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i-drive
Do you guys think that i-drive is worth the money?
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personally, aside from navi, I would purchase it alone for the looks. It adds so much color to the interior. Without it, I personally think BMW's interiors are rather boring - just alot of red. For me, it would have been better if BMW made I-Drive standard on all 3's, like they have it for the rest of their series of cars, but I guess the system itself is very controversial, so they decided not to. On the other hand, a ton of people hate I-Drive, see what they have to say.
On a side note, does anyone think that in the future, BMW will make I-Drive without Navi standard on the 3-series, like it is on the rest of their line of cars?
| | Reply » i-drive |
Quote: | For me, it would have been better if BMW made I-Drive standard on all 3's, like they have it for the rest of their series of cars, but I guess the system itself is very controversial, so they decided not to. | I'm not picking on you, but why is it ever a better thing to have fewer choices? For people who can't decide?  I really like being able to custom configure my car, and the more things that are optional as opposed to being forced upon you, the better. That way, we don't all end up with the same options. If that were the case, all we would have to talk about is color, and we all know how subjective that is. 
That said, I'm really sore about the moonroof being standard. At least offer a 'moonroof delete' option at no extra cost for the purists/trackers.  For the record, I don't like nav, idrive or active steering, which are all optional for now. I hope that's not the direction we are headed, to make all of that stuff standard.
| | Reply » i-drive |
I would get it in a blink.
I think whoever designed the current generation of BMWs had an IDrive in mind when they were creating the next generation "driver oriented interior". Besides, the application of the IDrives facinates me.
J
| | Reply » i-drive |
A few weeks back I had a small demonstration with iDrive in a 645Ci and warmed up to the system, after reading so many critics about it. I found it easy to use and wonder how people who find that complex can get around programming a VCR without bugging their kids to do it in their place.
I work with computers and although I also frequently see (and fix) bugs, I also know that a good implementation can really make people's lives easier.
Is iDrive a good implementation? Well, we could spend the rest of our lives nitpicking it, there is always place for critics and improvements. But I'd say it's not bad, not perfect either, just okay.
What I like about it:
- It does centralize a lot of stuff (Too much for some people), and replacing that with a maze of switches and buttons wouldn't be any better. I know a lot of people drool all over Audi interiors, but they don't appeal to me (The central stack of black buttons of different sizes and shapes does not appear to me as friendly, ergonomically speaking - That can take your eyes off the road for too long).
- The screen is high on the dash, so you can glance at it while still watching the road, it's not as good as a complete HUD system but I find that it's less distracting than fiddling with buttons. I currently own an E46 and I don't think horizontal +/- buttons for vents or temperature are that good, ergonomically speaking (Rotary dials spaced more apart would be better, IMHO). And these controls are not high enough on the dash, because the radio had to be stacked on top of them, so if you're searching for a button, you do have to take your eyes of the road, even if it's briefly. Granted, with time you get accustomed and point your finger at the right place but you do have to look just to make sure you hit the right one and this is where I think iDrive has an advantage, everything you want to look for is in your sight line when your driving (Or barely to the right).
- Voice commands in the E90 simplify things even more.
- The ability to see for yourself what's wrong with on-board diagnostics is well worth it, instead of having to go to the dealership and be billed an hour of "work" (When the warranty is over) just to figure out what the generic check engine light means, you can know it right away and decide for yourself if it's urgent or not.
- The E90 dash was thought for iDrive, it looks too plain when that screen is missing. The controls move upward a bit, in a strange cut (By strange I mean really asymmetrical-looking) below the horizontal bar that adorns the full length of the dash, but still then it is lower than in an E46 (Where the horizontal bar had a cut 2/3 of its height to house the top of the radio controls). That means in any non-iDrive E90 you have to look even lower than in an E46 to view those readings, which appears to me as a move downwards in the ergonomics department.
Downfalls of iDrive:
- I have no idea what that 8x5" screen would cost to replace (At least there is a good warranty on it), or how it will react in extreme -25 to -40 Celcius weather here in Canada (I expect slow refresh until warm-up, but luckily this is usually just a few days in winter).
- What happens if the controller goes haywire?
- A car equipped with it might be more difficult to resale to people who are not very technologically enclined, but I doubt it would really affect value.
I don't think it whould be that hard to debug/repair if there is a problem though, with considerable self-diagnostics and modular parts, once you find the culprit it may not be any more difficult to fix thant changing a graphic card on a PC. I may be stretching it a little here but the point is, I'm not really scared by that.
