Is BMW i-drive as bad as people make out?

blun

blun

blun

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Just wondering - what are your experiences with i-drive?

I know Clarkson moans about it, but for someone who generally likes all things techy, is it any good or should I avoid it?

I'm looking at the cars with the original version rather than the more recently updated version.
 
No idea what version it is - car is a 56 plate 320D Sport I think, but I didn't like it.

I like to push buttons, whether it be physical or touch screen.

I do not like to **** about with a jog wheel whilst driving.
 
No, iDrive is brilliant if you've got half a brain. The early versions are a bit flakey but the later versions are great.

I wouldnt buy an E90 without it, for example.
 
I think its great. Its only hard for people who have trouble keeping up with technology or dont try IMO. It takes a little getting use to but after a while you dont need to look when using it for what page you want and if you have voice control you don't even need to use the jog dial.
 
[TW]Fox;15712627 said:
No, iDrive is brilliant if you've got half a brain. The early versions are a bit flakey but the later versions are great.

I wouldnt buy an E90 without it, for example.
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Oh so if you don't get on with something you've only got half a brain?

Bit rich coming from someone who doesn't even know what a ******* turkey looks like ;)

Pushing a button to get a result is intuitive. Mincing about with a jogwheel is not only distracting, but not efficient in terms of operating a system.
 
Gaijin said:
Oh so if you don't get on with something you've only got half a brain?
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As with all systems if you learn how it works its fine. People who hate it are those who try and guess how it works and fail or are just not very good at picking up new things.
 
[TW]Fox;15712697 said:
As with all systems if you learn how it works its fine. People who hate it are those who try and guess how it works and fail or are just not very good at picking up new things.
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Well of course it does. What i'm disputing is that it is not as good, let alone better, than the conventional input systems it replaces.
 
Gaijin said:
Well of course it does. What i'm disputing is that it is not as good, let alone better, than the conventional input systems it replaces.
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It's not really replacing anything - it adds functionality which previously you couldnt really get if anything?

ie on the E39, which was replaced by the E60 with iDrive you had no option to change settings and view service information in the way you can on iDrive and if you wanted to change car options the dealer had to code your key. How is that possibly worse than iDrive?

iDrive is one of the few areas where there has been unquestionable improvement over the previous generation in BMW's current lineup.
 
I have been happy with Idrive on the various BMW's I have had it on. it depends what you are used to I guess.

Clarkson doesn't know what he is talking about, he goes on about electronic differential control on the M5, its not, its electronic damper control!
 
I've got it in my 06 plate and it's ok, but voice control makes it substantially easier when driving. Had a play with the latest version at the weeked and it's excellent.

I found it pretty intuitive, although I do find the map zoom in / out rotation is the wrong way round. That's a pretty small complaint really.
 
my dad has it in his 3 series, I found it very easy to use and learn as did my dad who isn't that great with technology. It simple and very intuitive
 
[TW]Fox;15712738 said:
It's not really replacing anything - it adds functionality which previously you couldnt really get if anything?

ie on the E39, which was replaced by the E60 with iDrive you had no option to change settings and view service information in the way you can on iDrive and if you wanted to change car options the dealer had to code your key. How is that possibly worse than iDrive?

iDrive is one of the few areas where there has been unquestionable improvement over the previous generation in BMW's current lineup.
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Tangent -------->

I was talking about it in terms of an input system.

This is going nowhere as per days of auld, lets just agree to disagree as I have some very important computer games to play ;)
 
I really like the idea of being able to tweak all the settings (all the stuff clarkson grumbled about).. As long as it is actually usable while driving I think I'll try and find an E60 with it included (hopefully with voice control aswell but don't want to be too picky).

What sort of stuff can you change?
 
From what I've seen it's a very Apple esque way of navigation, but even that's out of date now. Touch screen is a much more modern way of doing things and in a moving vehicle, much safer IMO but I suppose you do most of it while stationary anyway.
 
Dup said:
From what I've seen it's a very Apple esque way of navigation, but even that's out of date now. Touch screen is a much more modern way of doing things and in a moving vehicle, much safer IMO but I suppose you do most of it while stationary anyway.
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I'd agree, I love my touch screen and it seems a very quick and intuitive way of controlling the MFD. But, apparently it is not what it seems...iDrive, MMI and Command are all wheel based for safety and speed reasons. I'm not about to argue with multi-million pound R&D, just a preference.
 
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