During the launch event of the new BMW iX3 in Lisbon, CTW took center stage to highlight the crucial role that Portuguese engineering plays in developing the BMW Group’s next generation of vehicles.
Three CTW experts - Pedro Vieira da Silva, Luís Cruz, and Inês Maia - led technical sessions showcasing how teams in Portugal are shaping the car’s digital experience, autonomous systems, and connected ecosystem.
A new dimension in the digital driving experience
Opening the presentations, Pedro Vieira da Silva, Chief Technical Titan at CTW, explained how the BMW Panoramic iDrive redefines the way drivers interact with their cars by blending technology and design into a single, immersive environment.
"The new Panoramic iDrive is the next generation of BMW’s digital experience - a combination of technology and design that places all information and control around the driver," he said.
The system consists of four main elements - the BMW Panoramic Vision, the optional 3D Head-Up Display, a new central screen, and a redesigned multifunction steering wheel. Together, they transform the windshield into a pillar-to-pillar digital display, with essential driving information projected directly in the driver’s line of sight.
Pedro also underlined the Portuguese contribution behind this innovation:
"Much of this work was done in Portugal by Critical TechWorks, where more than 500 people were directly involved in developing the new system and the features our customers will soon experience."
Autonomous driving made smoother and smarter
The second presentation, by Luís Cruz, Cluster Head at CTW, focused on the advancements in autonomous driving that define the upcoming Neue Klasse generation.
"Thanks to improved sensor fusion, we’ve significantly enhanced the effectiveness of lane assistance systems," Cruz explained. "This translates into smoother and more precise steering - both in lane keeping and lane-changing maneuvers."
Adaptive cruise control has also been upgraded to perform better in complex traffic, and emergency braking now detects pedestrians, cyclists, and road obstacles more accurately. Luís highlighted CTW’s major contribution to these developments:
"Out of our 3000 engineers, around 250 are fully dedicated to developing autonomous driving systems," he said. "We play a key role in automation, testing, simulation, and machine learning, always with the goal of enabling safer, smarter, and more sustainable mobility."
The connected car: intelligence inside and out
Closing the session, Inês Maia, also a Cluster Head at CTW, presented the Connected Car ecosystem, emphasizing the company’s responsibility for linking more than 22 million BMW vehicles worldwide.
"We have over 250 people exclusively focused on ensuring connectivity between the car and the world," Inês explained.
"We develop both the infrastructure that connects the vehicle to the internet and the software that collects, processes, and represents sensor data, turning it into valuable insights for services, applications, and customer support."
She went on to describe how Artificial Intelligence is now embedded within the vehicle itself, allowing it to make real-time decisions with minimal latency and increased privacy. "The car can now run machine learning models locally, learning from its own condition and enabling predictive maintenance," she noted.
The new BMW iX3 also benefits from a completely redesigned computing architecture - 20 times more powerful than before - supporting a true software-defined vehicle concept.
"We’re moving from static products to living, intelligent systems," Maia concluded. "These cars continue to evolve with every update, staying new over time through continuous over-the-air improvements."
Portugal at the heart of BMW’s innovation
The presentations demonstrated how Critical TechWorks has become one of the BMW Group’s technological cornerstones, with Portuguese teams leading the development of key software that defines the future of electric, digital, and connected mobility.
The event not only celebrated the debut of the BMW iX3 but also highlighted the pride and impact of Portuguese innovation on the global stage, proving once again that the future of smart mobility is being written, in part, in Portugal.