The façade of the BMW experience at CES 2025 might have been a lock-box design, an unveiling of a top-secret announcement, and the feeling that attendees would be given exclusive access to something extraordinary. And spoiler alert: We think they did. The talk of the show this year, the experience at the Las Vegas Convention Center Silver Lot offered it all: theater, celebrities, experts, lounging, coffee, music, car displays, and drives, of course.
Arriving on-site, larger-than-life QR codes on the giant black box building and on signage invited attendees to book a seat at one of the repeat performances taking place inside on the hour, several times each day. While seats booked up quickly, we hopped in the line on standby and were able to walk right in after a 15-minute or so wait. The theater accommodated a little more than 100 attendees at a time, with large bench seating stretched across the space, dim lighting, spotlights, and giant installations in the shadows.
Brand ambassadors hyped up the audience and then invited special host, comedian Tim Meadows, into the room (yes, in-person) who kicked off the program and the storyline where everyone in the room “shrinks” to take a tour of the new Panoramic iDrive dashboard and BMW Panoramic Vision, a personalized driver experience the brand debuted at CES 2025.
With a “windshield” screen ahead of us, passenger windows on the side, and a larger-than-life BMW steering wheel, dashboard, plus a pair of Wayfarer sunglasses and the top of a coffee cup in our cupholder to bring it to life, attendees explored the new operating system up close and personal—from the comfort of our seats. (Think: “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.”)
Meadows invited product experts up to walk the audience through the specifics, including David Leister, BMW UI design lead, as comedian Ken Jeong made appearances on-screen as the troublemaker that created the shrinking mess. And throughout, there were vignettes that demonstrated driving experiences on the “windshield,” laser effects, and walk-on and walk-off music. It was a theatrical production from start to finish.
In the end, the shrinking process was reversed and attendees were left as “onlookers” inside the vehicle watching Meadows and Jeong “outside” walking away for dinner on The Strip. Between the build, the program, the tech, and the chill vibes outside, we call this experience a CES showstopper. (Partner: Czarnowski)
Take a look inside:
