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The application of crash durable structural adhesives in modern cars design, to improve the driving durability, the overall vehicle stiffness, the crash resistance and to make real light weight constructions feasible is significantly gaining in importance. 1-component systems are already introduced in the market and used in automotive industries. Usually the use of these bonds in automotive industries is limited by a relatively low wash off resistance in the pre-treatment tanks of the paint shop. If no additional actions are taken, there is a severe risk of wash off of the adhesives up to the partial loss in functionality. Respectively contamination of the pre-treatment tanks and aftereffects damage the surface of the coated cars. To avoid wash off a thermal process (oven) to pre-gel the adhesive in the flanges of the Body-In-White (BIW)- bodies before entering the pre-treatment utility is necessary. This is a save but cost intensive solution.

Modern automotive engineering is more than ever affected by a multitude of different and sometimes contradictory requirements. Innovative materials play an increasingly important role in ensuring the fulfillment of these requirements. Conventional material development has always met these demands to a high standard. However, there will be challenges where nanotechnology will provide us with even more intelligent solutions. Consequently, automotive engineering makes more and more use of the large variety of new technological functionalities and innovative applications offered by nanotechnology. Nanotechnology involves property changes that only occur at the nanoscale. Some selected properties are suitable to be used in the design of tailored materials called nanomaterials, opening up a new dimension in automotive engineering. Nanomaterials promise valuable progress through new functionalities, in particular safety and quality rating applications or lightweight construction.

Software-intensive systems and functions drive innovations in cars today. OEMs and suppliers face multiple challenges to take advantage of possibilities in this area. The rapidly developing field of software-intensive systems and software-based features in the automotive domain asks for dedicated engineering approaches, models, and processes. This paper defines the characteristics of software engineering for automotive systems and discusses methodological, technological, and organizational implications. These are used to pinpoint promising research areas as well as educational ramifications.

A top-of-the-range car customer not only expects exceptional vehicle design and quality but also a driving experience, which is out of the ordinary. Very harmonious interaction between vehicle dynamics and the steering system is required to offer clients such a consistent driving experience through generations of vehicle models. In this paper the basic properties of a premium driving experience are explored. It is shown that outstanding handling limits are a prerequisite, although most customers never experience such driving situations. In fact, on-center behavior is most crucial in enabling clients to experience part of premium driving performance, and the steering system is the key factor in delivering appropriate feedback to the driver by means of steering torque. Development procedures are presented to achieve the goals described above.

The average weight of a car has increased significantly in recent years due to higher crash requirements and demands in standard equipment. Therefore, BMW has decided to use aluminium for the body front end of the new BMW 5-series. During the paint process, the 6XXX-alloys currently adopted for the body front end exhibit a considerable increase in yield strength in the E-coat dryer. The increase of strength, the so-called paint bake response of 6XXX-alloys, needs to be fully exploited to meet the increasing demand of future passive safety concepts.

This paper presents new aspects of the casting and manufacturing of BMWs inline six-cylinder engine. This new spark-ignition engine is the realization of the BMW concept of efficient dynamics at high technological level. For the first time in the history of modern engine design, a water-cooled crankcase is manufactured by magnesium casting for mass production. This extraordinary combination of magnesium and aluminium is a milestone in engine construction and took place at the light-metal foundry at BMW's Landshut plant. This paper gives a close summary about process development, the constructive structure, and the manufacturing and testing processes.

In addition to the creep properties, the fatigue properties are essential for the design of a power-train component in Mg which is operated at elevated temperatures. In case of the new BMW I6 composite Mg/Al crankcase using the AJ alloy system, material testing focused on both subjects. The basic mechanical properties were determined from separately die cast samples and also from samples machined out from high-pressure die cast components. Tensile, high cycle fatigue properties, low cycle fatigue and crack propagation properties were established and analyzed within the technical context for power-train applications reflected in the temperature and load levels. The aspects of mean stress influence, notch sensitivity and crack propagation are evaluated to estimate the performances of the AJ62A alloy system.

Virtual testing has grown to be an efficient tool in vehicle passive safety design. Most simulations currently are deterministic. Since the responses observed in real-life and standardized tests are greatly affected by scatter, a stochastic approach should be adopted in order to improve the predictability of the numerical responses with respect to the experimental data. In addition, an objective judgement of the performance of numerical models with respect to experimental data is necessary in order to improve the reliability of virtual testing. In the European VITES & ADVANCE project the software tool Adviser was developed in order to fulfil these two requirements. With Adviser, stochastic simulations can be performed and the quality of the numerical responses with respect to the experimental can be objectively rated using pre-defined and user-defined objective correlation criteria. The software Adviser was used to develop a stochastic HybridIII 50th% Madymo numerical model.

