No Way..(iDrive)
 

Hello all! Since work is the only place I can usually have fun on X5World, and the gub'ment susequently stripping our access to it, I was on AWOL status. The fix? Im sitting here running a Google search on the e70, and an "X3World" post comes up. I hit it, and BANG! :nanana: How long will THIS last?!

Anyway, heres the deal. I get an email from ebay saying, "list your car for free" weekend is coming up. I usually delete them, but for some reason, I decided what the heck....Ive been toying with selling the X for some time, but red tape was forcing me into a corner..UK Taxes, etc. Turns out, I dont owe them anything. So I did it...It went on Friday night, 5 day auction, high reserve due to my reluctance to sell, we'll see what happens. Saturday, not a bid, Sunday, nothing, Monday a couple of lame bids and a few "emails" from Nigeria requesting my bank details, blah, blah, blah...and he wants a LHD drive X5. Very funny homie...

Anyway, went to bed Monday night or whenever it was, nothing. Woke up the next morning and WTF!?! Reserve met! The thing finally sells and I SHOULD be seeing the money in my account today. Of course Im still worried about all the scams and the rest, but we'll see.

Now the good part. My wife and I have always considered it a no brainer that we would just move into a loaded Odyssey or the e70. We just got the e70 over here a few weeks ago, went to look at (externally) and that was it. We're sold-until of course we actually got in the thing. Interior-loved it. Functionality - loved it. Comfort-Perfect. And then we put the key "thingy" in. That lovely "brrring" sound. This is just great!! The verdict?! 20 minutes later, we get out of the car...my wife is swearing like Ive never heard in my life. Im almost in tears due to confusion and disappointment. My daughter is confused and thinks we're both on drugs. Somebody PLEASE, PLEASE tell me that this iDrive thing is not this bad. The DEALER sat there for half of those 20 minutes and was just as confused as we were. No one had a clue how to use this thing! We never even got on the road! Now immediately I ran home and Googled the F*CK out of iDrive-iDrive problems-iDrive issues-iDrive forums-iDrive suicide attempts. Not much out there. I DID read however, that there IS a learning curve. I want to hear from you, people. Make this right with me and my family. I WANT to love this car. But when the dealer looks at me and says "wow, this IS a bit confusing, isnt it?", it makes you wonder. Console me.

wow im surprised u got nothing out of "idrive suicide"

yeah idrive has a learning curve, i heard its response time is still somewhat slow but i guess you will get used to it.

I like Jeremy Clarksons Top Gear view of it....iDistract then iCrash :rofl:

I don't get it - I found iDrive really easy to use, admittedly I have been using computers since I was 12 (over 25 years ago!!) - it really isn't that difficult at all. My learning curve was less than 15 minutes.

The key, I think, is to learn to use what you really need and ignore some of the detailed functions. For example all the idrive functions around climate are pretty pointless (unless you have comfort seats). I just use the auto functions most of the time.

The shortcut buttons make a huge difference in my opinion.

Don't be put off by an advisor who clearly hasn't done his research - it ain't that difficult. Buy the X - it's a great drive and much better than the E53.

We missed you Bozo! Anyway, I was just talking to my brother about I-Drive the other day. He said that you really don't even use it on a regular basis. It's more about initial set up. Once you have your settings in place, you use most of the functions in I-Drive if you want to change something. The more frequently used funtions are controlled through the hot buttons.

I had I-Drive in a loaner. Didn't use it much but I didn't freak, and I am The Challenged One.

Wecome back. :)

Good to hear..I dont even think it was the difficulty of using it that p'ed me off..I mean I thought I would just turn off Radio 1 while fiddling around, and it was like pulling teeth! Im OK with having to use it for Nav function, etc, but to change the station? Shouldnt I have full access to that by the steering wheel? And to go from 68 to 80 degrees I actually have to go into it, program, etc...I just think they should have supplemented it with "regular" controls as well...I should think however that these wont be very big issues after owning the thing for a few weeks...Thanks for your insight!

Missed you too!

What all this boils down to it seems, is that I use these functions way more than most people. I can go from 60 to 75 to 68 degrees on the way to the corner store. Radio stations are the same way. Ive never even used Navi, so not sure how that would go, although, Im sure wont use it THAT much. Maybe. I guess i just dont like HAVING to use the system to get into these functions.

i understand that it is overwhelming to you. If you sit down with an iDrive expert for an hour, and go over everything, I promise you won't think it's that bad. There's always voice control, which will recognize "FM Presets" etc,..and steering wheel controls, etc.It's not that bad.

You don't need to go anywhere near iDrive to change temperatures you just twiddle the knobs on the aircon unit.

to turn off radio 1 (highly recommended!) - push the volume control button :) ......actually what I have done is use the programmable buttons to store the radio stations I use most of the time (Radio 4 & Radio 5)

for me the learning curve was very short...I dont understand how a dealer can be confused- my god this is what he sells. Go to another dealer or request another salesman, he should be able to get you up to speed in less than 5 minutes. As mentioned most basic functions dont even need the IDrive like Temp control, radio presets, even nav presets can be programmed to a dash button, volume has two controls (steering wheel and dash), source control. etc.

Personally I love the IDrive- I really dont understand why people freak out...so much nicer than a dash cluttered with dozens of buttons and lights.

BTW- you also have voice commands for everything, although I rarely use those.