The 2007 3.0d se i had on demo had this feature and i think its madness that they removed it! like a previous poster said, it really makes a differance in keeping your eyes on the road.....

Talk about moving backwards they will remove the follow me home lights next without telling anyone!!! :confused:

I really hope my 08 comes with this feature, it makes the idrive feel quality and gives it that interactive feel....if you know what i mean :rolleyes:

mmmm...haptick....

So what's the best way to let BMW that we want this "haptick technology" as an option? It seems like it could just be done through a software upgrade.

FYI. I tried sending an email through BMW Owner's Circle to Customer Service with a minor issue that I had. They took two days to respond and their response was WORTHLESS! Apart from their weak response, they referred me back to my "authorized BMW center" if I needed more info. My dealer did NOT have the info; that's why I thought I would try BMW NA!

I just had my software updated yesterday to fix my '07 X5 that had the steering wheel return issue. I was worried that force feedback would go away with the new version. It did not. My X5 was maufactured in April

I must say the new software is so much better. Better graphics. NAV graphics better and the side by side camera/PDC is very nice. Much faster at startup.

Sorry, to post again on this but what's the best way to let BMW know that we want this haptick option?

well when i had a problem with a delay on parts (1.5 months) when ive only had the car for 1 month, i called BMWNA directly and it allowed
me to talk to a representative. Maybe u should try giving them a ring.
Everytime when i e-mail a complaint i feel as if its not getting the right attention. ill end up wondering when the person is going to get back to me if he or she actually intend on it.

There is good and bad with this feature. I, too, like the fact that it lets one know when the end of a menu has been reached. But the implementation isn't successful everywhere.

This "feedback" mechanism is a pain in the butt when looking at traffic incidents. It leads one to believe that, upon scrolling through incidents, the end is reached. The arrows on the screen, and indeed the traffic incidents, disagree. In fact, when reaching the end, continuing to rotate the knob (not twisting it all of the way) will cause it to fight the motion---but will also show the remaining incidents.

It is doubtful they removed this because people were breaking the mechanism. It's an electromagnetic reaction. It reminds me of trying to turn a small electric motor's shaft the opposite direction when electricity is applied.

The bug in the traffic is easy to fix. Instead of building the array of choices and then limiting the rotation based on the number of choices in the array, disable the feedback for that ONE feature. (The processing power for constantly re-managing the array would probably be a bit much for iDrive.)

Joel

It appears from the postings here that some 2007 X5s have the haptic "feature" and some do not, and that the presence (or absence) survives software upgrades. I recently had a chance to check with another X5 owner who took delivery not long after I did, and discovered that his vehicle not only didn't have the touch feedback, but he had never even heard about it.

That leads me to wonder if there may be more than one vendor for the iDrive controller mechanism. If so, which variant is in any particular X5 is pretty much "luck of the draw" depending on what parts hit the production line when that vehicle is being built, much the same as the diferent brands of tires show up on otherwise identical vehicles.

i don't think so. i haven't heard of one 2008 owner who 'does' have it....

2008? I was commenting about 2007s. As BL1 described in post #34,

So, BL1 has an '07 X5 built in April 2007 that does have this feature; I own an '07 X5 built in April 2007 that does not have this feature. I'm just trying to figure out why some other owners have it and some don't -- I never knew it existed before I read about it here.

As to the alternate vendor sources, that is clearly the case with some parts such as tires. When I toured the factory in May the guide stated that the warehouse space (2,500,000 square feet) contained only enough parts to keep the assembly line supplied for about 4 hours; they run two 10-hour shifts each day. Thus parts are constantly being delivered, inventoried, and sent to the line. My 4.8i with Sport Package and 19" wheels came with Michelins, but others here on the board with the same specs got Bridgestones. Same factory, same options ordered, different parts from different vendors. I was just speculating that the same might be true for other components.