[JSpira]

My deep-dive article on iDrive is now on line at bmwcca.org.

The article covers the thinking behind iDrive, early versions, what the new software and hardware upgrades add, and the future of iDrive.

Thanks to everyone here who responded to the poll, which is included in the article (so is a mention of E90post.com)

[TopDown]

Thank you - excellent article. Wife's E92 is the first iDrive BMW in our house and now you can count both of us in as iDrive addicts. It took both of us 30 minutes to get 80% there. The rest is practice. The single iDrive Controller located where it is, right under your right, hand makes other carmaker's solutions seem primitive by comparison.

Our neighbors, both of whom drive a Lexus, joined us in the E92 recently for a weekend drive to Las Vegas. They both commented about the ease with which I appeared to move between Navigation, iPod, FM Radio, RTTI, etc. In my neighbor's Lexus SC430, by comparison, they have to touch the screen and look for the right dedicated button, and only when the car is not moving. I started to almost feel self-cnscious, knowing that they were following my every iDrive move on the trip. "Show me how you did that!"; they would demand again and again from the back seat.

And the wife is more fluid in iDrive than I am. Whenever I bring up to her the iDrive controversy, she looks at me like I have two heads - WTF! Anyway, with a little evolution I think BMW nailed this. Count us in as two drivers who could not see a world without iDrive.

[FrankoQ]

Very nice article.

[Kimo]

Nice work! (as always)

Regarding the following: Another relatively new feature, introduced last year, which you may not know about: you can now use Voice Command to say the name of a city in the city input field and the street name in the street field and the system will look for a match, as opposed to having to spell them one letter at a time.

My wife's car was updated with Progman 25 in mid-May, and she can now spell letter by letter the names of the city and street, but I'm pretty sure that simply saying the actual name is a no-go. Which Progman version introduced this feature?

Thanks
Mike

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by Kimo

Nice work! (as always)

Regarding the following: Another relatively new feature, introduced last year, which you may not know about: you can now use Voice Command to say the name of a city in the city input field and the street name in the street field and the system will look for a match, as opposed to having to spell them one letter at a time.

My wife's car was updated with Progman 25 in mid-May, and she can now spell letter by letter the names of the city and street, but I'm pretty sure that simply saying the actual name is a no-go. Which Progman version introduced this feature?

Thanks
Mike

BMW told me it was pre-25. The feature works. Try it.

[japac1]

Excellent historical perspective on my favorite option!!

[SoYank]

After reading this article and seeing the pictures, I like my iDrive so much more than I already did. Well done, Jonathan.

[BK]

Nice work. I'll have to try the "say the street name" feature. It took me almost a year before I found out I could just say "dial [name from my phone book]" so it's not surprising I didn't know about saying the full street or city name.

[Neurorad]

Originally Posted by SoYank

After reading this article and seeing the pictures, I like my iDrive so much more than I already did. Well done, Jonathan.

+1

Well-written, too. I particularly appreciate your mention of the pitfalls of the map icons. I still don't know what they all mean, although it's never bothered me enough to pick up the manual. If a device is well-designed, use should be intuitive.

1. Do you know which version (25.x) of iDrive you are currently using in your 2006 330xi? Have you had any problems with that version?

2. If you've had an iDrive update since purchasing the car, under what circumstances was it updated? Did you cite a specific problem? Was it updated as a part of the iPod interface?

I took delivery of my 330xi ~ a month after you, and I've never had an update. It seems to be very slow, jumping from one input to the next (FM - AM - Sat). I'm very familiar with what others have done, but you being an expert in this area, sharing of your personal experience would be appreciated.

OT - why are the programmable steering whell buttons on the right side of the wheel? I don't want to have to take my hand off the stick to change music (which I am constantly doing, it seems). I wish there were more sat radio presets, too.

JMA

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by Neurorad

1. Do you know which version (25.x) of iDrive you are currently using in your 2006 330xi? Have you had any problems with that version?

2. If you've had an iDrive update since purchasing the car, under what circumstances was it updated? Did you cite a specific problem? Was it updated as a part of the iPod interface?

Thanks for the kind words. To answer your questions
1.) I have 25.02 in the 330xi, 26.something in the 325i. I expect my 550i will have 28.x

2.) I have had several updates. The first was for the iPod interface. The second and third related to the missing directional arrow.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by TopDown

Thank you - excellent article.

Originally Posted by FrankoQ

Very nice article.

Originally Posted by Kimo

Nice work! (as always)

Originally Posted by japac1

Excellent historical perspective on my favorite option!!

Originally Posted by SoYank

Well done, Jonathan.

Originally Posted by Neurorad

+1

Well-written, too.

Danke to all for the feedback and comments.