I'll see in the long run, as I ordered a Sapphire black mettalic 325i with Lemon leather interior, sport package and navigation, so if I'm not satisfied with it, in a few years it'll just be changed for something else.
Is iDrive change for the sake of changing? Hard to tell, but I don't see a usable dash with all its functions. And the competition is starting to adopt a similar approach, so maybe this isn't such a bad concept after all, but was simply a pain in it's 1.0 application on the 7 Series...
| | Reply » i-drive |
Pretty much agree. I was hoping that BMW would atleast take a cue from its Z4 and X3 interiors and make the screen pop-up so that the dash doesn't look so strange w/ a double-hump. Then, there would be no reason to have the radio moved down so far, and they could include a basic LCD readout (like the one on std e46s for when the screen is retracted). And, if i-drive wasn't specifed, the ergonomics would still be fine.
If they've done their job correctly, it sould be possible to operate the most commonly used functions w/o a need for idrive and the big screen. I'm pretty sure thats pretty much the case-- alhtough I think they should've just used the same radio faceplate for idrive and non-idrive cars. That way, you would only have to use i-drive and the screen for more esoteric and "advnaced" functions. If they did this on all i-drive cars, I'm pretty sure they'd silence 95% of the objections to it.
Quote: A few weeks back I had a small demonstration with iDrive in a 645Ci and warmed up to the system, after reading so many critics about it. I found it easy to use and wonder how people who find that complex can get around programming a VCR without bugging their kids to do it in their place.
I work with computers and although I also frequently see (and fix) bugs, I also know that a good implementation can really make people's lives easier.
Is iDrive a good implementation? Well, we could spend the rest of our lives nitpicking it, there is always place for critics and improvements. But I'd say it's not bad, not perfect either, just okay.
What I like about it:
- It does centralize a lot of stuff (Too much for some people), and replacing that with a maze of switches and buttons wouldn't be any better. I know a lot of people drool all over Audi interiors, but they don't appeal to me (The central stack of black buttons of different sizes and shapes does not appear to me as friendly, ergonomically speaking - That can take your eyes off the road for too long).
- The screen is high on the dash, so you can glance at it while still watching the road, it's not as good as a complete HUD system but I find that it's less distracting than fiddling with buttons. I currently own an E46 and I don't think horizontal +/- buttons for vents or temperature are that good, ergonomically speaking (Rotary dials spaced more apart would be better, IMHO). And these controls are not high enough on the dash, because the radio had to be stacked on top of them, so if you're searching for a button, you do have to take your eyes of the road, even if it's briefly. Granted, with time you get accustomed and point your finger at the right place but you do have to look just to make sure you hit the right one and this is where I think iDrive has an advantage, everything you want to look for is in your sight line when your driving (Or barely to the right).
- Voice commands in the E90 simplify things even more.
- The ability to see for yourself what's wrong with on-board diagnostics is well worth it, instead of having to go to the dealership and be billed an hour of "work" (When the warranty is over) just to figure out what the generic check engine light means, you can know it right away and decide for yourself if it's urgent or not.
- The E90 dash was thought for iDrive, it looks too plain when that screen is missing. The controls move upward a bit, in a strange cut (By strange I mean really asymmetrical-looking) below the horizontal bar that adorns the full length of the dash, but still then it is lower than in an E46 (Where the horizontal bar had a cut 2/3 of its height to house the top of the radio controls). That means in any non-iDrive E90 you have to look even lower than in an E46 to view those readings, which appears to me as a move downwards in the ergonomics department.
Downfalls of iDrive:
- I have no idea what that 8x5" screen would cost to replace (At least there is a good warranty on it), or how it will react in extreme -25 to -40 Celcius weather here in Canada (I expect slow refresh until warm-up, but luckily this is usually just a few days in winter).
- What happens if the controller goes haywire?
- A car equipped with it might be more difficult to resale to people who are not very technologically enclined, but I doubt it would really affect value.
I don't think it whould be that hard to debug/repair if there is a problem though, with considerable self-diagnostics and modular parts, once you find the culprit it may not be any more difficult to fix thant changing a graphic card on a PC. I may be stretching it a little here but the point is, I'm not really scared by that.
I'll see in the long run, as I ordered a Sapphire black mettalic 325i with Lemon leather interior, sport package and navigation, so if I'm not satisfied with it, in a few years it'll just be changed for something else.
Is iDrive change for the sake of changing? Hard to tell, but I don't see a usable dash with all its functions. And the competition is starting to adopt a similar approach, so maybe this isn't such a bad concept after all, but was simply a pain in it's 1.0 application on the 7 Series... |
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