[clee1982]

I prefer physical button for the important stuff, but I guess this is where the market is moving to... I would say instead of touch screen j would just hope the whole voice recognition gets even smarter and you basically can just talk all the time as an alternative to avoid distractions...

[SamS]

Originally Posted by Dog Face Pony Soldier

Sounds like a tip from a hermit.

What about when people are in the car with you? Do you shhh your occupants' conversation when you want to speak a command to your car, or do you just speak over them?

Can you even speak commands to your car while in a call? Since my car is my office, hour long calls happen with absolute regularity. Am I supposed to not operate any system in my car until the call is over?

Use the screen?

You guys act like you’ll be so flustered with phone calls and screaming babies that you won’t be able to figure out how to pop your trunk without a giant physical button in the middle of the console.

Are you guys struggling to use your touchscreen smartphones as well?

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by spuntyb

If your finger tips don't have any oils on them, you need to see a dermatologist. Fingerprints and smudges are normal, even after washing

Absolutely

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by SamS

Use the screen?

You guys act like you'll be so flustered with phone calls and screaming babies that you won't be able to figure out how to pop your trunk without a giant physical button in the middle of the console.

Are you guys struggling to use your touchscreen smartphones as well?

The problem with touchscreens is that the lack of tactile feedback requires you to look at the screen rather than the road.
Obviously that's not the case with buttons or switches.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by SamS

Use the screen?

You guys act like you’ll be so flustered with phone calls and screaming babies that you won’t be able to figure out how to pop your trunk without a giant physical button in the middle of the console.

Are you guys struggling to use your touchscreen smartphones as well?

No BECAUSE I don't use my smart phone while I am driving the car. Apparently you do.

The concept that BMW has had, but may be abandoning, is to give us buttons and switches and dials where the feature is one that we might have to adjust while driving. I can do that without taking my eyes off the road. But with a touch screen one has to take one's eyes of the road which is not a desireable outcome.

[BSquared+]

[QUOTE=SamS;26355907]Don’t be playing with buttons while you’re driving
Don’t take your hands off the wheel. Just press a button on the wheel and speak the command. I do it all the time, “change the temperature to 68º”. It’s not really that hard.

Keep your hands on the wheel, use your voice. Certain things are of course easier with fingers/thumbs, like changing the volume. That’s what steering wheel buttons are for.

Well exactly. You shouldn’t have to be fooling with 10 buttons every time you take a trip to the grocery store. Fingerprints are taken care of with the proper screen/shield.



Using the voice command is much better in the newer BMW's but it's still a PITA for everyone else in the car to have to shutup while you try to use it.

AFAIC, if BMW wants to get rid of buttons, I think the best compromise would be to enhance those buttons on the steering wheel and expand the HUD display to replace the touchscreen completely. Now THAT I could go with.!!

[SamS]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

No BECAUSE I don't use my smart phone while I am driving the car. Apparently you do.

The concept that BMW has had, but may be abandoning, is to give us buttons and switches and dials where the feature is one that we might have to adjust while driving. I can do that without taking my eyes off the road. But with a touch screen one has to take one's eyes of the road which is not a desireable outcome.

No, I don’t use a smart phone while driving and have no idea how you got that impression. As an owner of 4 modern BMWs and their associated “sea of buttons”, the convenience of a mainly-touch screen and voice interaction (via my Tesla) is something I’ve quickly adapted to.

[BSquared+]

“sea of buttons” ?


You certainly would never drive a Porsche then!! THAT'S a sea of buttons.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by SamS

No, I don’t use a smart phone while driving and have no idea how you got that impression. As an owner of 4 modern BMWs and their associated “sea of buttons”, the convenience of a mainly-touch screen and voice interaction (via my Tesla) is something I’ve quickly adapted to.

"Are you guys struggling to use your touchscreen smartphones as well?" Implicit in that remark was that one can use the touchscreen buttons on the phone.

