I have read in some posts about "feedback in the i-drive knob. Also, I remember reading about a "posessed" knob that was spinning on it's own. So here is my question: does the knob have any feedback capabilities and if so is this only with Nav? (My knob dosen't appear to have anything moving it but me, but I don't have Nav.

 

Only if you have Professional NAV (Which is the only one available in the US). The iDrive knob that has feedback is called "high", not sure why. You cannot retrofit to that knob unless you do a NAV retrofit.

 

IIRC they made a big deal of removing the feedback from the controller in LCI.

ABC

 

Thanks ABC but, could you expand a little more on "they made a big deal"? Was it on a good way or bad? will it be better now or worse? Do people who have the feedback like it so much that they complained or people complained against it?

 

It was big deal insofar as they even had to mention it in the launch documentation as a worthy item but it was a neutral statement.

ABC

 

I remember reading somewhere (but where?) that the reason why they removed feedback from LCI is because it caused the whole iDrive system to slow down as the CPU was spending too much time in monitoring and providing controller feedback.

Personally, I find it one of the nicest features of iDrive (the "centre" click on several controls, "end run" on scrolling lists etc.), but I do agree that current reaction times are too slow. However, I believe the right solution is a more powerful CPU (a dime a dozen) and more memory (even less), not removal of useful features! :thumbsdown:

 

I think you're correct but it's likely that the simplest fix for an LCI was to drop the feature. Re-engineering a faster processor, etc. will likely be how they solve the problem in future models...

M-B got it right with the new S-class -- the controller responds quickly and still gives feedback when bumping into the "end" of a list of commands.

 

I test drove a loaner e60 without the i-drive knob feedback. The system is as slow as my i-drive knob with feedback function.

 

The car probably did not have the CCC either so it was not a new model. not a fair comparison.

 

The car for sure did not have a CCC, right? Because cars with CCC and no feedback iDrive knob will not start showing up until March (From what I've read here)
I have no feedback iDrive knob (No NAV) and I consider my system to be OK, not fast, not slow, just fine. Can't compare cause I've never tested the system with feedback iDrive knob.