[Yobyot]

Originally Posted by JSpira

My deep-dive article on iDrive is now on line at bmwcca.org.

The article covers the thinking behind iDrive, early versions, what the new software and hardware upgrades add, and the future of iDrive.

Thanks to everyone here who responded to the poll, which is included in the article (so is a mention of E90post.com)

My big problem with iDrive is that it took two years (until Progman 26.x) for BMW to make it work well. Features like AUX in the source selection cycle and remembering last source and position should have been available in 2005.

Also, performance is slow and availability of voice command is delayed, all attributes of an underpowered hardware infrastructure. For a $1500 system, this is was also an unpleasant surprise.

Still, I recently drove a 2007 Acura MDX. I was amused that Honda had BOTH a controller and two hundred bazillion switches on the dash. Also, the Acura display screen just didn't have the quality look of my iDrive screen. (I do wish I could have the Progman 26.x improvements with the old color scheme, though. The new scheme is too candy-colored for my tastes.)

[alistair]

An excellent article. Thanks for the link!

I actually owned a 2007 MDX for all of about 8 weeks - and the technology within it, notably the navigation system, is markedly below par when compared to the BMW.

The "controller" actually controls very little, and there are remarkably few changeable options. Plus the Acura/Honda navigation system is sufficiently dumb that it can't plot a "fastest" route (only shortest or most freeways), and is incapable of taking into account the traffic information that is shown on the screen. Few of the displays and systems are integrated - for example, even though the navigation system can download the phonebook from your phone, an incoming call (displayed on the in-dash MID screen) does not lookup the name from the phonebook.

[BzsBimmer]

Great article!

I think that BMW is headed in the right direction with the "Search by POI" mode but they need more categories or at least allow you to enter in which category it belongs to (or generalize it so a category is not needed).
Also what I find annoying is that there are no provisions for other car manufactures or certain types of auto repair shops such as tire shops (because of the RFT's).

I know that when I use my Nav system in my Acura, it feels a lot more intuitive than my BMW system does.

One thing I love with my Nav system though is the fact that you can set your current location as an address point. Something I can't do in my MDX

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by alistair

An excellent article. Thanks for the link!

I actually owned a 2007 MDX for all of about 8 weeks - and the technology within it, notably the navigation system, is markedly below par when compared to the BMW.

The "controller" actually controls very little, and there are remarkably few changeable options. Plus the Acura/Honda navigation system is sufficiently dumb that it can't plot a "fastest" route (only shortest or most freeways), and is incapable of taking into account the traffic information that is shown on the screen. Few of the displays and systems are integrated - for example, even though the navigation system can download the phonebook from your phone, an incoming call (displayed on the in-dash MID screen) does not lookup the name from the phonebook.

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

Great article!

I think that BMW is headed in the right direction with the "Search by POI" mode but they need more categories or at least allow you to enter in which category it belongs to (or generalize it so a category is not needed).
Also what I find annoying is that there are no provisions for other car manufactures or certain types of auto repair shops such as tire shops (because of the RFT's).

I know that when I use my Nav system in my Acura, it feels a lot more intuitive than my BMW system does.

One thing I love with my Nav system though is the fact that you can set your current location as an address point. Something I can't do in my MDX

Thanks for the feedback - I am glad you liked it (it took forever to reverse engineer all of the changes by the way - no documentation from BMW on these).

Re the Acura, I would love to host a debate between the two of you

Seriously, the experience is different for each driver because we each use the systems differently but my experience has been that BMW has provided a far more integrated experience that other car makers´ systems. If we were to assign points and weights (that we agree on) for each feature, I would still wager that the BMW system would come out ahead of the pack.

[Park2670]

Very well written article John. Thanks for all of your dedication to our cars. I agree with you on the fact that most of the people that complain about iDrive dont even have the system. I have iDrive in my car, and if I can afford it, wont drive another car without it.

[AcmeExplosives]

Originally Posted by JSpira

My deep-dive article on iDrive is now on line at bmwcca.org.

The article covers the thinking behind iDrive, early versions, what the new software and hardware upgrades add, and the future of iDrive.

Thanks to everyone here who responded to the poll, which is included in the article (so is a mention of E90post.com)

That was a nice read. Thanks for letting us know about the article.

[Gripster]

Great article Jonathan. I just got my upgrade today and was looking for a summary of what's new.

[aequitas330]

Nice!!

[ianbiz]

Very well written article. As a child of the technology age, I am dieing to have i-drive in my car. I almost passed up on the Z to get a E90 w/ it.

[bimmernupe]

Hey J, I can't find this on the new site

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by bimmernupe

Hey J, I can't find this on the new site

It's there on the old site although it is giving an error msg right now - I've already emailed the Webmaster though.

http://old.bmwcca.org/node/9282