Tech

BMW and Mercedes remove advanced safety tech amid semiconductor shortage, mainstream brands unaffected for now

Some of the most advanced safety features on certain BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars have been temporarily deleted until the semiconductor shortage is over.


Advanced safety technology on certain examples of BMW and Mercedes-Benz cars destined for Australia have been deleted from the next batch of factory orders out of Germany.

Customers who placed orders for vehicles equipped with the affected technology will have a portion of their purchase price refunded, according to confidential dealer bulletins seen by CarAdvice.

Other luxury car makers – and mainstream brands canvassed by CarAdvice this week including market leader Toyota – say they are yet to remove technology from their vehicles due to the semiconductor shortage.

The only other brand reporting an equipment change is French company Peugeot, which announced it would replace digital speed displays with older analogy designs in its 308 hatchback.

A statement from BMW Australia confirmed there is “an impact on the availability of some options due to shortages in the supply of semiconductors”.

A BMW dealer bulletin says some of the more advanced safety systems have been deleted so the cars themselves can retain their planned production slots. Customers who want the extra safety features face further delays for their new cars.

A BMW dealer bulletin says the M Sport package on the BMW X5 30d has been downgraded to a X Line package, delivering a price reduction of $4000.

Furthermore, factory restrictions on the technology required for the Driving Assistance Professional package means this option is not available on certain examples of the BMW 3 Series, 4 Series, X3 and X4 for the next production run. Affected models will have a $2500 price reduction.

A statement from Mercedes confirmed a shortage of semiconductors (computer chips) has affected the availably of the Pre-Safe advanced safety tech on A-Class, B-Class, CLA, GLA and GLB (pictured below). 

“For these vehicles the Pre-Safe system is currently not available to order and we are unable to say when things will change at a production level,” said a spokesman from Mercedes-Benz Australia.

The company said Pre-Safe is a “supplementary safety system that triggers anticipatory occupant protection measures, such as moving seats and closing the windows/sunroof, if the vehicle detects an accident is imminent”. 

“Otherwise,” Mercedes said, “the standard suite of electronic safety aids remains equipped as normal in these vehicles, including Active Brake Assist, ESP (stability control), and Active Lane Keep Assist, and any ANCAP ratings are unaffected.”

In a statement to CarAdvice, market leader Toyota – which has the biggest range and sells the most cars in Australia – said: “We can confirm that Toyota Australia has not ‘de-contented’ any cars due to the global chip supply challenge. Toyota Australia has no plans to ‘de-content’ or change the specifications of any of our vehicles as quality is our highest priority.”

Toyota said overall demand for new vehicles – globally and in Australia – is “recovering much faster than anticipated just a few months ago”.

“Although our (factories) are increasing capacity, we are anticipating that wait times for high-demand models and some accessories will be longer than usual in the coming months,” said Toyota Australia. 

“The wait time varies depending on the model, variant and specification requirements of each customer. The situation is continuing to evolve, and our dealers will continue to provide updates to our customers on delivery timeframes for individual orders.”

All other Top 10 car brands canvassed by Drive said they had not been obliged to delete features from its cars as a result of the semiconductor shortage and, for now at least, had no plans to do so.

MORE:BMW Showroom
MORE:BMW News
MORE:BMW Reviews
MORE:Search Used BMW Cars for Sale
MORE:BMW Showroom
MORE:BMW News
MORE:BMW Reviews
MORE:Search Used BMW Cars for Sale
Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

Read more about Joshua DowlingLinkIcon
Chat with us!







Chat with Agent