Comment on intelligent connected product: BMW 3 Series, Benz C Class, Audi A4L

The development of intelligent vehicles is in the transition from expansion to differentiation, and the conventional evaluation system based on the Three Major Component(engine, transmission and chassis) preferred by Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi(BBA) has been broken to adapt to the hi-tech-ish evaluation system remolded by Tesla. Compared with some startups, BBA is cautious about the application of new technology. The “straggling” of their intelligentization process is obvious and if we compare some of their products, more “straggling” products will be found.

Recently, according to the second version of their HMI evaluation system, the team from Car Research Consulting (Beijing) conducted an evaluation on HMI systems of several models of BBA, namely, BMW 320Li M sports set, Audi A4L 40TFSI fashionable&dynamic and Mercedes-Benz C200L sports (hereinafter referred to as 320Li, A4L and C200L, all of which are entry-level versions without any other configurations equipped).

With respect to information legibility, 320Li is reading-friendly and has great information security. The pure black background of 302Li matches with the suitable backlight brightness, allowing for good legibility in both sunny and cloudy days. Meanwhile, the central control screen has almost the same height as that of the instrument, we can switch to the screen for information by averting our gaze in a straight line from the instrument, which is conducive to driving safety. In comparison, the screens of A4L and C200L both show a certain degree of reflection, but fortunately, it does not have much impact on its legibility. Height difference between the layout of the central control screen and the instrument exists in the two cars, thus there is potential safety hazard when switching sight from one to the other.

Speaking of the size of the screen, the C200L enjoys an absolute advantage in size and lighting area. The parameters of 320Li are bigger than those of A4L, but have smaller lighting area of screen due to the influence of the aspect ratio of the screen. The lighting area of C200L is about 2.94 times bigger than that of 320Li and 2.53 times than that of A4L. About one fourth area of the lower part of C200L’s screen, however, is a fixed touch control area of several functions: A/C, HOME, return and track skipping.

As for UI, C200L is advantageous in display effect. Both 320Li and A4L are designed with a black background. The former does not have a resident function bar on the touch screen because its physical buttons are reserved to the greatest extent, while A4L has a bar set on the left side. The background color of C200L is bright, which is switchable in a specific mode, and it offers more diverse colors and two schemes of home page UI icon display.

According to subjective perception, the boot speed of A4L brings the least satisfying experience. For both 320Li and C200L, the seat and steering wheel can be adjusted after getting into the car and the system can be fully loaded after safety belt is fastened and before ignition. Then, by powering on and ignition, the driver can operate directly and doesn’t need to wait. This kind of design has become the mainstream currently. A4L, however, still stays in the stage at which the system needs to be loaded after confirming user ID when the car is powered on, which is time-consuming and needs waiting.

Besides, the touch sensitivity of systems for the three models is acceptable, so it is understandable that there is a certain delay in applications that require network loading when entering the application and switching pages, about which 320Li and C200L are the typical cars. However, for A4L without these applications, it is not appropriate that there is a perceptible delay when clicking the “Source” for music switching .

320Li offers more choices in terms of input modes, for it is equipped with the most physical buttons among the three, and it supports mouse remote sensing and tablet input; A4L, apart from basic physical buttons, is only supportive for inputting information with the touch screen ; C200L eliminates the number of physical buttons to the greatest extent, and its touch-control physical buttons are only available for several functions, thus information can only be input through the touch screen as well. The operation logic of the three models is very clear and easy to master.

In terms of appearance, C200L shows the poorest performance. The all-liquid crystal instruments of 320Li and A4L are irregularly shaped LCD screens, which are similar to traditional instruments in shape. Above the instrument there is a sunshade brim that better coordinates with IP. All the design demonstrates a higher cost of manufacturing according to subjective perception. The instrument of C200L is designed with a regular shape approximate to the rectangle, which looks not so upper-class as the other two. Even so, the instrument of C200L have diverse themes with distinction between each other.

Function implementation

As entry-level model, the on-loaded navigation configuration of C200L and A4L needs to be purchased as add-ons, only 320Li is equipped with standard on-board navigation function, whose UI color is relatively gray and shallow, which is significantly different from the version of Gaode/Baidu on phones, but it supports navigation planning of multi-routes and routes to be opened. There is no real-time road condition updates, and the interface cannot be automatically restored after being zoomed. The instrument is available for map projection but only the middle area of can be used for displaying the projected map, what’s more, the legibility is bad. 

As for the infotainment, only A4L does not have online resources to be provided. Both 320Li and C200L provide top online music and radio resources. The mini programs in 320Li’s “Tencent mini scene(腾讯小场景)” offers abundant online resources. C200L is only available for Type-C data interface and charging, which is not of much practicality.

In terms of parking assistance, the three models are just equipped with backup cameras. The cameras in 320Li and C200L own double viewing angles(front and rear), while that in A4L offers single viewing angle(rear only) and photos shown are grainy. 320Li performs best in the image and radar, and its accuracy of obstacle identification(OD) is superior; A4L’s performance is good in OD, but its color distinction of radar image is single; the OD accuracy of C200L is poor, and the same distance its radars identify of regular obstacles shows different data.

In addition, the three models share normal performance in the aspects of function richness, while in the aspects of networking, electronic instructions and phone interconnection, 320Li performs the best, followed by C200L and A4L.

Voice interaction

Service ecology

The three models belong to the entry-level products of mid-size cars among first-class luxury brands. 320Li has comprehensive functions which can be well implemented, followed by C200L whose actual experience is limited by on-board functions after reducing the number of physical buttons to the greatest extent. A4L, unlike contemporary products in the same level,  is the only model that is not equipped with the function connected to the Internet, and seriously lacks functions. Besides, its central control screen does not adopt the latest top-bottom dual screen design.

It’s worth noting that the official prices of the three models tested are all more than 300,000 yuan. But due to the lack of some HMI configuration, their performance doesn’t reach the mainstream level of models in the database of Car Research. BBA are making efforts these days, though, to boost their competitiveness in the battle with a concept car and two flagship models, featuring “electrification and intelligence”, be that as it may, brands like Tesla, NIO, XPeng, Leading Ideal, BYD have already made achievement in intelligence of mid-size cars, which is reflected in their sales. Whether BBA can turn the tables? It remains to be seen.