When BMW launched the 7 Series with a 31-inch 8K screen in the back for 2023, we know what you were thinking: “How could BMW release a flagship luxury sedan with a screen that was too small to be offered as a Walmart Black Friday deal?” Well, evidently BMW was thinking the same thing and maybe felt a little embarrassed. Because the German car company has just been granted a patent for a screen that would take up the entire roof.
Yes, BMW wants the headliner, or at least a big part of it, to be the screen in your next vehicle. If you thought that was silly, wait until you read the reasons why: BMW says that panoramic glass roofs are too heavy, too unsafe, and that they can heat up the cabin. This giant screen is offered as a potential upgrade option to plain glass.
A TV Is The New “Window”
The curved screen would encompass almost the entire headliner of the vehicle. There would still be trim around the edges, but if you look up you’re mostly looking at screen. But it’s not a screen to show movies or stream TikToks, or even to give you some sort of gigantic navigation display. Instead, BMW would use an external camera to show … the actual sky above the roof. It’s literally a projection of what’s happening behind the screen.
There is one big advantage over glass, and that’s what BMW suggests doing when the sky is cloudy. It could then show other images, like a mountain landscape or swaying palms, or some other image that BMW thinks will make the car feel “more friendly” inside. It could also be used for light therapy, showing relaxing color patterns when you’re parked and charging, or trying to take a nap.
BMW suggests that it would need a screen that can bend in one axis. That way it would be able to fit tightly to the car’s roof. The patent does cover dual-axis bending, though such screens are not yet commercially available. BMW is just getting a head of the market.
Playback of the pre-recorded images would be linked to vehicle speed. So in theory, it should look like you’re actually driving under whatever it is the roof is simulating.
Don’t Expect This One Soon
There is no mention in the patent of actually using the new screen for conventional watching or streaming. Instead, this is all about giving you a view of the outside without actually letting you see outside. So in the case of a flagship 7 Series, there could still be a standard widescreen TV in the car as well. Confusing? We thought so too.
That’s the way patents work, though. An engineer comes up with an idea and their bosses think it’s good enough that the company had better make sure nobody else can use it. Will BMW ever actually use a screen instead of glass? We think they would, if the costs made sense. Even on lightweight models like the M4 that have available carbon fiber roofs, because that’s what the auto industry is doing in 2025.
If you’re not in a BMW with that feature, however, just look up through your glass roof to see the sky. Or if you have a steel roof, pull over and open your door. Sadly, that’s the world we’re in today.
Patent filings do not guarantee the use of such technology in future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as confirmation of production intent.
Source: EUIPO