[bpu]

Originally Posted by -EndOfAnEra-

I'm with you 110%!! A car should be as safe to operate inside as it is on the outside. The inherent danger and complete lack of action by regulatory bodies to combat this is appalling and will only get worse over time as the practice spreads like cancer all over the industry.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I strongly feel that iDrive's days are numbered, and I am as cranky about it as you. Screens are an easy way to say, "wow, look at us, we are so in tune with technology!" Please see this early example of this concept - this is the original Cadillac CTS-V interior:



That giant tall and rectangular center stack was intended to remind people of a PC tower! Here's the Model 3, the times may have changed but Elon again wanted to drive that connection to a tablet computer because its a symbol of the advancement of the times:



The traditional approach to luxury refinement and differentiating by feel is all but gone. The move to full touchscreens is endemic of the sickness infecting BMW of late, a move to follow the herd rather than blaze a path. BMW used to lead the charge and the others followed, now BMW is doing the following.

The F-series BMW interiors married the screen with the traditional layout very well. The G-series has improved the usability overall but has become lost in design rather than function. Simple example, F10 M5 vs 2020 F90 M5:





To BMW's credit, most elements of iDrive 7 have drastically improved from iDrive 6 in my experience. However I detest the new design-focused, cluttered, almost completely non-customizable instrument cluster. The old one was an elegant marvel of simplicity and information density that set the standard for years. And later when they began adding digital elements, they did so without losing this key feature. Here's three M5's, an E39 M5, an F10 M5 and the pre-2020 full analog flatscreen on the F90. Note here, as a full digital display there is literally NOTHING keeping BMW from offering this view as an option!







The doubling down on this and similar design elements, coupled with the doubling down on controversial design elements, and insultingly feeding us piece after piece until we choke and say, "wow, that's not as bad as I thought!" makes me feel that this regime at BMW is more interested in swallowing quick sales than in nurturing goodwill and long-standing relationships.

The engineers ironically haven't been torpedoed by this, just design and marketing. It's no mistake to say that BMW still drives very well and dynamically still shoots for driver engagement. But it's also clear that engineering seems to have less and less of a say. When the Ergonomics Product Planner at BMW gets told, "hey, we need to have a touchscreen only iDrive", they will do their best to get it to a good level but it will never be as safe as a system managed by feel.

I'm drawing the line here. I buy BMW for many reasons but one of them is superlative active and passive safety.
How can you champion a safe car when operating a key system in it is by definition unsafe?

I expect I will be keeping my M340i a long time, and then either moving to electric with stronger and trusted autonomy features to allow for inherent touchscreen distraction, or simply go back in time on my purchases rather than forward.

Very well said. When you follow the pack you lose any distinction. There are ways to incorporate new technology and design while upholding your values and executing what you're great at. To date, they've done that exceedingly well. But the industry trends are worrying.

Originally Posted by oz555

I have a proposition. We can make petition for BMW to keep all essentials ex. iDrive, direct controls for main functions, ergonomics, driving feel, steering feel, manual gearbox for sport models, not to make Asian market design for EU and US (rear lights for G Series). If Asian market wants big screens and kitsch design I respect that, they can make different layout for Asia. I do not want to BMW looks like KIA or something worse. We want mean and good design, original BMW design. If Asia want something different it is ok. It is huge market, they can make models for them. We need a petition because BMW must know what their fans and long term customers want. They are not sure about this my friends. Hey, they made FWD 1 series that looks like Ford Focus from 50 meters. Who knows when the time will come to see FWD 3 series with some Asian design rear lights and one square meter LCD dash board.

I'm not sure which type of feedback method is actually best. I've definitely provided this type of feedback through ShareYourThoughts and phone. They say they pass this along to product teams but who really knows. How do they select customers to reach out to for deeper feedback and product testing?

Originally Posted by gofast182

You can reach out to BMW corporate and let them know. Make sure you're buying BMW. Make it known to friends/coworkers the pitfalls of touch screens and the advantage of BMW. Comment on social media posts and reviews of cars. Those are the main things you can do.

I think BMW knows this. When they released the new interior concept with iDrive 7 (including buttons) on the G05 they did it with intentions of it being a corporate design scheme and having it last through the current model cycle of new vehicles, at least 5-6 years into the future.

Our personal experience; we bought a G05 a couple years ago but before that my wife was sure she wanted a Velar. After driving the Velar, among other things, we didn't like how you had to look down at the touch screen to make sure you're getting the right function and how some functions were in sub-menus which compounded the problem. One of the things we loved about the G05 is that it gives you multiple (often redundant) options for controlling the car: touch screen, iDrive controller, hard buttons, steering wheel controls, voice control, gestures.

Yep, the hard buttons and iDrive knob are so easy and passive to use. It was truly designed for control in a CAR, which is how all of these systems should be. The things you list to do are all correct, the social medial probably the most. It's a lot of work! I wish the corporate teams were more transparent about what they do with the feedback.