BMW iDrive
Nobody asked me but . . .
Is there a BMW owner out there who really understands and—more importantly—likes iDrive? I remember the first time I ran into iDrive. It was at the Detroit auto show. After listening to a 5-minute spiel from the BMW pitchman, I moseyed over to one of the BMW PR guys hanging around the stand and said, “iDrive is the answer to the question nobody ever posed. If BMW is the Ultimate Driving Machine, why do I need the Ultimate Riding Mechanic sitting next to me to explain how to operate the car? If it ain’t intuitive, it doesn’t belong in the car, much less the ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE.”
My PR friend stood there stunned. After about 30 seconds he said, “How can you say that? You haven’t even driven a car with iDrive. You’ll love it. It makes total sense. It frees up space in the dash and center stack. It’s got one simple, handy control to make it easy to set the audio system, heating and cooling, navigation and a bunch of other functions that are normally spread around the interior.”
That simple handy control was a landlubber’s version of a compass rose. Originally you could move it in 16 points of a compass. More than quickly, users found that the control might have been German but it certainly wasn’t germane. If the driver’s hand-eye coordination was a little off—easy to understand when you realize that the driver ought to have his eyes on the road, not on the Ultimate Driving Machine’s magic controller—he probably caught NNE instead of NE. That meant that instead of “finding” the HVAC system to set the mode to “Defrost,” he’d actually opened a window into the wonderful world of BMW navigation. Meanwhile, the windshield was fogging over to the point of zero outside visibility.
“Make your next left turn.” Left turn? Hell, I can’t even see the road!
iDrive gen one was quickly followed by a more user-friendly (read less complicated) iDrive gen two in which the number of directions you could move the controller was halved. I would have been much happier if BMW’s iDrivers back in Munich hadn’t stopped there. Halve it again. And then again. Then, for good measure, chuck the whole device through my fogged-up windshield. I’d gladly pay for a new windshield not to have the nuisance and frustration of iDrive staring at me like a maniacal HAL every time I plopped into the driver’s seat.
Please, if someone, anyone out there really likes iDrive (no BMW engineers or PR persons allowed, thank you), I’d like to know who you are and why. For the rest of us, consider this the start of a petition designed to wipe iDrive off the face of this . . . er, every BMW. Our motto: Leave no kidney-shaped grille unstoned!
Is there a BMW owner out there who really understands and—more importantly—likes iDrive? I remember the first time I ran into iDrive. It was at the Detroit auto show. After listening to a 5-minute spiel from the BMW pitchman, I moseyed over to one of the BMW PR guys hanging around the stand and said, “iDrive is the answer to the question nobody ever posed. If BMW is the Ultimate Driving Machine, why do I need the Ultimate Riding Mechanic sitting next to me to explain how to operate the car? If it ain’t intuitive, it doesn’t belong in the car, much less the ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE.”
My PR friend stood there stunned. After about 30 seconds he said, “How can you say that? You haven’t even driven a car with iDrive. You’ll love it. It makes total sense. It frees up space in the dash and center stack. It’s got one simple, handy control to make it easy to set the audio system, heating and cooling, navigation and a bunch of other functions that are normally spread around the interior.”
That simple handy control was a landlubber’s version of a compass rose. Originally you could move it in 16 points of a compass. More than quickly, users found that the control might have been German but it certainly wasn’t germane. If the driver’s hand-eye coordination was a little off—easy to understand when you realize that the driver ought to have his eyes on the road, not on the Ultimate Driving Machine’s magic controller—he probably caught NNE instead of NE. That meant that instead of “finding” the HVAC system to set the mode to “Defrost,” he’d actually opened a window into the wonderful world of BMW navigation. Meanwhile, the windshield was fogging over to the point of zero outside visibility.
“Make your next left turn.” Left turn? Hell, I can’t even see the road!
iDrive gen one was quickly followed by a more user-friendly (read less complicated) iDrive gen two in which the number of directions you could move the controller was halved. I would have been much happier if BMW’s iDrivers back in Munich hadn’t stopped there. Halve it again. And then again. Then, for good measure, chuck the whole device through my fogged-up windshield. I’d gladly pay for a new windshield not to have the nuisance and frustration of iDrive staring at me like a maniacal HAL every time I plopped into the driver’s seat.
Please, if someone, anyone out there really likes iDrive (no BMW engineers or PR persons allowed, thank you), I’d like to know who you are and why. For the rest of us, consider this the start of a petition designed to wipe iDrive off the face of this . . . er, every BMW. Our motto: Leave no kidney-shaped grille unstoned!
posted by Jim at
2:51 PM
10 Comments:
After test driving a 5 series with Idrive I went to my local Lexus dealer and bought a GS 350. It isn't a BMr, but I can adjust the temp and radio. My other car is a 330i without Idrive thankyou. I will never own a BMW with I drive.I'd rather switch than fight.
