Certain BMW 5-Series and 7-Series models (including the i5 and i7) could have a steering wheel that doesn’t know where your hands are when they’re in driver assist mode
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Back in June, a hacker discovered that some Tesla vehicles were equipped with a hidden “Elon Mode” that allowed Autopilot to operate without checking that the driver’s hands were on the wheel. A BMW supplier has accidentally created a similar mode for certain 5-Series and 7-Series models.
Unlike the American company, the German company’s hands-off driving mode was accidental, and it is now recalling a total of 9,211 examples in the U.S. Of that, 5,818 are 7-Series models, 2,724 are i7s, 120 are 5-Serieses, and 549 are i5s. All are from the 2023 or 2024 model years.
BMW first learned that there was an issue on August 24, when an engineer was on a test drive. They were testing long-term quality, and noticed that they weren’t being asked to keep their hands on the wheel.
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Read: Tesla Hacker Finds Hidden “Elon Mode” Code That Turns Off FSD Nags
The automaker opened an investigation, and reached out to its steering wheel supplier, Autoliv, for help. Eventually, it was determined that a misaligned drilling process caused the borehole for the ground connection to the steering wheel to be produced out of spec.
As a result, the connection between the cable and the wheel could loosen, causing the capacitance measurement for the hand detection system to provide a false positive.
Fortunately, BMW hasn’t received any reports of accidents or injuries as a result of this error, but it could still have serious consequences. For starters, its advanced driver assistance system is designed to have a human driver watching over it. Without a way to ensure that someone is paying attention, it could be abused dangerously. It could also fail to recognize if a driver is incapacitated, allowing the car to continue down the highway without a driver.
As a result, BMW is launching a recall campaign and will start reaching out to owners on December 8. They will be asked to return their vehicle to a nearby dealership, where the ground connection will be inspected and reattached to specifications where necessary.
