Iceman

As you guys know I forwarded a couple requests to BMW.

Today I received a call from BMW Munich.
They are very thankfull when ppl give any input and they will - off course - try to give us all the features we want, if it is possible.

I was told that when they released the car they just focused on the basic things, so that the car's computer won't crash. All the tasks need to run stable all the time. But the things they didn't put in the software at the beginning are not forgotten. They are currently working on the implementation of a lot of things into the idrive. One example is the abilty to program the nav to a destination, via another stop somewhere else, or the ability of playing MP3's.

BMW is working on the implementation of a lot of such features!

Even if they can't bring a feature to the e60, they might bring it on the new 5 somewhen in the future, or another series.

At this point I give you their thanks for the input.

I will forward serious requests to them in the future and keep you guys updated when I get a response!

Next thing I will request is:

voice command to open or close windows (if possible with the wind noise) and programable macros.

Rudy

I always thought the voice commands for the windows was not too serious of a request. I'll bet that they'd be reluctant to do it due to safety issues. (Maybe I'm wrong...)

Macros, however, would be good!

Can't remember if you already told them but right now, my number one request would be to have a gear indicator in the HUD (SMG and Steptronic).

Thanks Iceman!

spec33

Iceman,
is it possible to have BMW fix the HUD so that it can be angled alittle higher, left or right. I sit low and sometimes I can't see the HUD display.

Iceman

I don't think that's easy to do, maybe impossible.
But it's definately what you have to ask your dealer, since it's something he needs to do. He has a contact where he can call to get technical help/advice from BMW. From my experience this is nothing the guys at BMW Munich would give me any kind of answer other than "contact the dealer".

Have you tried to move the seat up to a higher position ?
It is "unhealthy" when you are too low!
The correct seat position should be: The width of one hand in between your head and the roof !
When sitting to low in the car it is unsafe, since you are not seeing enough, that's why the HUD is in a position where you can clearly see it, when you are sitting correctly...
The same for left and right...
Your head should be right in the middle. If it isn't it's unsafe, according to studies, and that's why the HUD is to be seen from the drivers seat only when you sit correct.

So I don't think BMW will do anything here, but mabe your dealer can adjust it a little... But to be honest, I doubt he can...

Try a different seat position...

Sorry for the *smartass* mode, but from all the talks to/with BMW I know pretty good how their response would be on this subject, and this is how they would respond...

Now, I would like to have the HUD a little higher, what they can't do, because you would look right through it, so it could distract someone... Therefore it needs to be that low, right above the hood.

Iceman

Well, I don't think they will add a voice command for the windows, but maybe a command to close all windows... However, it won't hurt telling them and requesting it.
The final decission is allways theirs, and they know the limits of the computer and the legal issues.

I think the macros are possible, but maybe they think that not enough ppl would use it... We will see if they start LOL when I send this request...

The gear indicator on HUD... well, I requested it earlier allready (when we discussed this topic first a while ago), but I think this is something they will only do for the M5, to have some "specials" on the M version of the e60.
To have it on regular idrive (not mdrive) some other infos would need to be removed from the HUD, since there is not enough space to have it all displayed. We allready have a setting to say what we want to see in the HUD, so it would be easy to add another function, but that would remove other functions... Maybe they could add this for the ACC, so that you can have ACC or gear indicator...

We will see...

Rudy

I think that's what we said earlier. Give me a list of things that can be displayed on the HUD and let me pick some maximum number.

I also think they could do some rearranging and/or font reduction to gain back the (small) space needed to include a gear indicator. I mean really, how much space could it take?

I'd swap the cruise display for gears anyday. They could make it an either/or option in iDrive. Think about it. When I'm using cruise control, I'm more than likely not shifting too much so I don't need that info on the HUD. If I'm not using cruise, I'm more than likely shifting a bunch and that info would be helpful in the HUD.

Iceman

I totally agree, thats why I was talking about this space. When you use the ACC you usually don't shift. And most ppl don't even have the ACC, they have the CC, so this space would be available anyways.
That's what I've told them...
And on the idirve you could then choose to have ACC displayed, or gears, or maybe even better... gears, and when you activate ACC you'll get the ACC info displayed as long as ACC is active. After switching ACC off it would display gears again, automatically... I would also like to have the "set" speed displayed on the HUD when using ACC. It only shows the speed you set while you program it, and then it just gives you an icon what tells you it is on. Why can't the speed set remain in the HUD ? I need to look down to the tach if I forgot what speed I've set...

545i2b

Iceman - the way my ACC works in the HUD is that the digital read-out of miles per hour is always displayed - if there is a disparity bewteen the mph and the "target" setting for the ACC then the ACC continues to display the "target" mph. It's only when the "target" setting and the actual mph are in agreement that the ACC displays only the icon for ACC.

Iceman

Do you know what software version you have ?
Because mine is definately different and just showing the target for about two seconds, no matter what...

545i2b

Iceman - No, sorry, I don't know my software version - I will ask when they fix the MCE problem