By
Anonymous, at 4:35 PM
Them's fightin' words. And if enough customers vote with their wallets, you will be heard. And not herded!
By
The Carmudgeon, at 5:22 PM
I just got my new 2008 535Xi, it took me no more than 30 minutes to get very familiar with the revised iDrive. People better get out there and learn this stuff!! Year 2008, not 1908!!!!
Everything is computer, everything has an interface, everything that is cool has a chip. And, if you drive a Lexus, sorry for you loser
By
Anonymous, at 11:38 AM
Dear BiEmmeVu
I’m glad you found me . . . and my blog. But this is 2008, not 2006, the year I posted those iDrive comments and when Anonymous bought that GS 350!
BMW has gotten a little smarter in those two years. Heat from the media and BMW owners have wrought changes in iDrive so I am no longer over wrought with the system, only wrought.
TheCarmudgeon gets to drive virtually everything that rolls down the road. And Mercedes, Audi, Cadillac—even Lexus—are also guilty, to one degree or another, of the sins of the Fatherland.
I come from the school of thought that believes the Ultimate Driving Machine is supposed to be driven with full attention paid to the road and the driving experience. When I’m driving, I prefer my eyes on the road, my hands on the wheel and the computer on my desk at home.
Nothing against technology—I’ve been computer literate since the 1980s. I’m also an engineer who doesn’t believe that good design can come from people working in a vacuum located somewhere in the Black Forest. First, and foremost you must consider the end user. Which is the primary reason I prefer Steve Job’s Macs to those PCs from Herr Gates. And I’m conversant on both platforms.
Within the past half dozen years Mercedes’ vaunted reliability has been called into question by everyone: Consumer Reports, JD Power, owners. Why? Things gone wrong. Mostly in the electronics area. The fix? M-B eliminated some 300 functions, give or take, from their vehicles. Functions that customers didn’t understand or weren’t using. Functions that would cause warning lights to flash at you from the dash and strike fear into the hearts of Mercedes mechanics who couldn’t find or fix the problems.
If was as if some designer in Stuttgart couldn’t live with the fact that one square micron of the computer chip he was working on was totally void of transistors. He had to find something to do with that “wasted” space.
So it’s not a question of this being 2008 or 1908. Good design will always win over bad design. Function is function whether it’s today or 100 years from now.
I highly recommend you read one of my favorite books: The Design of Everyday Things. Reading this book will completely change your mindset on the acceptance of dumb design.
And I’ll leave you with one last thought to contemplate: What will you do when the chips are down?
By
The Carmudgeon, at 7:52 PM
I hate it! Bought a 530i and have spent about 6 hours working on the iDrive. Even asked another owner for help - no luck. This thing is DANGEROUS! How in the world is someone supposed to be able to select radio stations while driving?? (note they now have the disclaimer to evade liability issues!). Thus far, no one has been able to figure out how to delete 'preset' radio stations; never mind when driving. Oh, for the old days..... (but I do like the way it drives...)
By
Anonymous, at 8:50 PM
I hate it! Bought a 530i and have spent about 6 hours working on the iDrive. Even asked another owner for help - no luck. This thing is DANGEROUS! How in the world is someone supposed to be able to select radio stations while driving?? (note they now have the disclaimer to evade liability issues!). Thus far, no one has been able to figure out how to delete 'preset' radio stations; never mind when driving. Oh, for the old days..... (but I do like the way it drives...)
By
Anonymous, at 8:51 PM
I hate it! Bought a 530i and have spent about 6 hours working on the iDrive. Even asked another owner for help - no luck. This thing is DANGEROUS! How in the world is someone supposed to be able to select radio stations while driving?? (note they now have the disclaimer to evade liability issues!). Thus far, no one has been able to figure out how to delete 'preset' radio stations; never mind when driving. Oh, for the old days..... (but I do like the way it drives...)
By
Anonymous, at 8:52 PM
I had a BMWX5. I needed, wanted, desired another. But the new model came with idrive. My husband has now had 3 7 series with this ill conceived device. Neither of us has ever managed to work the radio using the idrive. BMW has take the simplest function on a car, setting a station, and turned it into something only a PhD. can do. and that genius would have to have the eye-hand co-ordination of Roger Federer. Unfortunately, I do not. The idrive is a ridiculous waste of space. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, than no-one is flattering the idrive, as no-one has imitated it.
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