Four Superbrains for the Neue Klasse: More intelligent, more efficient, more powerful. – AutoMart Canada

Munich. The BMW Group is the first automotive
manufacturer to launch a completely newly developed digital nervous
system for all drivetrain variants and vehicle segments. It is more
intelligent, more powerful and more efficient and will be rolled out
for the first time in the models of the Neue Klasse. Four
high-performance computers, also called
“Superbrains“, consolidate the computing
power for the most important customer functions: infotainment,
automated driving, driving dynamics, and basic functions such as
vehicle access, climate control, and comfort. The four Superbrains
provide more than 20 times the computing power compared to the current
vehicle generation and are already designed for upcoming software and
function updates, including AI-powered customer experiences.

“Technology openness is the key to BMW’s success. Starting with
the first model of the Neue Klasse, we will roll out the technologies
of the Neue Klasse across the entire future model portfolio – across
all segments and all drivetrains. This also applies to our completely
newly developed electronic architecture made up of powerful
‘Superbrains’ and highly interconnected software platforms. This
architecture allows us to decouple the development of the vehicle and
software from each other. The advantage: More than ever before, all
future BMW models will remain digitally up to date via over-the-air
upgrades and will receive updates even from the next and subsequent
vehicle generations,” says Frank Weber, Board Member for
Development at BMW AG.

A fundamental component of the digital nervous system is the
radically simplified wiring harness. It is based on a so-called
zonal wiring harness architecture, which uses 600
meters less wiring and brings 30% weight savings
compared to the previous generation. The wiring harness is divided
into four zones: front end, center, rear and roof. The Superbrains are
connected via high-speed data connections to smaller control units,
the zonal controllers, which manage and consolidate the data flow of
the electronics in and out of the zones. The wiring in the vehicle is
therefore zone-related and can thus be shorter, thinner, and lighter.

A crucial prerequisite for thinner and lighter wiring are the
so-called “Smart eFuses”. These are digital
fuses that replace up to 150 traditional fuses. Smart eFuses can be
intelligently programmed for digitally controlled energy distribution
to components. The selective activation of components allows for the
design of intelligent power modes for various vehicle
states such as driving, parking, charging, and upgrading, in which
unnecessary consumers can be identified and switched off. Thus, the
eFuses make a significant contribution to the 20% improved
energy efficiency.

The completely newly developed electronic architecture forms the
basis for the next generation SDV. From the launch of the Neue Klasse,
the upcoming BMW model generation will benefit from it. The first
fully electric derivative of the Neue Klasse will go into series
production later this year at the Debrecen plant (Hungary).

The advanced software architecture of the BMW Group
builds on this new electronic architecture. With the multitude of
digital functions in SDVs, it is crucial that functions can be
continuously developed on stable software platforms rather than being
newly developed for every new generation. This is precisely what is
achieved with the Neue Klasse. In the vehicle the software platforms
run on the respective Superbrains, and the vehicle functions run on
top of them. The “Shared Service Layer” acts as a connecting
element (middleware) and provides, among other things,
state-of-the-art cybersecurity and flexible over-the-air updates. It
also enables customer-relevant AI functions thanks to intelligent
networking of cross-domain data sources.

“With the introduction of the Neue Klasse, we are entering a
mode of software development where we achieve software continuity.
This means we continuously develop software rather than starting from
scratch each time,” says Christoph Grote, Senior Vice
President BMW Group Electronics and Software. “Based
on our advanced software architecture and the fact that today our
global development teams generate 130 times more software than ten
years ago, we see ourselves in an excellent competitive position. More
than ever, our software developers can focus on product innovations.”

For the Neue Klasse, the development teams are working on well over
1,000 software modules, over 20 GB of software, and over 500 million
lines of code, which will ultimately be integrated into the
Superbrains and the rest of the electronic architecture in the
vehicle. To achieve this, the BMW Group has established a solid
foundation for future-proof and highly effective vehicle software
development in recent years. Innovative methods and tools have been
anchored in the continuously growing global developer network. At the
heart of vehicle software development is the integrated developer
environment: a tailored tool-chain called “CodeCraft.” The
speed and quality of development have been enhanced with the use of a
variety of tools that support the software developer with generative
AI. CodeCraft runs in the cloud on up to 75,000 virtual CPUs, supports
the simultaneous work of well over 10,000 software developers, and
records up to 200,000 software builds per day at peak times. This
corresponds to a productivity increase of more than 130 times compared
to ten years ago.

In the event of enquiries in the period from 11.03.2025 to
21.04.2025 please contact Benedikt Fischer (Benedikt.Fischer@bmwgroup.com).