Preh "switch center" in the BMW 5-Series: iDrive controller, and audio/climate
NOVI, Mich. – Preh a leading supplier of automotive driver controls, sensors and electronic control units, will supply several driver control systems and electronic control units for the new BMW 5-Series sedan.
Headquartered in Bad Neustadt, Germany, the automobile supplier provides the most modern technical solutions, which already can be found in the interior of current BMW 5-Series GT and 7-Series vehicles – control systems with a high-quality, elegant appearance that visibly and palpably underscore the technical perfection requirements for the new BMW 5-Series vehicle interiors.
Preh will supply the iDrive controller in the center console, the integrated center stack for the audio and climate functions, as well as the climate control system for the rear and switches for driver-assist functions.
For several years, Preh had already been working on the technological possibilities of implementing the so-called “black panel effect” in the vehicle interior, where control surfaces appear in a homogeneous black until the ignition is switched on, then different function icons become visible by means of backlighting.
This black panel technology was previously implemented, for example, in the innovative center console concept “PrehCon” in 2007. Today, the black panel effect is especially persuasive, with its distinctively noble appearance in the control system for the audio and climate functions of the BMW 5-Series. In addition, Preh supplies this operating system also for the MKL / GKL product line belonging 5-Series GT and 7-Series models, which offer another distinctive feature, the so called "favorite buttons".
These are buttons that can be individually programmed with preferred functions – radio stations, for example. By means of capacitive technology, the driver need only place a finger close to a button, and the radio station frequency is indicated in the center display. The desired station is then selected by simply pressing the button.
As the supplier of the iDrive controller for the new 5-Series, Preh again demonstrates an authoritative competence in the development and manufacture of central control system solutions. Preh also makes the electronic control units for the Integral Active Steering, which varies the steering angle of the rear wheels at different speeds of the vehicle.
While the electronic control units are produced conforming to traceability requirements in the Preh plant in Bad Neustadt, Germany, production of the interior driver control systems come off the line in Trofa, Portugal.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
