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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > ConnectedDrive / I-Drive / Navigation Related Discussion > NBC Nightly News "iDrive"



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      02-24-2010, 03:54 PM   #45
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Originally Posted by axztx View Post
People over 60 shouldn't drive a BMW. Stick with towncars.
I can introduce you to a number of drivers over 60 (at least one of them a woman) who can clean the clock of just about everyone on this forum.


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      02-24-2010, 04:20 PM   #46
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bavarian III View Post
Oh man will you crybabies PLEASE stop complaining about the iDrive? Wow. Just get the damn car without it if you are gonna bitch about it. Or do RESEARCH on it BEFORE you decide to get it. It actually helps, believe it or not. And if you do decide to get it, then do what most of us do and LEARN how to use it, and grow to love it. As most of us do I actually have the 07 version which was the main source of complaints before, and I picked it up quite quickly. You basically buy one of these cars, and you figure out the way the damn thing works. Period. Narrowing down all the controls/functions to one knob is actually quite genius in my opinion, and one of my favorite features, making it that much easier to use while driving.
With all due respect, any forum is at its best when differing ideas are discussed and opinions and various points of views are shared on it. I think calling people crybabies for sharing their opinion on a subject is crybaby like in itself.

It is one thing to 'figure out the way the damn thing works'. It is a whole different thing to actually *like* the way the damn thing works.

And it seems to me that you are not a married man. As any married man knows, when a wife says she wants navigation, she gets navigation. Again, that doesn't make the said husband *like* that navigation.
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      02-24-2010, 04:33 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by captainaudio View Post
I am an IT Professional and an MCSE (MicroSoft Certified Systems Engineer a CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) and am also certified in serveral flavors of Unix. I think I probably qualify as someone who has used a computer "more than twice".

I have a pre 2009 iDrive. I know how to use it, am not sorry I purchased the car with it and I would do it again, but I know enough about computers and programming to know a lousy user interface when I see one. IDrive (at least the pre 2009 version) is one of the least intuitive and most poorly designed user interfaces that I have ever seen. Trying to find a Costco, for example is ridiculously compex and you have to guess what category BMW stuck it in. Many of the functions require way to many "clicks" as you drill down through the menus. This can be very distracting to do while you are trying to drive.

That being said I use it every time I use the car and feel very deprived when I drive a car without it. But there is a LOT of room for improvement, at least in the older version, and I can see why many people find it very frustrating.

Being able to figure an interface out does not necessarily indictate that it is a good or intuitive design. I figured out Unix Shell Programing but it is not something that I would recommend doing while you are driving.


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Quote:
Originally Posted by faz View Post
With all due respect, any forum is at its best when differing ideas are discussed and opinions and various points of views are shared on it. I think calling people crybabies for sharing their opinion on a subject is crybaby like in itself.

It is one thing to 'figure out the way the damn thing works'. It is a whole different thing to actually *like* the way the damn thing works.

And it seems to me that you are not a married man. As any married man knows, when a wife says she wants navigation, she gets navigation. Again, that doesn't make the said husband *like* that navigation.

You're correct, I didn't mean to be a crybaby I guess the consistency of the complaining is more irritating than anything else, since they are in a position to improve their understanding of the interface (having to live with it), but would rather complain about it instead.

And I have figured out the way the damn thing works, and like the damn thing When I do get married one day, I'm going to marry a woman who could care less if she's in a Mini or a Maybach. And she's gonna have to figure out the navigation by herself. Besides, we'll be owning separate cars, anyway

Even though I know I'm probably gonna end up taking that back when I get married LOL.
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      02-24-2010, 05:10 PM   #48
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I honestly thought it was difficult to use when playing around with it in a 7 series. Now this was the old version so I'm not sure how good the new one is, but I figure it's just something you need to get used. It was just hard to understand. But I can't say much about the new one...
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      02-24-2010, 05:49 PM   #49
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I get that some people prefer touchscreen. I thought I did, but I much prefer the iDrive knob now. Because it's so convenient to adjust everything just by using your fingers and being able to quickly look from the screen back to the road (rather than leaning in and paying attention to the Nav screen). It's so... ergonomic, I dunno.

But the shortbut buttons that you can make out by touch are a big help IMO, as is the new way of toggling around (like the Audi system).

And yes, the new POI search by name function is probably the single biggest improvement to the Nav feature.
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      02-24-2010, 06:21 PM   #50
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Originally Posted by cotmfk View Post
Not lying to myself... it's easy to use. My hand can rest on it while driving and I can cahnge address, radio station, whatever without taking eyes away from the road for too long. Hand-eye coordination.
That means it's efficient to use. That doesn't mean it's easy or intuitive.

