BMW 7 Series

Outer door handle

Following an 18-month development period, the department for locking systems at Bertrandt’s branch in Cologne has unveiled the outer door handle for the new BMW 7 series saloon. The innovative handle was developed in collaboration with Bertrandt’s client, Huf Hülsbeck & Fürst GmbH & Co. KG.

 

The handle has many technical refinements. One of the challenges for the team was posed by the height compensation caused by special installation criteria. By using a gear, it transfers the rotation of the locking cylinder to a paddle which meshes into the lock nut.

Door apron and handle recess lighting

A special feature is the apron and handle recess lighting designed for Huf to fit within a very narrow fitting space, and realised using fibre-optic waveguide technology. BMW came up with the original idea for this equipment variant which enables more comfortable and safer access to the vehicle. The idea was that, after the lock has been deactivated by remote operation, the area in front of the door is illuminated. The task for the project team was to integrate a light-emitting body in the form of a fibre- optic waveguide, designed to illuminate the door apron and the handle recess, into the door handle. German company, Hella, and the light technology department at Bertrandt’s branch in Cologne, were involved in the development, which took place in close collaboration with BMW engineers. The main waveguide lights up the apron and branches to the recess which is illuminated on activation of the key. The biggest challenge was to fit the light-emitting body and the branch into two specifically designed openings. The light-emitting body also had to be embedded in a housing to protect against dirt and spray.

Installation tests

The housing encases the light-emitting body within an upper shell and a lower shell with the relevant catches and seals. Following installation tests, a screw-in movement was chosen, which would allow a smooth turning action when fitting the light-emitting body and its housing to the rear wall of the shell. In their end positions, the housing and the light-emitting body push against two domes such that they can be fixed at these points. It also had to be considered that the whole unit – comprising of the handle with pre-assembled light-emitting body – could be fitted to the door with a turning action.

Since Bertrandt supported the development of the handle and the light-emitting body, the Cologne branch acted as the interface for the exchange of information between Hella Innenleuchten Systeme and Huf Hülsbeck & Fürst GmbH & Co. KG. Many of the discussions between the project managers from the three development partners involved took place at Bertrandt in Cologne.