vstegmann

Sorry, but, much as I love the car, I can't agree. Sure, It's fine most of the time, once you've learned it. But just look at some of the quotes above:

"they would never read a manual"
"IDrive in some setions is not very intuitive"
"Once you get to know where everything is in the menu"
"It's really tricky the first day"
"after a day or so..."
"It clearly has a learning curve"
"It should be 50% faster"
"its not intuitive or natural to use"
"once I got used to..."
"it takes time to learn and remember"

Why should you have to read the manual to operate basic functions?
Why should it take days to figure it out?
Why should you have to learn where everything is and then remember or get the manual back out? (I read elsewhere in this forum that you have to keep practising - iDrive is not like riding a bike, as it should be).

I'm in the business of user interfaces - mainly self-service kiosks - and know how much better iDrive could and should be. It might help if BMW had used a touch screen, like Honda, but even without that it could be so much easier and more intuitive. Just making the control button more fluid in its action would help.

I opened the manual randomly and came across this procedure for updating the radio's autostore stations:

1. Select FM or AM and press the controller.
2. Move the highlighted marker to the second field from the top.
3. Select 'Autostore' and press the controller. 'Set' is selected.
4. Press the controller. Further menu items are displayed.
5. Select 'Autostore' and press the controller.

All while driving at high speed. And that's if you can remember or figure it out. On every other car I've owned, I just press one button.

Once you've done that, there are seven steps to memorise a station. On almost any other radio, you just press and hold a button.

I recognise that inreasingly complex cars need increasingly sophisticated controls, and BMW is to be applauded for trying to move the game on. But they made a bad job of it.

I guess I'm going to get plenty of reactions from the hip to this, but you really don't have to spring to the defence of iDrive just because you (quite rightly) love the car.
{Hits "Add Reply" and hides behind desk}
[/quote]
Hi,

sorry, but without reading the manual.... that explains so many "How to's" in internet forums on any brand. Nobody RTFM....

A Touchscreen like Honda, so - in the same optimal position as the iDrive screen - how to touch it while driving? The controler is perfectly positioned. And - after a while - I can do many things blind.

And doing things at high speed? How would you design it to "autostore" things to enable high speed usage (which means not looking at the road!). All functions at a button?

Just to remember: Driving needs your Eyes on the Road and your Hands at the wheel. As Keith wrote earlier: Most functions you won't need often.

The often praised MMI of Audi took me also quite a while to understand everything. An UI which is used often doesn't has to be intuitive from the first second on, it has to be intuitive and easy to be used when knowing the principles.
It's like with Windows Apps: Nice and easy to be used with the mouse, but - when using it all day - often no shortcuts to do things fast without a mouse....

If you've iDrive AND VoiceControl, you won't have a problem in controlling your car Switching the radio station, simply say it. The CD... say it, the map resolution or orientation, say it..... why having the need for a UI with buttons at all

regs
Volkmar

DaveH

I agree, and will take that back, although touchscreen is much more intuitive for a beginner or casual user. Fact. You might even want a passenger to operate it. It would be good if they could enable both touch and controller.
So when you do need them you'll have to get the manual out.
That would be a good answer...if voice control were a standard feature.

Here's a selection of quotes from the Web, chosen at random. I failed to find one reviewer who liked iDrive or even preferred it to MMI. They can't all be wrong, can they? OK, those guys probably didn?t read the manual and probably didn?t drive the car for more than a day. My point is?why should they have to read the manual or take days to learn?