Of course, you might have been referring to uses outside the car. Then we can expand this kind of remark to almost everything.

[SteveinArizona]

[QUOTE=BSquared+;26358480]

Originally Posted by SamS

Don’t be playing with buttons while you’re driving
Don’t take your hands off the wheel. Just press a button on the wheel and speak the command. I do it all the time, “change the temperature to 68º”. It’s not really that hard.

Keep your hands on the wheel, use your voice. Certain things are of course easier with fingers/thumbs, like changing the volume. That’s what steering wheel buttons are for.

Well exactly. You shouldn’t have to be fooling with 10 buttons every time you take a trip to the grocery store. Fingerprints are taken care of with the proper screen/shield.

Good comment. I do use the voice commands a lot but there are some things that you can't do with voice commands.

Using the voice command is much better in the newer BMW's but it's still a PITA for everyone else in the car to have to shutup while you try to use it.

AFAIC, if BMW wants to get rid of buttons, I think the best compromise would be to enhance those buttons on the steering wheel and expand the HUD display to replace the touchscreen completely. Now THAT I could go with.!!

[stein_325i]

I never understood how touchscreens got passed by safety standards. Its against the law to text and drive or use your phone. Depending on the infotainment system, there are some that are just as dangerous/distracting to use while driving.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by jstein55

I never understood how touchscreens got passed by safety standards. Its against the law to text and drive or use your phone. Depending on the infotainment system, there are some that are just as dangerous/distracting to use while driving.

I mean no one ever got rear-ended by a driver that was fooling with an analog radio tuner while driving.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by SamS

I mean no one ever got rear-ended by a driver that was fooling with an analog radio tuner while driving.

You can use a tuning knob without looking.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by jstein55

You can use a tuning knob without looking.

And I can say “tune to 102.5 FM” without ever taking my hands off the wheel.

Two upcoming scenarios that you cannot avoid, so best that everyone come to terms with it:

1) Touch screen/voice as a primary input for interacting with your car. In 5-10 years it will be hard to find a premium car with anything more than just a few traditional buttons. You can already see the newest/upcoming models from MB, Audi, and now BMW evolving towards this.

2) Self-driving will be the enablement tool if you just can’t bear to to try to aim for something on a touch screen without crashing your car.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by SamS

And I can say “tune to 102.5 FM” without ever taking my hands off the wheel.

Two upcoming scenarios that you cannot avoid, so best that everyone come to terms with it:

1) Touch screen/voice as a primary input for interacting with your car. In 5-10 years it will be hard to find a premium car with anything more than just a few traditional buttons. You can already see the newest/upcoming models from MB, Audi, and now BMW evolving towards this.

2) Self-driving will be the enablement tool if you just can’t bear to to try to aim for something on a touch screen without crashing your car.

I've used both the BMW assistant and have the MBUX assistant in the wife's GLC. Both are pretty s*** if you ask me. I find it easier to just do things with the control wheel or physical controls. Just because the industry is moving towards touchscreens doesn't mean I have to support it.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by jstein55

I've used both the BMW assistant and have the MBUX assistant in the wife's GLC. Both are pretty s*** if you ask me. I find it easier to just do things with the control wheel or physical controls. Just because the industry is moving towards touchscreens doesn't mean I have to support it.

✊🏻 Peach..

I speak clear English but regardless, voice command, for me, is a hit or miss, most of the time.

The current tech has improved much but It's just more of a novelty, as I could never get used to depending on it.

I just gave away a brand new Google Home, that was gifted to me because it's just not my thing.. :

I much prefer tactile feel of "old school" buttons but you have to careful when declaring that basic human communicative need because now, it makes you sound like a old timer..

