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You are here: Home / Car Reviews / Exclusive test of a 2016 BMW X5 with Autoliv’s Nightvision Spotlight Tech (+Video)

Exclusive test of a 2016 BMW X5 with Autoliv’s Nightvision Spotlight Tech (+Video)

October 25, 2015 By James Hamel Leave a Comment

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https://youtu.be/SxNcA0sb4CU

Written by James Hamel

Video by Eric Peterson

I recently had the privilege of being able to perform a truly in-depth road test of a 2016 BMW X5 courtesy of Autoliv Technology, the automotive safety giant which invented the Nightvision technology found in various BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Rolls Royce models with Maybach, Bentley and the Cadillac CT6 the latest with the technology. With just the Nightvision system, owners are shown on a center dash mounted screen or a screen between the dials ahead of you if there are any heat emitting creatures in your path on even the darkest roads.

In our experience the Nightvision picked up everything from drunk College kids laying on the ground ahead of us, all the way down to a few deer, a snake slithering across the road, all manner of dogs and cats with even a squirrel at one point detected in a tree. It also had no problem at all detecting our most dependable stand in when we could not locate a deer willing to cooperate near Orange County, California. This daring individual was our experienced canine road tester—a dog we rescued from Boxer Rescue Los Angeles with the name Roxy but sadly passed away shortly after her performance as “dog crossing road in hot dog costume on Halloween” in the video attached to this article.

IMG_0176As you can imagine, Roxy was a dog with incredible patience who loved to be in front of the camera. Try to keep in mind that when I adopted her, this dog was terrified of everything and everyone. Then by the end of her life she never flinched one inch walking in front of the speeding BMW X5, a statement I wish as her human owner could say for myself due to one or two unintentional flinching and one outright fall on my rear which was down to nothing more than my ability to create unintentional physical comedy. The 2016 BMW X5’s brakes are ridiculously strong and in the video you will notice our speed limit on the admittedly dark road was kept at the speed limit but without those spotlight beams I wonder how many drivers’ would have seen the trick or treaters in time.

This was the reason why we had to do so many takes, in all of which it was always Roxy who hit her mark perfectly to best demonstrate the most exciting feature of our test BMW X5 which is as of yet unavailable here until Autoliv gets finished working with the NHTSA to alter a decades old law against spotlights on personal vehicles.

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Autoliv Nightvision with Spotlight Beam Technology

But wait, the X5 has spotlights? That shine on pedestrians and animals from the front foglights which can tilt and swivel to easily point out the location of a heat entity in front of the driver? The system also somehow manages to always know when a pedestrian or animal is a threat to you in the car as the spotlight illuminates when it senses someone who “could” walk in front of the car, others are shown in the vehicle head up display in yellow with those just standing or sitting show up in a brighter white outline.

Now, you may think this is impossible but for some reason humans never notice the spotlight being shone on them down by their feet (no one in our time ever acted like they noticed it) but on the contrary for animals it is those very spotlights which snap animals like deer out of that “caught in the headlights” fear, startles them and makes them bolt out of the street. It worked with every animal wild and domesticated that we came across. Except Roxy, who knew I was there as her human shield. But not every creature is so lucky.

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Did you know that in North America there are 200 human deaths and 1.1 million annual deer related accidents on our roads each year? That doesn’t even count the number of pedestrians hit and killed which according to statistics happens 69% of the time during night driving. Having the Autoliv Nightvision system could save so many human and animal lives each year that our hope is one day this system with the spotlight beam technology will be a standard feature on all new cars. Autoliv works tirelessly to bring the cost of their technology down and that is probably why they are such a hugely successful Fortune 500 firm with 18 tech development centers and 20 crash test facilities.

On a dark road, it’s easy to miss some things like a pedestrian in a black sweatsuit, a lost dog running down the road, a skunk slowly crossing the road or a family of deer just standing in the road ahead of you 200 yards away. Check out the video to see how clearly and quickly the driver of this 2016 BMW X5 is notified when a pedestrian and dog walk into the path of the speeding SUV. And remember, be safe out there this Halloween!

(Dedicated to the Memory of Roxy Hamel)

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Filed Under: Car Reviews, Car Safety, Featured, How-To, Smart Technology Tagged With: 2016 BMW X5, Autoliv, BMW, Car Safety, Night Vision

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James Hamel

James Hamel began his auto career in the service department of a Ford dealer because he wanted to learn first hand how all automotive technology worked. Then he got a job at Automotive.com and Truckin' where he first worked on graphic design and online layouts which all eventually led to him to freelance reporting for sites like Autobytel, The Car Connection, Yahoo!, Examiner, Gaywheels.com and more. His experience writing hundreds of in-depth car reviews helped him come up with the idea for InfotainmentExperts.com, a site he co-founded with Joshua Stone. According to James, the site is meant to help anyone understand the latest tech trends in automotive, wireless, audio and more.

Co-Founder

Joshua Stone and James Hamel met and formed Infotainment Experts.com quite by accident. But it was not totally without serendipity as many valuable characteristics each one found in the other. No Sitcom Odd Couple this, both will forever be part and parcel of the belief matrix of this site. Josh, busy with his beautiful daughter is also writing, editing and also inventing new products a few of which he will be launching quite soon.

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Editor-in-Chief : Anne Proffit

Anne Proffit brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of every aspect of the automobile thanks to her time spent in the world of racing as well as her years as one of the most well respected automotive writers in her field. And she loves her gadgets almost as much as she loves the world of car racing: her other passion.

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Like anyone who reviews the latest technological wonders of the world, Robert Rowzee just loves gadgets and gizmos of all types; from headphones to connected smart light bulbs, to HTPCs.  He could talk about it all day and the downside for some closest to him is that he won’t shut up about it.

Still, to others this overall knowledgeability made him the perfect person to turn to with their issues and questions. So it was a natural for InfotainmentExperts.com to want him on our staff and when given the chance to bloviate about do-dads and geegaws online with us, he saw an opportunity.

By day Robert work in the automotive business slinging databases.  By night, he is usually wiring new light fixtures to a complex smart ecosystem to test something new.  Or I'm creating playlists to use when test driving audio products. Or maybe that was just an average Tuesday in the life of Robert Rowzee—Infotainment Expert.

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