?After 15 minutes of frustration just trying to change radio stations, I now see why this thing is a potential hazard. iDrive is more hazardous than a cell phone in my opinion. The Audi MMI has more buttons, but is actually a lot easier to navigate through.? Autovida
?At first glance the MMI looks similar to BMW's iDrive set-up, but I found the Audi system far easier to navigate, and quickly learned its capabilities with little reference to the manual. MMI is in my opinion, superior to iDrive? canadiandriver.com
?Virtually everyone we've spoken too, from auto reviewers to consumers, rates Audi's MMI better than BMW's iDrive.? Kron4.com
?Unlike the much-hated BMW iDrive, Audi?s MMI is actually fairly intuitive and easy to use. Not once did we need to consult the owner?s manual? fourtitude.com
?Its MMI control system shows BMW?s iDrive up to be counterintuitive and fussy? rac.co.uk
?Audi?s MMI integrated control system makes a mockery of i-Drive?s complexity? Autocar
?Fear not, similar as its to BMW's much criticised I-Drive, MMI proves far easier to operate than it's Bavarian rival.? evo.co.uk
?MMI, which takes some getting used to, although is far better than BMW's i-Drive? reuters
?I struggled with the Multimedia Interface (MMI) system but let me tell you, it's far less of a pain in the arse than BMW's I-Drive contraption? bbc.co.uk

big_ipaq

DaveH, I understand you don't like iDrive but you do like trying to convince us we don't like it either. Which, as you clearly can see for yourself, is not the case.

I drove the new MMI Audi A6, and sincerely I like more the BMW approach. Much more driver and drive oriented.

OTOH, I did not need the manual to understand iDrive in the showroom, and I feel it very natural.

fenstermaker

I was reviewing the computers on the M35 and the RL from Acura. The Japanese have the Germans beat in this technology.

I was impressed by the RL with Zagut's combined with the Navigation system. I am awaiting my car so I may get a better impression of the I drive once I work with it.

big_ipaq

Who are these guys?!? Are these guys for real?!?

iDrive complexity?!? This is a good one...

retroK

The most common used functions are already seperated, you can find them on your steering wheel (volume, up/down - seek, etc).

ricky

A suggestion for those guys who find iDrive too complex:

start to learn what to write on a command line (as a man machine interface) under Unix/Linux in order to...obtain whatever you need.

jchuan8338

I believe that the iDrive system is great and simple to use once you get acquainted with it. The ultimate test for me was that my wife can use it intuitively and has had no major issues with the system!

rmcd

I've had the car for 6 months and my wife still hasn't driven it. I find the interface pretty easy but then I like windows and Unix.

It does take time to figure out but, as everyone says, once understood it's pretty easy.

mr_grinche

Sorry, but, much as I love the car, I can't agree. Sure, It's fine most of the time, once you've learned it. But just look at some of the quotes above:

"they would never read a manual"
"IDrive in some setions is not very intuitive"
"Once you get to know where everything is in the menu"
"It's really tricky the first day"
"after a day or so..."
"It clearly has a learning curve"
"It should be 50% faster"
"its not intuitive or natural to use"
"once I got used to..."
"it takes time to learn and remember"

Why should you have to read the manual to operate basic functions?
Why should it take days to figure it out?
Why should you have to learn where everything is and then remember or get the manual back out? (I read elsewhere in this forum that you have to keep practising - iDrive is not like riding a bike, as it should be).

I'm in the business of user interfaces - mainly self-service kiosks - and know how much better iDrive could and should be. It might help if BMW had used a touch screen, like Honda, but even without that it could be so much easier and more intuitive. Just making the control button more fluid in its action would help.

I opened the manual randomly and came across this procedure for updating the radio's autostore stations:

1. Select FM or AM and press the controller.
2. Move the highlighted marker to the second field from the top.
3. Select 'Autostore' and press the controller. 'Set' is selected.
4. Press the controller. Further menu items are displayed.
5. Select 'Autostore' and press the controller.

All while driving at high speed. And that's if you can remember or figure it out. On every other car I've owned, I just press one button.

Once you've done that, there are seven steps to memorise a station. On almost any other radio, you just press and hold a button.

I recognise that inreasingly complex cars need increasingly sophisticated controls, and BMW is to be applauded for trying to move the game on. But they made a bad job of it.

I guess I'm going to get plenty of reactions from the hip to this, but you really don't have to spring to the defence of iDrive just because you (quite rightly) love the car.
{Hits "Add Reply" and hides behind desk}
[/quote]

Of course you are dead right we put up with it as we love our cars