That’s craptacular.

BMW just couldn’t resist, why make a simple car complicated?

Thank you BMW, for ruining yet ANOTHER car.

Jon.

How many of you have actually ever used the iDrive? Probably not many, and on top of that you are all “Jonny Come-lately’s” and just jump on the band wagon and like all the old crotchety editors of the leading car magazines, you bash something you never take the time to figure out. I test drove a new BMW recently, and the iDrive was one of my favorite parts. Simple, stylish, actually VERY easy to use and ALL the other German luxury makes are following suit. Which seems to be the case with all of BMW’s controversial things, like Design and the iDrive.

can’t see how they can be “ruining yet ANOTHER car” with an OPTIONAL computerized interface. if you want it you buy it if you don’t want it you don’t buy it.. it’s that simple..

Kafkef,

There are certain BMW’s (7-Series for example) that come with the iDrive and you can’t get the car without it. Also, you can’t get Nav on a BMW without the rest of the ****ty iDrive interface.

Jon.

The Audi MMI is way superior

bad addition to a bad car. It works.

the audi mmi is much easier, but the idrive isnt hard to use at all. only older adults find it complicated. and since most people that own mini coopers are between 16-30, i’m sure the people that decide to equip their mini with it will be able to use it with no problem, just like i did on the 7 series

[...] [Source: Left Lane News] [...]

Don,

The MINI is a “bad car”? Care to give a reason?

Piss poor reliability is not on the ‘plus’ column for the Mini.

Jon.

jon,
i’m aware of those certain BMWs but this article is about an optional componant for the Mini.
you choose if you want it or not..

MINI reliability has improved a lot. My 2005 is much better than my 2002 was, and I didn’t care about the problems I had with the 2002 because I loved driving it. And, not all MINI owners are under 30. I’m 62, and I love hi-tech toys. I did drive a 7 series with iDrive for a couple of days, and I was not overly impressed, but I could get used to it. I figure that the main problem with it is the fact that Microsoft had something to do with it’s software. If only Apple had designed it, it would be a lot better.

The problem with iDrive is a basic one – it moves too many functions that generally require a simple one-touch selection method into a unified system that needs to be navigated. If the iDrive functions were one-shot things that you might only need to do while stationary then it’d be fine, but when some of the more common features (music, climate control etc) take more than one click or twist to set it can get irritating.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for technology (I run a network of 1500 computers covering a city so I have to be!) but I stil recognise when something is overly complicated because it can be rather than because it has immediate benefits.

Jon,
I have an ‘05 Cooper S. 22,000 miles so far, and no problems.

It’s well on it’s way to proving you wrong…

I love technology and don’t mind the iDrive system but some things BMW incorperated into it should of been left as simple buttons.
I was actually talking to a dealer the other day who thinks that the iDrive will do pretty much nothing to your resale value, something a bit dissapointing given how expensive it is to option on some of the cars (on the 3 it’s very expensive I have a feeling)

The piss poor reliablity of the MINI is a myth. They only score low on the various reliablity studies because of the design components that have been added to the survey. I only ever had one warranty problem with mine in 30,000 miles.

I have also used I drive on a couple year old 7 series and found it very frustrating. I suppose I would haev eventually got use to it but in general I did not like it.

The iDrive really isnt that bad. You have to be a numbnuts not to figure it out. Old timers need to stop complaining and get with the program. My only complaint is that it is distracting. But complicated? Give me a break. If you can figure out an ipod, you can work the idrive. Seriously…. welcome to the 21st century.

http://www.mx.autocosmos.com/contenidos/videos.asp i found this page and looks like the 2007 Honda CRV is already for sale in Mexico

… so when is BMW going to consult Apple to redesign the iDrive interface?

The problem with i-Drive is simple, yes it is more complicated than Audi’s interface but the main gripe comes when trying to change simple things like AC operation while driving. Which is pretty much impossible without dangering yourself and others. What you’re left to do is to remember the steps and directions to get to the menu that you want without having to look at the monitor. Compared to the others I really though BMW could’ve done a better job on it.

That’s the problem with BMW….They want to add complexity to things that don’t require it. We’ve got more than we can handle with these #^%! cell phones while driving. Now, we’re expected to navigate through menus to change a radio station or cabin temperature.

Oh God No!! I just wouldn’t option it….don’t need some “i”ntellegent (if you could even say that software is) driving me around…. no thanks BMW.

Looks like it would be hard to find that thing in the dark. Wonder if it lights up. Traditional iDrive/MMI position seems to fall at hand more easily.

if BMW combine it all into a hud (like they have on the x5) and use steering wheel control’s then it would be world class I think

The steering wheel control would be less distracting when driving but the additional steps to change a simple operation like the AC is still a user unfriendly design of the vehicle. You should not have to take your eyes off the road for more than a sec to change the airflow. It’s dangerous and annoying to the user. It doesn’t matter how simple or complicated it is, it’s the additional steps required to get there.

what a horrible idea. unless they made it look like the world’s largest toggle switch. jk.
it’s a bad bad thing… why is there so much crap in cars today?

AC needs 3 knobs:
-fan speed
-vent select (includes winshield defog)
-temp
(maybe a rear defrost button)

Radio needs 5 knobs
-tune
-volume
-bass
-mid
-treble
(push-pull some combination of those for fad/balance)
and maybe a button for input… among those knobs there ought to be a way to navigate cd’s and mp3s on an ipod or sirius/xm

Seriously… 8 knobs and 2 buttons. I dare someone to do it. I don’t even need radio presets or exterior temp buttons.

quality not quantity.

No, NO! Make it stop!