studavis

I had a chance to fly a plane this weekend that was equipped with a new ?glass cockpit.? The instrument panel has 3 LCD screens that allow you to customize the information you want displayed, on which screen, and about a million other things. Getting back into the 550 to head home, I looked at the idrive screen, and wondered why you can?t do the same thing in the LCD display. Imagine for a minute if you could layout a screen preference on a PC, then upload the template to the i-drive. You could customize the display to show all of the engine information, including oil temp/pressure, water temp, alternator output, and then in another part of the screen, put the map, and perhaps the entertainment. At the very least, I should be able to upload that sultry French accent for voice command, and have the car on the screen match the color of my paint when the parking sensor comes on. Just a thought.

redwhiteblue

dude 99 percent of people and critiques could not figure out the current pre-lci Idrive which was about as simple as it gets!

Funny I saw the inside of a new audi and they have the big knob and i drive type screen now as well. MB has their own version very similar. AUdi had the knob but then about 8 big buttons similar to mouse buttons by the roller. Seemed more confusing to me. BMW could not get any simpler-one big button you turn and click.

Would be cool though

Russ1974

They've had that on Audi for a very long time ... maybe 4 years? On the A8 atleast, I remember seeing it around the same time as I got my first E60.

I love iDrive and have no problems with it at all. My only issue is with the navigation, but that's not strictly an "iDrive issue". I am sure that by the time we get the F10 it'll have a nice big solid state hard drive built in, and the software will be excellent

lymin6

Having just test drove a number of Audi's and MB the AUDI system is the best, the MB is not quite as easy to use as the AUDI. I driven a A8 extensively a number of years ago and it was an excellent system.

But the main difference with the two over the BMs IS THE SPEED and predicability of the systems.Unlike our i drives

Although the i drive is now much better, is still has strange things occuring that never repeat themselves, my wifes X5 is a classic example, it has its first upgrade I am sure many more on the way.

It has to be the main factor to put people off reordering a five, which is a shame because it really has improved over orginal versions, its just a shame it taken this long to get i drive to were it is now.

Russ1974

Can't say I quite agree ... I'm on E60 number three and have loved iDrive since my first one in 2004. It's had improvements yes, but I wouldn't say that the first incarnations are as bad as many people report. Those who hated the first versions tend to be those people that are/were technophobes. "But where are the buttons and levers" they would cry! iDrive is (and always has been) superb and whenever I get in car without it, I feel so helpless and out of touch with all of my settings

Argent60

I work at a county hospital as a general lab chemistry specialist. I don't know why the iDrive can't be set up like our Dimension RXL Max serum/plasma analyzer. It has a few "main screen" where anyone in the whole general lab could figure out (ie non-specialists), and a "advanced options" screen where the chemistry staff can go in and fine tune a number of different things. I sound like a broken record, but I have always been in favor of the iDrive system giving those who wanted it more flexibility and adjustability.


Argent60

Russ1974

It's odd, I was in the BMW garage this morning and the elderly woman infront of me was asking the service department manager EXACTLY the same question.

Argent60

Ha, now THAT would be a nice trick.

But in case you're not messing with me, I was talking about the U.I. and not the output.

cheers,

lymin6

I agree the concept is great, no more buttons filling the dash, but its just the time the earlier version used to take at times to boot up or to responed to any command.

My latest is ok, but still suffers from unexplaned glitches, its certainly adds to the cars charm if your in a good mood, but if things are going wrong that day, you just want to kill someone (IE a BMW SA).

My last problem was in the summer I was in Lymington, and set the Nav to go home to Liverpool, it suddenly located me in the Solent en route to Caen, and did not move until the car was reprogrammed a week later.

But the best thing in my latest car in the bluetooth, unlike previous cars it works people can hear me and I can hear them. A revelation!

JSpira

I've driven an Audi A8 for close to 2 weeks and also several Mercedes for a few weeks (S-Klasse). There is very little difference in response time or speed between the systems. The Audi and Mercedes systems have more buttons and you have to look down to press the right one because they are not logically placed. BMW is the only car maker that has a split screen (i.e. main window and assist) which, esp. when combined with Head-Up Display, provides more information to the driver at the same time. Audi provides some of this in the cluster on the A8 (not sure about other ranges).

The placement of the Monitor is better in the BMW and Mercedes than the Audi; the voice response in the BMW was better, and just to make it interesting, Bluetooth is not included with your purchase of a $100,000 Mercedes (yes that's unrelated but I had to throw that one in). It's a dealer-installed option.