jtsutton1

I can't believe all the fuss made by the media about how difficult iDrive is to operate. I have driven my new 545 for a little over a week now, and I really like the iDrive. I had no difficulty operating it from the beginning, but the more I use it, the more I like it. I love being able to control everything without ever taking my arm off the armrest! I understand that a lot of the negative comments about the iDrive were actually aimed at the 7 series, but on the 5 it is not difficult to operate at all.

ls78000

Agree despite some software bugs and slow response time with Nav

vern

I feel the same way about the I Drive but if you have Voice Command and get used to it you will find yourself using the I Drive less and less.
cheers
vern

JG996

Keep in mind that these are the same folks that use a keyboard to navigate around their PCs, and prefer DOS over Windows.

gwf545

I think that the problem with the media is that they usually only get a car for review for a few hours. If they can't figure something out (face it, they aint brain surgeons) they trash it in the review. The same with active steering and other features. It honestly took me about 6 months to get comfortable with this car. Between the power and all the technology I was a bit overwhelmed. But now you'd have to pry it from my cold dead hands to get it away from me.

jtsutton1

Keep in mind that these are the same folks that use a keyboard to navigate around their PCs, and prefer DOS over Windows.
[/quote]

Ahh, yes. Living in 1987.

rodneyremington

I loved idrive until I added this 2006 Range Rover to the fleet, with the touch screen. A touch screen really is better. A combination of a touch screen and idrive would probably be the ultimate.

znod

I like it too. Same experience as you.

my530i

The concept of iDrive is just similar to iPod. iPod owners knows what I mean - Rotate and click to go down to submenu. If those old fart media folks does not like iDrive, I'm sure they don't know what the iPod for.
When I first answered the survey from some third party company regarding my new E60, I commented that iDrive sucks and it was just a few weeks after owning E60. As times goes by, I realize that iDrive is a very nice feature.

Rudy

I respectfully disagree. I use a touch screen extensively on a Honda Odyssey and although it appears easier at first, it becomes more cumbersome to use because you have to keep taking your eyes off the road to find the right "button" to press. There is no tactile feedback so your finger can't feel if it's touching the right button, etc. With iDrive, I can glance at the screen quickly and know that I need to do something like turn right two clicks, then push down. Also, some touch screens I've seen, including my Odyssey, aren't perfectly calibrated so you need to press slightly above where you think you should press to accurately select the right function. (This may be just on my car -- I can't say for sure.)

When I'm driving the Honda, I find myself wishing I had an iDrive controller to operate the darn thing!

Oh, and I won't even get into the grease prints on the screen issue...