Honestly, I don't know how easy/intuitive the 07 iDrive is. The 2010 iDrive is decent in terms of usability, but far less easy or intuitive than the TomTom I have in the other car. iDrive is certainly safer to use in motion, and in many ways more functional. But less intuitive.
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      02-24-2010, 06:44 PM   #51
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Originally Posted by JulieDriving View Post
But the shortbut buttons that you can make out by touch are a big help IMO, as is the new way of toggling around (like the Audi system).
The shortcut buttons are a great function, but physically it's difficult for me to find and press the correct button while driving. You have to reach outside your normal driving position and hunt around for the right button. You can hover your finger on the button and see which one it is on the screen, but that still requires more attention than it should - basically, hitting the shortcut buttons suffers all the same problems that a touchscreen nav UI suffers.

It would be better if the six shortcut buttons could be hit quickly and reliably without looking - perhaps two sets of three alongside the existing iDrive buttons? Something like this:



'''''_'''''_'''''
''1/_/'8O8'\_\4''
'2/_/''(*)''\_\5'
3/_/'''o'o'''\_\6


Sorry for all the tic marks, the forum code eats spaces

Last edited by pagefault; 02-24-2010 at 06:53 PM.. Reason: ascii art fail
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      02-24-2010, 09:26 PM   #52
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The thing is people are just never happy with anything. They will complain about everything especially the older people. Just read the owners manual it wont hurt it will just help. Those are the same people who dont understand the owners manual as well LOL. Crazy. BMW is the first to have a system like this and the first to perfect this in 2009 Fourth generation. Good Job.
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      02-24-2010, 09:27 PM   #53
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Its a very simple system to understand. But with anything it takes getting use to after some practice. But people will always complain. Especially these old farts.
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      02-24-2010, 10:29 PM   #54
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I think if BMW started stuffing the center consoles with dirty diapers and someone posted here complaining, it would only be a matter of time before the first "If you don't want to smell baby poop buy a Lexus" post appeared. If we all take the "BMW can do no wrong" attitude BMW will have no incentive to improve anything.

There is a lot more to iDrive than nav and nav it definiely the weakest portion of the idrive user interface. I have a 5 year old Gramin Street Pilot and it is a much better nav system than idrive.

Perhaps a naive high school kid who fancies himself a computer expert would find the interface of iDrive acceptable but any computer professional with even a rudmentary understanding of programing will recognise that it (pre 2009 version) is a very cumbersome and overerly complex user interface.

As I said I would rather have it than not have it and it can certainly be figured out but that does not mean that there is not a lot of room for improvement.

I have mangaged a number of complex software development projects. If one of my staff had come up with the iDrive interface he would have been let go.

I honestly don't know how it stacks up against the competition but if iDrive is best of breed than that is a pretty sad state of affairs.

As far as "getting used to it" goes, you can get "used to" the smell of cow manure. but being used to it does not mean it doesn't stink.



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Last edited by captainaudio; 02-24-2010 at 10:38 PM..
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      02-25-2010, 09:31 PM   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by captainaudio View Post

As far as "getting used to it" goes, you can get "used to" the smell of cow manure. but being used to it does not mean it doesn't stink.



CA
Lol, good one!

I use navigation quite regularly and previously used what was then the top-of-the-line Garmin.

I find the new Nav a little more sophisticated than that Garmin. So, I think the new Nav is pretty "current". But of course, it will be outdated in a few years (although it still may be quite usable, like my Garmin is still very "usable" with updates).

According to some reviews (here's a video one: http://www.cnet.com.au/bmw-idrive-a-...-339295416.htm), the interface is pretty darn competitive now.

EDIT: But the graphics are still under-par, despite the higher and better resolution. Other competitors (Garmin's, etc.) are simplier and nicer-looking, IMO.
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      02-26-2010, 12:54 AM   #56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DJKhan85 View Post
the system is hard and takes getting used to. This is coming from some who's entire life(work and hobbies) revolve around computers and electronics. People who say it's easy and complete intuitive are lying to themselves.
I saw Idrive for the first time when I bought my 335....within about 5 minutes i had every feature figured out...given I haven't memorized all the voice commands, but I can access anything in the system very fast, and it's interface is very logical.

Perhaps its just that I'm a very intuitive learner and you're not....probably like my mom, who couldn't even figure out how to turn on her tv If she had read the manual.

Not trying to insult you, just saying that it's so simple a child could probably figure it out. I wish there were more settings in Idrive.
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      02-26-2010, 12:57 AM   #57
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I'm sorry but but it takes about 2 minutes to get a basic grasp of the system

If you cannot figure the I-Drive in a BMW then you're probably a moron and most likely shouldn't even be driving.
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      02-26-2010, 07:53 PM   #58
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Originally Posted by Syndicategt View Post
Wow NBC nightly News just did a report on Toyota/Lexus and just drug BMW's name in by saying "BMW's iDrive is too difficult to use" and "some users cannot even turn on the radio". Have these "users" ever even used a computer? It's one of the easiest systems to use and navigate, they must be getting their info from the 70+ year old test drivers from Car and Driver magazine.
they were all wondering what that large button with the word "RDAIO" on it did.
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      02-26-2010, 08:57 PM   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeyBananaz18 View Post
they were all wondering what that large button with the word "RDAIO" on it did.
RDAIO? Hmmm... ok.
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