There are moments when the CEO of BMW sounds like a pushy salesman in the car dealership: Oliver Zipse had a moment like this again during the general meeting of the Dax group.

He described the advantages of the new 7-series BMW in detail to the virtually connected shareholders.

The luxury limousine invites you "to drive or to be driven", after all, even the most demanding customers should feel at home, "like in a private lounge".

Henning Peitsmeier

Business correspondent in Munich.

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It sounded as if the Munich company's latest technical achievement would finally make the dream of autonomous driving come true.

But Zipse raved about the entertainment for the occupants on the back seat: "I like the grandiose 'BMW Theater Screen' in the rear, 31 inches.

It turns your 7 Series into a cinema hall.” For the BMW boss, it is clear that the 7 Series embodies “Tech Magic” and thus exactly what customers expect today.

"In terms of technology, no other vehicle can offer this at the moment."

Special equipment costs

doubts are warranted.

Because especially when it comes to the most hotly contested topic, namely automated driving, the competition beats the advertising drum even harder.

Above all Elon Musk, head of the American electric pioneer Tesla, never tires of focusing on the self-driving cars in the near future.

And Ola Källenius from arch-rival Mercedes-Benz has now brought the topic up to date.

Källenius is technologically ahead of Zipse: Unlike the 7-series BMW, buyers of the Mercedes S-Class can already order automated driving as an optional extra.

According to Mercedes, this makes it the “first automobile manufacturer in the world to have internationally valid certification for highly automated driving”.

The "Drive Pilot" option costs 5000 euros plus VAT for the S-Class sedan and 7430 euros for the electric S-Class EQS, because the driver assistance system is not standard in this.

Tesla charges 7,500 euros for automated driving, and in the United States the group recently increased the price to 12,000 dollars or 11,400 euros.

And BMW?

The Bavarians had originally planned to offer the BMW iX, which appeared a year ago, with such special equipment, but backtracked shortly before the market launch.

Automated or autonomous driving is divided into five levels - starting with level 0, in which only the driver steers and drives without any computer support, up to level 5, in which the vehicle moves without a driver, i.e. really autonomously.

Many car manufacturers are already offering Level 2 assistance systems that allow the driver to take their hands off the wheel for a few seconds.

Some assistants are referred to as level 2 plus because they contain additional functions.

The Level 3 system that Mercedes is now offering allows drivers to do other things over a longer period of time.

However, they must always be ready to take the wheel.

Only from level 4 does the car carry out all driving tasks independently and can it also cover longer distances without intervention by the driver.

Who is liable in the event of damage?

The "Drive Pilot" from Mercedes is approved for speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour on motorways.

It can therefore take over driving, especially in traffic jams or slow-moving traffic.

Higher speeds and autonomous lane changes are not permitted by law.

Mercedes received approval from the Federal Motor Transport Authority at the end of last year.

According to Sales Director Britta Seeger, the Stuttgart-based company also wants to receive approval in the United States by the end of the year.

The states of Nevada and California are likely to be the first.

The question of who is liable if the computer goes astray has already been clarified: by activating Level 3 Drive Pilot, the driver hands over responsibility for his vehicle to the manufacturer.

Liability in the event of damage also passes to the manufacturer.