i remember when bmw first came out with i-drive, and critics bashed it hard.
i find it to be the best feature of my car. one knob to control most features.

i didnt realize how much i appreciate the i-drive until i drove my mom's mercedes ml350, and was confused with all the buttons and orginaztion of them.

 

I totally agree!

 

with apologies to the 1st/2nd etc generation enthusiasts, the buttons on the new IDrive are very very intuitive and the shape of them allow you to press without thinking. its like your favorite remote control. you no longer have to look at the buttons.. they are fantastic... i completely understand why those who review the system with only 1 week or whatever of exposure can say its confusing. but after awhile its very intuitive..

 

The only problem i have now is i no longer want a car unless it has iDrive or equivalent, I like being able to choose settings without paying someone to plug in a computer and do it for me.

 

I do love the idrive system. It is quite easy to use and it looks very nice as well!

 

I seriously reconsidered buying my E60 because of all the negative reviews of the iDrive. I thought that the car would be plagued with problems...until I drove it! Having just installed a satellite radio in my other car prepared me for the basic layout and understandinng of the system and grew to love it almost immediately. Great technology that continues to impress my friends.

 

...my iDrive froze up today on my way back from Tracy...

 

As I've said before - generation one iDrive was one of the best ideas ever crippled by some of the worst software ever to grace a premium car... While the later versions are much, much better, the initial iDrive implementation was appallingly slow, buggy, suffered from interface inconsistencies and introduced an appalling attempt at haptic feedback into the mix. The initial criticism was entirely justified, now much less so as BMW has made some pretty big leaps forward.

I was always amused by the posts from people who suggested that the naysayers "didn't understand technology" or must have some cerebral impairment as they were able to learn iDrive in no time. Guess what. So did we. It was never about being hard to use - it wasn't. The simple fact is that those of us who do understand technology know that the folks who made these kind comments really were the ones who had no idea... BMW initially delivered an underpowered work-in-progress that should have and would have lived up to its vast potential had it been better designed and engineered...

iDrive could have, should have, and now thankfully is, much better. The latest versions are great, but those early efforts were poor, and the criticism was generally justified.

 

I miss mine none in the e90

 

+1