Best controls ever by far are in Mitsubishi Outlanders, I had an 07 fully loaded with Nav, HDD and such and the reason it's better than the rest is simple... Touch screen. I don't understand why luxury cars such as BMW and MB haven't implemented touch screen on their vehicles, it's absolutly beyond me why I should have to spin a wheel or click a multitude of buttons when I could just click on what I want directly in this day and age.

In my mind making a simple clean and practical interface isn't rocket science, the answer is simple and widely available...Touch Screen.

Anyways, that's my 2 cents, the day BMW has a perfect interface will be the day it goes touch screen.

 

I love the way my 2009 550i drives. But I have to agree that the I-Drive in mine sucks. I have mastered it but it is as slow as molasses. The computer driving it just does not work fast. And it requires way too many clicks, spins and slides to use, especially when navigating between different areas.

Perhaps the hard-drive based new I-Drive in the 2010 5 Series with Nav is a big improvement. My 2006 Infiniti M45's controls were much faster, more logical and easier to use. But it drove like a pig compared to my 550i crashing and shuddering over every bump. As you can see, I don't buy my cars based on the electronic controls. I'm a driver first.

 

Well it is not perfect - but personally, I rarely change the venting positions other than to turn on defrost. And this I do with buttons, not the iDrive. My 2008 is much faster than my 06 and it works for me. Rumor has it the next gen stuff (in 3 series and 7 series right now and the 5-series starting with the 2010s is pretty sweet). Most people here find it to be no big deal and I agree. I had a touch screen GS430 and it was terrible to try and use while driving - and yes, I had to use the screen to change vent positions....

 

Which won't happen and shouldn't happen. Touchscreens have been shown to be a huge distraction to the driver.

 

I'll refer interested parties here to the in-depth article on iDrive at http://www.bmwcca.org/forum/showthre...1501#post11501

 

The Idrive version in my 2008 535 is ok. It really helps you can create shortcut buttons and that the heat/ac has knobs you can turn. It would be cool if you could create macros.
I have heard the the system in the Audi and infinity are better designed however have never used them.

The lexus GS is crazy, do they still have tape decks in their cars ?

 

The Infiniti's M's electronic controls, which are not touch screen, are far better designed and executed than I-Drive.

I had an Infiniti M for over 3 years prior to my 550. The controls in the M involve buttons and an I-drive like controller. The interface's electronics were much faster than I-drive and did not involve the multiple layers of menus in my 2009 550's I-drive.

But the Infiniti's electronic control have one huge achilles heel. Many of the controls, including 99 percent of the nav's functions cannot be operated while the car is in motion. Talk about a pain in the rear.

If my purchase/lease decision were based on the elecronic controls, I would have stayed with Infiniti. But I am a driver first and, while the Infiniti was pretty fast and its suspension was responsive -- not at all like a Lexus -- its suspension totally lacked refinement and crashed over every bump. Plus the steering tramlined severely, following every road irregularity.

I would love to hear from people how the 2010 new hard drive-based I-Driver performs. It certainly should be a lot faster and I hope BNW has found a way to cut back on the illogical submenus that plague I-drive.

 

The new cars have so many functions these days the iDrive is a must.

Luckily BMW was the first one to develop it.

I hope they are the first to develop it so, that us grown ups can work it out,
not only the 10 yo kids.

 

maybe i don't use mine enough, but everything i need is either programed as a short cut, or very easy to get to.

 

My issue with i-drive is lagging and multiple clicks make it less usable. Sounds like something coming out from Microsoft.

Audi MMI has better design and useable. I have 08 535i and comparing it to my sister 09 A4 and Audi enginner and testers are better. I think new i-drive is much better and no longer using Microsoft codes.