BMW M Visionary Materials Seat wins 2024 Altair Enlighten Award

[Mani59]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

BMW M Visionary Materials Seat wins 2024 Altair Enlighten Award in the Sustainable Process category.

+++ Seat as proof point of how BMW Group and partners develop innovative materials +++ Glimpse into the processes of tomorrow +++ Aiming to reduce emissions and conserve resources +++



Michigan, USA. At an award ceremony at the 2024 Center for Automotive Research Seminar, Altair presented the BMW Group with this year’s prestigious Enlighten Award in the Sustainable Process category, celebrating the premium manufacturer’s progress in innovation. The annual award recognizes innovative lightweight construction and sustainability solutions across the global automotive industry that reduce carbon emissions, minimize water and energy consumption, and promote materials reuse and recycling.

The BMW Group received the award for the BMW M Visionary Materials Seat on the grounds that the research project is a precursor of future product development: Standout achievements were the sustainable seat design and the focus on the entire product lifecycle, making it one of the most innovative and visionary sustainable developments in the global automotive sector.

In addition to BMW M GmbH as the project owner, BMW Group Designworks was responsible for the design, color and material concept of the seat in collaboration with the BMW design team. The project was realized in close cooperation with several partners: Automotive Management Consulting GmbH, Bcomp Ltd, Gradel Lightweight Sàrl and Lasso Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH.

Key themes: design for circularity, lightweight construction and attractive product

As a platform for research on the development of future materials, the award-winning seat focuses on the following key themes:

First, driving the use of plant-based materials and, as part of design for circularity, raising the share of secondary raw materials and increasing recyclability at the end of the lifecycle.

In addition, the team aimed to develop an attractive product in terms of its appearance, quality, lightweight construction and functionality. The minimalist design leaves the lightweight seat structure visible, highlighting its status as a core component. Intensive lifecycle assessments (LCA) complemented the design at each stage of development.

Falco Hollmann, Innovation Manager Lightweight Design & Sustainability at BMW M GmbH, accepted the award: “We are showing today what will be possible tomorrow with existing technologies and materials in order to take our efforts to reduce emissions and conserve resources to the next level. This is about more than just substituting materials; it is above all about designing for circularity.”

Use of natural materials

The core premise of the project was to make the leap to the future while working within today’s framework. The evaluation of available material classes with a high SQR (secondary raw material quota) showed that natural materials are the ideal complement. For example, the seat features natural fibers, fiber composites, leather alternatives and algae-based polymers.

Carbon footprint reduced by 90 percent

The seat’s CO2e footprint is 90 percent lower than a BMW M carbon bucket seat made today, thanks to the use of ultra-light, robotically-wound fiber composite seat support structures and materials of natural origin as well as the high recycling rate. In addition, lower module complexity and the use of materials grouped by type make it easier to recycle the seat at the end of its lifecycle. The additive manufacturing processes used are also groundbreaking: A new technology made it possible to completely eliminate support structures, chemical post-treatment and finishing from the M BMW Visionary Materials Seat. Other priorities included a flat value creation chain and a minimum of finishing steps to save energy and conserve resources.

Lessons learned for future processes

“One of our biggest lessons was the balancing, in other words, how to model our process chain to generate missing primary data,” explains Roberto Rossetti, Head of Development Total Vehicle-Lifecycle at the BMW Group. “The data obtained provides new insights, both in terms of today’s negative contributing factors and the design of tomorrow’s processes. This experience provides a solid foundation for continuously improving sustainability and developing innovative solutions for forward-thinking mobility.”

[Mani59]

The video from BMW M:

[deemo319]

Cool 😎

[Chihuahua]

I'd love it for an office chair.

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

I'd love it for an office chair.

I have had the exact same desire for many years

A 14-way adjustable multi contour seat lifted from one of the 7er would make a great office chair or even a lounge chair but probably costs upwards of $5k for a standalone unit.

[orkinos]

Reducing carbon footprint by 90% is great. Sustainability is great. Design, not so much.

[hufington]

Originally Posted by orkinos

Reducing carbon footprint by 90% is great. Sustainability is great. Design, not so much.

Agree. It looks bulky.

[chicagofan00]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

I'd love it for an office chair.

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

I have had the exact same desire for many years

A 14-way adjustable multi contour seat lifted from one of the 7er would make a great office chair or even a lounge chair but probably costs upwards of $5k for a standalone unit.

Could always take a gamble on one of these.
https://boss-chairs.com/en/home/187-...ice-chair.html

[Quadruple VANOS]

More anti genuine leather propaganda.

[jamesbabic]

A Red one would have looked hot

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by Quadruple VANOS

More anti genuine leather propaganda.

Probably more animals are killed on a daily basis for food/meat than for leather.

Not sure where all of that goes, all the vegan leather and alternate materials have to be driven by demand and supply and cheaper to produce in the long run.

Of course it helps with carbon footprint. Perhaps it’s also more efficient than processing hide from animals to make leather.

[thaalrasha]

What an ugly piece... nothing fits together, material finish looks questionable at best. Now I wonder how durable these chairs are. It's all good and well making stuff out of recycled things, but if it's worn out after a year i'm nots sure it's really worth it ? Recycling process are not energy "free" either.
Unless i'm missing something, we don't kill animals to make leather, it's a byproduct of the food industry, so unless the population turns vegan it's a waste not to use the leather. I'm not buying this eco marketing BS, this needs to make sense from start to finish to be something else than marketing exercise and have a real purpose.

[GOLFFRR]

there is a award for everything these days lol.

super cool nonetheless

[BzsBimmer]

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

there is a award for everything these days lol.

super cool nonetheless

You get an award for that comment 😁

Agreed. Cool design elements. Wonder if it would meet NHTSA requirements. Super lightweight I bet.

[Blue Angel]

It looks exactly like the prototype it is… super unfinished. Nothing like what people want in their expensive cars.

[Blue Angel]

Originally Posted by thaalrasha

What an ugly piece... nothing fits together, material finish looks questionable at best. Now I wonder how durable these chairs are. It's all good and well making stuff out of recycled things, but if it's worn out after a year i'm nots sure it's really worth it ? Recycling process are not energy "free" either.
Unless i'm missing something, we don't kill animals to make leather, it's a byproduct of the food industry, so unless the population turns vegan it's a waste not to use the leather. I'm not buying this eco marketing BS, this needs to make sense from start to finish to be something else than marketing exercise and have a real purpose.

Agreed 100%

Reminds me of the “green” paint my city started using to paint lines on roads. It lasted 1/5 as long but it was way less than 1/5 as bad for the planet, so painting the roads 5x as often was actually worse for the planet and cost the taxpayers a fortune, all while making the roads less safe.

And this drive away from leather is an udder fail.

[FarsBimmer]

In the meantime other car manufactures are using PVC an vinyl as climate change and CO2 footprint are fake news.

[Rafichicago]

Come on guys. it’s great it’s exactly whatyou need and want. It will last 3 year 36000 miles lease period. It is completely perfect. What is that you do not understand 🤣

[DinoPR]

BMW is a Master in making seats!

[Danyal.N55]

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

I have had the exact same desire for many years

A 14-way adjustable multi contour seat lifted from one of the 7er would make a great office chair or even a lounge chair but probably costs upwards of $5k for a standalone unit.

There’s a company called Boss Chairs they make Office chairs from Car seats some of them (Like in 7 Series) Come with Heating, Cooling, and Massage like the real Seats.

[SteezeforMyBimmerMon]

Originally Posted by orkinos

Reducing carbon footprint by 90% is great. Sustainability is great. Design, not so much.

agree, needs some work