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I just picked up my 325i w/ Nav and iDrive and I'm pretty happy with it. I had heard numerous bad reviews about iDrive but once I got to use it in person, I realized it was quite easy to use, at least for anyone who is familiar with computers or any kind of MP3 player, etc.
I think most of the bad reviews have come from people who would be afraid to program their VCR or just have an attitude that you shouldn't have to use a computer to use your car. If you are one of those people, you won't enjoy iDrive. If you are familiar with computers and gadgets and like being able to program your car, you'll love iDrive.
iDrive by itself would definately not be worth $2000. I got it mostly for the Nav system. I was thinking of getting a Magellan Roadmate or similar GPS unit but I decided to get the BMW Nav System mainly because you get a much bigger screen, better reception, and its integrated into the car (power, audio, etc.). The combo of Nav w/ iDrive made it worth the 2K for me.
It will take you a few minutes to understand the iDrive menu layout (when to twist versus when to push) but once you've figured it out it is pretty cool. Besides the Nav, you can access more detailed service info, more detailed audio options (like an equilizer if you have Logic 7), and you can program various things like door locking, pathway lighting, etc. Basically everything you would normally have to take your car into the shop to get programmed, you can do through iDrive (except daytime running lamps for some reason). It also lets you program two of the steering wheel buttons to do whatever you want (although you only have a list of like 6 options).
The iDrive controller also has force feedback. So when you are scrolling through items you can feel a little "pulse" each time you pass an item. When you get to the end of a list, you feel a lot of resistance and can't turn the wheel anymore. You can look through the manual (posted on this site) to get an idea of what you can access w/ iDrive. It has most of the screenshots in there.
I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more stuff in the iDrive menus because it has lots of potential. Once you've gotten over the initial "wow" factor, the iDrive seems a little limited. The "Climate" section is pretty pathetic: just Vent Control and Sensitivity. I thought it would have an option to control the heated seats but I guess not. I don't have a bluetooth phone so the "Communications" section is kinda useless to me as well. They could make iDrive a whole lot cooler if they added some more menus to let you control even more stuff. Some kind of trending graphs for fuel consumption or average speed would also be cool.
You can still access most of the car controls without using iDrive if you prefer. The only exception is flipping through radio stations which you need to use the GUI for. But since you can program all your station presets and then use the steering wheel buttons, this isn't a big deal. I just hook up my iPod to the AUX port and don't use the radio much anyway.
I've only used the Magallen Roadmate GPS and the GPS units in the Toyota Prius before. Even though the Prius has a touch screen, I like the BMW version better. You don't get smudge marks on the screen, it feels more responsive, and doing things like scrolling around the map or zooming in/out is MUCH faster on the BMW. Also when I go off route, the BMW seems to be MUCH quicker at calculating new routes. The perspective map view is also pretty cool.
I wasn't expecting much out of the Voice Command so I haven't been that dissappointed with it. At first it seems like it doesn't recognized 75% of what you say but once you learn to use the exact words and pronounciation it expects it works a little better. I think it works great for particular usages like if you have the Nav screen up and want to change the radio station without messing with the iDrive. But if you're expecting to do everything through the voice, you will probably be dissapointed.
I mostly got iDrive for the Nav system and I'm pretty happy with that part of it. The rest of iDrive is ok and its advantages far outweight its disadvantages IMHO. If you mostly want the BMW Nav, I would recommend getting it. If you don't really care for the Nav and mostly just want the iDrive features, $2K is probably a bit high for what you get.
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