BMW spreads laser light tech

BMW's headline act at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is an M4 featuring second-generation laser high-beam headlights that are claimed to vanquish darkness up to 600 metres in front of the vehicle.

The Bavarian car-maker beat Audi, which fitted the technology to the limited-edition R8 LMX supercar, to become the first to offer laser lights in a car with the i8 hybrid sports car.

The new laser high-beam lights on the M4 concept are always switched on but feature an anti-dazzle system that dips them when it detects other vehicles at night.

They work by using a camera-based Selective Beam system, regulated by dynamic actuators, and the system can even spot animals at night via an infra-red camera then 'spotlight' them with the dynamic laser lights to alert the driver.

There's even a function whereby the laser lights can project pertinent information onto the road for occupants to see, which is designed to allow the driver to "concentrate optimally on the traffic even in pitch darkness" and not be dazzled by instrumentation or navigation instructions inside the car.

As well as using less energy than other lights, the lasers develop a parallel light beam that is "10 times more intense than that produced by halogen, xenon or LED light sources" claims the German company.

BMW says the laser lights are identified by a new take on the twin 'angel eye' headlights, featuring thin blue strips. The brake lights also get new OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes) which according to BMW "produce light from wafer-thin semiconducting layers of organic material".

They are arranged to create a three-dimensional effect and BMW says the OLEDs also take up less room "on account of their thin size", with a thickness of just 1.4 mm. The brake lights can also change their illumination pattern depending on what mode the car is set to. For example in sports mode, the lights become a narrow, sharp line of light.