driver can work with the system by accelerating, steering and braking in line with their personal driving style,” BMW said.
“Co-driving is dangerous. Once the driver takes over, the driver has to be in charge. If neither the car nor the driver knows who actually is in charge, situations can get worse quickly,” X user Traube Nuss wrote in reply to Merritt.
BMW says the system checks continuously whether the driver is attentive, and detects “the driver’s intention” from steering behavior and gaze direction.
Regulation and Rollout
BMW stressed in a Q&A that the system is not autonomous. “This is partially automated driving at SAE Level 2. The driver remains responsible for the driving task,” it said.
The functions will be type-approved under the updated UN Regulation No. 171, known as DCAS Series 2, which from 2027 “will permit system-initiated driving manoeuvres in urban settings for the first time,” BMW said. Tests required for type approval have been completed in real-world traffic by an independent technical service, subject to official confirmation in early 2027, it said.
That distinction was not lost on commentators. “People might ask ‘Why is this allowed in Europe but not Tesla FSD?’ Well it’s not, atleast not yet. It follows the new DCAS Series 2 regulation that goes into effect in January 2027,” X user Alexander Kristensen wrote.
Tesla’s system reached European roads through a different route, a Dutch approval under an exemption for new technology that nine other EU countries now recognize. The Dutch regulator RDW approved changes to it on Tuesday, including a cap on how far it can exceed speed limits. Germany’s Transport Ministry said in October that it had reached an understanding with Tesla on the system and would back EU-wide approval.
The hardware is fitted as standard in the new BMW iX3 and iX4 and in all versions of the X5, 3 Series and 7 Series, BMW said, and the functions will be delivered over the air. The exact 2027 rollout date and timing for other countries will be announced later.
“We will offer our customers a real improvement in driving comfort – with confident driver assistance in true BMW style,” Joachim Post, BMW’s Board Member for Development, said in the announcement.
