I swore I would never get a car with iDrive but now that I'm ready to put in an order for a new E92 I'm wondering if that's the right decision. I don't need really need the navigation part for my daily driving - I know there's more to it than that. Any experiences either way out there? Thanks.
When I ordered my 135i, it was a priority for me, cause I love gadgets. I recently took Euro delivery, and drove around Germany for 10 days. Gotta say, the nav system disappointed big-time. Several times, it said "now turn here", when it meant "turn in 3 blocks". Also, it didn't voice the street names - a $99 Garmin does that! Hopefully, I'll have better luck with it in the US. (I should get the car today - yay!) I found the whole iDrive to be confusing to use, tho I know I'll figure it all out soon enough. Still, in all, it's a very neat gadget that does give you a lot of features, and that lets you adjust a lot of settings on the car. So I'd go for it, if I were you. But keep a $99 Garmin in the glovebox - just in case!
That is the #1 feature I will NOT miss when the lease on our 535i ends. It's slow to respond, clunky to use and, contrary to what all the BMW apologists say, it's not that intuitive. The worst feature of iDrive was the radio. It sucks because it takes so long to get anything done that you could get done in less than one second in a conventional radio.
The newest versions are much faster and more intuitive than older versions. That said, in terms of navigation, it still lags well behind the competition as mentioned above (i.e. Garmin $99 job). This summer we spent two weeks in Germany and rented an Audi A4 Avant (with 6spd manual!) which had Audi's nav system, and it was simply SUPERB! When it said "turn right now" it was always right on top of the instruction. It was amazing compared to what we're used to with the E90 iDrive/Nav which is a joke in comparison. The Audi system worked incredibly well and never let us down throughout all our travels around Germany. When we stayed at a hotel in Munich right near BMW, we went into a parking deck like structure to get to the hotel, and it still gave us directions the whole way including when to turn into a circular upramp to get to the hotel -- don't know how the heck it did that w/o seeing any sats; I assume it was calculating basic time versus distance versus compass heading perhaps that whole time. Anyway, I KNOW the E90 Nav would have been lost in that situation. BMW still has a ways to go with this system...even after all these years.
IDrive is a problem, not a feature Mine is a 2010 650i- the latest iteration of the iDrive system. The ability to set many parameters of preference (usually a one-time event) it is just fine, if a bit obtuse. Much better than having to return to the dealer for "programming." On a daly basis, however, iDrivet is an active deterrent to good driving- it takes WAY to much attention away from the road. This may be major contributor as to why the British named BMW owners as the worst drivers on the island. The 650 is a terrific car, but the clumsy, silly, obscure connection to the vehicle through the iDrive system diminishes the whole experience. BMW should ask Apple or even Saab for help designing the next driver/machine interface.
My wife loves hers on the '07 e92. My impression is I can take of leave the Nav however the radio and HVAC control are a plus.
