I'm sorry but I'd prefer a million times the X3's Navi Professional than any iDrive system, and it's not even either because I have a X3 nor because I hate Microsoft stuff (iDrive is Microsoft Windows CE powered, in case someone isn't aware).
BMW, for me, is like the Apple of cars - when you sit on your driving position, everything "feels right", meaning that everything is easy to use, quick to access (particulary important when one is driving and can't give too much attention to the system), and "just works" as one would expect. When one presses the gas pedal, one expects the car to accelerate. Simple.
When I've test drive an 3-series E90, I felt scared with the iDrive system - it felt utterly awful, overcomplicated, crashy/buggy, and I was sure I would quickly crash myself with the car on the first time I would try to use the iDrive and get so lost in its menus that the car would steer out of the driving lane. All the bad stuff I can now find on the X3, plus the bad stuff of the idrive.
A good example is the joystick - anything can be done with a simple joystick - rotate left, right, press, and main menu. iDrive consists of rotate left+right, press, plus move up/down/left/right, plus the same main menu. Sometimes one goes back via menu, sometimes via left move, sometimes via back button on the screen. WFT??
I do advocate that cars should have more powerful technology inside (maybe only on the entertaiment side, but that's another story), but only if they are kept simple and efficient and consistent to the rest of the car - specially on a brand that sells itself as "pleasure of driving".
What pleasure can one take from a future car that would stop itself randomly in the middle of the highway, or that requires one to press twice the gear pedal, change gear, and then another time the gear pedal, one break, and full throttle, to increase the gear ?
)))