AJ alloy is used with a new Aluminum-Magnesium Composite Design, which is an innovative approach to lightweight crankcase technology. The component is manufactured using high pressure die cast process. A wide range of chemical compositions was used to develop a good understanding of the behavior of this alloy system (castability, thermophysical, mechanical, microstructure). The basic mechanical properties were determined from separately die cast samples and also from samples machined out from high pressure die cast components. Tensile, creep, bolt load retention/relaxation and high cycle fatigue properties were established and analyzed using multivariate analysis and statistical approach. This methodology was used to select the optimal chemical composition to match the requirements. The sensitivity of the alloy to heat exposure was investigated for both mechanical properties and microstructure.

Future catalyst systems need to be highly efficient in a limited packaging space. This normally leads to a design where the flow distribution, in front of the catalyst, is not perfectly uniform. Measurements on the flow test bench show that the implementation of perforated foils for the corrugated and flat foils has the capability to distribute the flow within the channels in the radial direction so that the maximum of the given catalyst surface is of use, even under very poor uniformity indices. Therefore a remarkable reduction in back pressure is measured. Emission results demonstrate cold start improvement due to reduced heat capacity. The use of LS - structured ( Longitudinal structured ) corrugated foils creates a high turbulence level within the single channels. The substrate lights-up earlier and the maximum conversion efficiency is reached more quickly.

Cutting development times in car manufacturing means bringing forward the knowledge processes. Simulations based directly on CAD data reduce or replace time-consuming hardware loops significantly and therefore make a significant contribution to this. Ergonomic product design is an area that is challenged as far as the further development of virtual methods is concerned. Simulation of the static and quasi-static positions of passengers inside the car is the current state of the art in ergonomic product design. For this reason, interest is strongly focused on the simulation of complex movement processes within the context of enhancing simulation tools. For the car manufacturer, the manner in which people enter and leave the car is of particular interest. Getting into the car is the customers' first actual contact with it. It may also develop into a serious problem for car drivers, as they get older.

Advanced material technologies play a key role in automotive engineering. The main objective of the development of advanced material technologies for automotive applications is to promote the desired properties of a vehicle. It is characteristic of most materials in modern cars that they have been developed especially for automotive requirements. Requirements are not only set by the customer who expects the maximum in performance, comfort, reliability, and safety from a modern car. Existing legal regulations also have to be met, e.g., in the areas of environmental compatibility, resource preservation, and minimization of emissions. To achieve goals like weight reduction or increased engine performance permanent material developments are essential. In this paper, numerous examples chosen from body, suspension, and powertrain components show clearly how low weight technologies, better comfort, and high level of recyclability can be achieved by advanced material solutions.

In a voluntary agreement, the German automobile industry has undertaken to recover 95 percent by weight of End–of–Life Vehicles in the year 2015. In addition, the European draft directive on „End–of–Life Vehicles” recycling calls for evidence that at least than 85 percent by weight of the materials are suitable for material recycling. It is therefore essential while new vehicles are being developed to be in a position to assess their suitability for dismantling and recycling. An automobile consists of a large number of individual components, each of which must be examined separately before a well–founded statement regarding the overall recycling level can be made. For this purpose the BMW Group has developed its own dismantling software which permits virtual dismantling analysis even during a vehicle's development phase and thus enables suitability for recycling to be determined at the earliest possible time.

BMW can look back on 20 years of research activities on hydrogen propulsion systems. Hydrogen fuel is the only means of offering pure driving pleasure on the basis of a sustainable energy loop. As the hydrogen era is still quite a while away the BMW Energy Strategy „Via Natural Gas to Hydrogen” has been developed. The first step was to build series-production compressed natural gas (CNG) cars back in 1995. By switching to liquefied natural gas (LNG) not only is the cruising range tripled but technologically the final stepping-stone is reached in preparing the way for liquefied hydrogen. BMW's automotive and drive technology for hydrogen is now available and ready to move out of the laboratory on to the road. At Munich Airport a BMW „Clean Energy” car is already providing shuttle services. Its fuel is supplied by the world's first public filling station for liquefied hydrogen.