BMW USA has announced the improvements that will come as part of its latest remote software upgrade for owners with iDrive7. Version 21-07 will improve certain vehicle functions and update the infotainment system for better tech performance.

Vehicle Functions And Safety Systems

The latest update will add refinements to BMW’s Lane Departure Warning feature. With better detection logic, the system can now tell when the vehicle is on a narrow road without center markings and suppresses steering intervention. This, says the automaker, will reduce instances of the car steering towards the middle of the road when there is oncoming traffic.

Among the slightly less urgent updates, BMW has also improved its real-time traffic information to process data about congestion on turning lanes. By doing this, it intends to provide optimized routing and more accurate predictions of arrival times.

Read Also: BMW Shows Android Some Love, Brings Digital Key Technology To A Handful Of Devices

The automaker’s key detection has now also been improved to allow the car to recognize a key (and, therefore, the associated driver profile) even when the key isn’t on the driver. That means that if you, say, keep your key in your bag and place it on the passenger seat when you drive, the car will still recognize your profile, saving you the mild annoyance of selecting your profile manually.

Improved Sound

In addition to these features, BMW is also introducing advanced volume control for Android smartphones connected to the vehicle via Bluetooth. This provides an enhanced “sound experience” for streaming music or podcasts.

The M3 and M4 also benefit from improvements to the sound experience of a sort. Cars fitted with the eight-speed Steptronic transmission get refined sound on startup and clearer audio confirmation during gear changes. Its characteristics can also be configured using engine settings (Efficient/Sport/Sport Plus) and a quieter drive mode can be selected with the Sound Control Button.

New Features For Spotify And Pandora

For those who enjoy a quieter ride with a familiar podcast host, BMWs will now allow you to find podcast playlists on Spotify through BMW Connected Music. Owners with SiriusXM and 360L, meanwhile, now get Pandora stations. The new Pandora feature allows users to customize their own ad-free music channels. Stations can be created on the go, by clicking the Related button while a favorite song is playing. You can also search through an artist’s page to find playlists related specifically to them.

This feature will be available in all model year 2022 and later BMW models equipped with SiriusXM with 360L.

BMW News App Revamped

BMW has tried to make its news app more personalized and intelligent in its filtering of news. It has also attempted to improve the sound quality of the stories to make them as easy and entertaining as listening to the radio. Customers can now receive news on topics of interest by selecting categories and then liking posts. The intelligent app learns user preferences and further personalizes the news feed more precisely to populate the feed with better-targeted content.

Unlike in the past, when news stories were read aloud by a speech-to-text program, the content is now read by a speaker, to make it more like listening to a podcast than a robot listing all of the latest horrors to befall humankind.

BMW Key Now Available On Android

Now in its second generation, the BMW Digital Key will be available on select Android-based smartphones, starting with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Series and the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. With it, owners can unlock their vehicle by simply holding their smartphone next to the driver’s door handle and can start the car when the phone is placed in the charging tray.

BMW says these functions are being rolled out to vehicles with iDrive7 now.