[scottjays]

Are the Laser Lights confirmed for US? What about the Pano glass roof and the ambient lighting or the light show for the pano? Is that conf. for US?

[mnx5er]

Laser lights are confirmed, they are in the ordering guide and I put them on my order. Can't confirm the sunroof, I didn't even know they were doing that.

[ScottMZ3]

No Sky Lounge for the X5 in the US. No idea why. You do get all the other ambient lighting in the cabin however.

[rolltidef32]

Originally Posted by ScottMZ3

No Sky Lounge for the X5 in the US. No idea why. You do get all the other ambient lighting in the cabin however.

Yes, I didn't see the Sky Lounge rood with my order either, but did get the upgraded headlights which I assume are laser. Wasn't clear on the order form, but wanted to at least get full LED. Laser is a big bonus for brights.

[roxxor]

At first I was upset by the lack of the Sky Lounge for the US, but when I think about how rarely I use the sunroof now, I figured it isn’t that big a deal, and could always be retrofitted later if I really(i.e. willing to spend the money) wanted it. Definitely can’t wait to see the laser lights in person, especially once they are coded to work like the European model with the tunneling feature.

[ScottMZ3]

I believe the “anti-dazzle” effect is coded on by default on the new X5 in the US. It was on our order sheet.

[Vallecitos]

BMW-USA genius in an email would only say the option won’t be available in the US, and gave no reason why. The Sky Lounge has been widely advertised.

As new BMW country websites come online, the Sky Lounge option is available/publicized by BMW in these markets: Canada, Mexico, the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Portugal, Denmark, Netherlands, Slovakia, Costa Rica, Chile and New Zealand. Imagine, Canada and Mexico and not the US!

At this writing, BMW has made no public announcement that (1) the Sky Lounge option won’t be available to US buyers, and (2) why not. Of course, all BMW X5s are made in the US, but the US seems to be the only country so far that won't get the Sky Lounge. The BMW-USA website remains to be updated with a build for the new X5.

If the US plan is to wait to offer the option for the X7, BMW erred by pushing the availability of the Sky Lounge in the new X5 in its own materials and information provided to many car reviewers, then abruptly not offering it to US buyers with no announcement. In other countries, the Sky Lounge will be in both the X5 and most certainly the X7. In the highly competitive SUV market in the US this, of course, is a marketing mis-step.

[Wild Blue]

What is this "tunneling feature" of the laser lights?

[roxxor]

Originally Posted by Wild Blue

What is this "tunneling feature" of the laser lights?

It isn't so much a feature of the Laser Lights, as it is the function of the High Beam Assistant.

In the U.S., due to what I assume were DOT regulations, the High Beam Assistant will turn the high beams on automatically when the system is enabled, and would turn them off when it detected another vehicle on the road in front of you. In most other markets, the system will move the high beam lights around the other vehicles, making a "tunnel" in the light so that you still get the extra visibility of the high beams without blinding the other drivers. In earlier generations (usually pre-LED), BMW actually made different headlight housings for the US market that were missing the parts needed to form the "tunnel". Once the newer LED headlights started coming out, it was a matter of simply coding the car and removing the options "5AP - Decoding for no-dazzle high-beam assistance" and "8S4 - Variable Light Decoding".

Below is the BMW animated video explaining how it moves the lights around other vehicles:

[avi8tir]

Originally Posted by roxxor

At first I was upset by the lack of the Sky Lounge for the US, but when I think about how rarely I use the sunroof now, I figured it isn’t that big a deal, and could always be retrofitted later if I really(i.e. willing to spend the money) wanted it.

My dad's B7 has this feature on it's sunroof... its totally lame. I almost laughed the first time I saw it. wouldn't pay $1 extra for it, even if it was available in the US.

[JayPichardo]

- Blame DOT for not giving us full feature leaser lights

- Blame X7 for X5 not having certain high end features like Sky lounge

[Xeno]

Originally Posted by roxxor

It isn't so much a feature of the Laser Lights, as it is the function of the High Beam Assistant.

In the U.S., due to what I assume were DOT regulations, the High Beam Assistant will turn the high beams on automatically when the system is enabled, and would turn them off when it detected another vehicle on the road in front of you. In most other markets, the system will move the high beam lights around the other vehicles, making a "tunnel" in the light so that you still get the extra visibility of the high beams without blinding the other drivers. In earlier generations (usually pre-LED), BMW actually made different headlight housings for the US market that were missing the parts needed to form the "tunnel". Once the newer LED headlights started coming out, it was a matter of simply coding the car and removing the options "5AP - Decoding for no-dazzle high-beam assistance" and "8S4 - Variable Light Decoding".

Below is the BMW animated video explaining how it moves the lights around other vehicles:

Originally Posted by roxxor

It isn't so much a feature of the Laser Lights, as it is the function of the High Beam Assistant.

In the U.S., due to what I assume were DOT regulations, the High Beam Assistant will turn the high beams on automatically when the system is enabled, and would turn them off when it detected another vehicle on the road in front of you. In most other markets, the system will move the high beam lights around the other vehicles, making a "tunnel" in the light so that you still get the extra visibility of the high beams without blinding the other drivers. In earlier generations (usually pre-LED), BMW actually made different headlight housings for the US market that were missing the parts needed to form the "tunnel". Once the newer LED headlights started coming out, it was a matter of simply coding the car and removing the options "5AP - Decoding for no-dazzle high-beam assistance" and "8S4 - Variable Light Decoding".

Below is the BMW animated video explaining how it moves the lights around other vehicles:

Have any owners had occasion to see if anti-dazzle is working as expected?