San Francisco – October 14, 2026 -- Mapbox's 3D Live Navigation feature now powers BMW Maps with driver assistance in BMW Group's Neue Klasse vehicles, in what the company calls a market first: lane-level navigation and live ADAS detections combined in a single map view.
The system shows turn-by-turn directions in context with the road, surrounding vehicles and 3D buildings. Mapbox says traditional in-car systems cannot integrate route guidance with information about the vehicle and its surroundings, forcing drivers to piece together data from separate displays.
BMW builds a custom Neue Klasse interface on the Mapbox Navigation SDK
The Mapbox Navigation SDK gave BMW Group full control to build a navigation experience for the Panoramic iDrive in Neue Klasse models. The vehicle's Central Display, Panoramic Vision Display and 3D Head-Up display present the information in the driver's field of view.
Stephan Durach, BMW Group's Senior Vice President of Digital Services, Infotainment and Connected Company, said the interaction between navigation and driver assistance is an important step toward highly automated driving. He said the system gives drivers better orientation when driver assistance is active, and that BMW developed it in collaboration with Mapbox.
Three functions combine map data and live vehicle sensing
The BMW implementation includes three core elements:
- Live 3D map: Lane geometry, road markings, crosswalks and 3D buildings form a detailed view of the road. Ongoing map updates reflect new construction and road modifications.
- Lane-level Magic Carpet guidance: The vehicle is displayed in its lane of travel, and the Magic Carpet path highlights the route through the next maneuver. When assisted driving features are active, the map shows where the vehicle intends to go.
- Situational awareness: ADAS camera detections, including pedestrians, road hazards and other vehicles, appear on the 3D map alongside lane-keeping and collision warnings.
Daily map updates keep navigation current
The Mapbox live map underlying the experience refreshes with daily updates, so navigation reflects changing road conditions.
Mapbox CEO Peter Sirota said the company supplies location infrastructure and lets customers build differentiated experiences on its live map, adding that BMW has turned that foundation into an experience of its own.