[keylime503]

Originally Posted by VChenz

Sort of - those apps require your cell phone to be present/compatible/paired/plugged in/etc. What what I was trying to get at is the OEMs shouldn't bother with things that are already handled by those apps (And allow for more to be developed - like HVAC controls, seat controls, etc. as well as the base "operating system")

Point in case, the OEM's are trying to develop their own voice recognition software - they will never get to a place where Amazon/Google and at some levels Apple are at.

Ok, that also exists. Volvo's new infotainment is an Android operating system. No, not Android auto. No android or any phone needed.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by Poochie

✊🏻 Peach..

I speak clear English but regardless, voice command, for me, is a hit or miss, most of the time.

The current tech has improved much but It's just more of a novelty, as I could never get used to depending on it.

I just gave away a brand new Google Home, that was gifted to me because it's just not my thing.. :

I much prefer tactile feel of "old school" buttons but you have to careful when declaring that basic human communicative need because now, it makes you sound like a old timer..

Yep, and the keywords are stupid being the brand name. My wife picked up her friend and when her friend sat inside she complimented the car and said "nice new Mercedes" and immediately you here the stupid MBUX assistant say "How can I help you?"

They are way too trigger happy with the keyword, and as a car enthusiast, whenever I have friends in the car and we discuss something regarding cars or BMW or Mercedes you have to avoid saying the brand name.

[Dave1m]

Looks exactly like the i4 dash?

Ok maybe not!!

But certainly some resemblances?

[mr_z4mc1m_oz]

I personally find it so much easier and safer from a drivers perspective to press a physical 'old school' button when on the move, than trying to tap a button on a screen. I also hate all the finger prints. Also these screens will date horribly just like sat nav screens have for years. And one last also, how expensive and readily available will replacement screens be in the future (I know this only affects the used car buyer later in the cars life).

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by mr_z4mc1m_oz

I personally find it so much easier and safer from a drivers perspective to press a physical 'old school' button when on the move, than trying to tap a button on a screen. I also hate all the finger prints. Also these screens will date horribly just like sat nav screens have for years. And one last also, how expensive and readily available will replacement screens be in the future (I know this only affects the used car buyer later in the cars life).

Agree, I can't do any of the new Audi's because my OCD can't handle the amount of piano black plastic that covers the interior, fingerprints and scratches everywhere!

[bpu]

Originally Posted by -EndOfAnEra-

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT BMW!!

If BMW abandons the extremely intuitive, extremely safe iDrive controller which can be operated entirely by feel for a touch screen/voice controlled system which abandons utility for "style" I am out.

Forget about titanic grilles, questionable styling choices, ///M saturation and Asian market shifts. This is the only item for me, 100%, that would make me leave new BMWs behind forever.

This interface is unacceptable for the safety of myself, my family, and all the families on the road killed by driver distraction. It will become acceptable only when level 5 autonomy exists and is proven. Until then, it is patently DANGEROUS!

Even iDrive has become more geared to style than feel. My E90's iDrive controls were much more intuitive simply because you could feel the individual buttons unlike the membrane pad on my G20.

If this happens, my G20 will last until it dies or until I trade "down" for an older M car. This is so depressing for me, and I can't even talk about leaving BMW because Audi, Porsche, Mercedes and Tesla are all the same now or very soon!

Couldn't have said it better myself. Their current interiors are so intuitive and functional and still give you all the tech you could want.

They've already sacrificed some utility for style like you said with the new, flat center console buttons, I much prefer the contoured buttons in my G30, lets you easily find them by touch. But with the new interiors they managed to update the design while still retaining all those components.

They even went to the trouble of minimizing the look of the HVAC buttons by putting them in a single row under the vents, so why remove them now? There's zero functional or stylistic benefit to replacing buttons with just blank dash space.

I've always preferred BMW's incredible consistency and iterative improvements vs. MB and Audi who completely change it up every few years with no consideration to if it's actually better (MB's new touch pad and Audi's new screens which are lower in the dash). They're abandoning what distinguishes them with a design like this. I've provided this feedback to them directly, you should do the same.