Xoutpost.com - E53 to E70, thoughts after a week

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rh71

idrive is 2nd nature to me by now while on the move. As long as you know where the Menu button (by the thumb) is, you're golden. Think of it as a home key - then you get to whereever you want to go - I always swap between the nav and entertainment. I think it's very quick though initially it took some getting used to, especially the nav sub-menus... about an hour to figure the whole thing out but it's easy now.

You may have already figured this out, but I thought I would throw it out anyway. I have used the idrive for a long time on my 525i, and I love it. There is one shortcut that took me awhile to find but it has turned out to be invaluble. When in any menu, if you push the controller towards the area you want to go to and hold it for about 2 seconds, it will take you to the last screen you were on in that area without having to go to the main menu button and renavigating down to the level you want. For instance, if I am in the radio sceen and I want to go to the vent menu to change the air to the top vents, I simply hold the idrive controller to the left until the screen changes to the vent screen. I set the vent level I want, then I hold the controller back until the screen changes back to the radio screen. It always goes back to the same screen I was in when I changed it.

As I said, all of you may have already figured this out and it just took me awhile because I may be slow:dunno: . Anyway, I am looking forward to having the idrive system on my new X5, as I enjoy it on my 525i and miss it on my current X5.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 70Sixter

Hate iDrive. Am told it has improved but it takes two (one to drive, one to iDrive) of us to operate it on the move.

You just need to spend some time getting comfortable with it. I have no problems keeping my eyes on the road and operating the idrive at the same time (w/o a second person :))

A few hints that will make idriving much easier;
1. L-R-U-D (thats Left, Right, Up, Down) Simply hold the large knob in one direction for a few seconds and it will take you directly to CLIMATE, NAV, MUSIC, and PHONE.

2. In most cases the menu button will serve as a BACK button.

3. If you leave the MAPS screen up before selecting one the the other 3 directions, you will go right back to the map when you hold the controller RIGHT.

there are several other things I cant recall, but are now second nature. I really prefer the iDrive over my Lexus touch screen which is really a hazard.

Love the fuel usage gauge. Becuase it tells me in real-time how my driving style has an immediate effect on the fuel consumption, and I drive accordingly for optimum fuel economy.

thanks for the tip about holding the directional a couple seconds... I'll have to check that out. Sounds like a great shortcut to me. ;)

Love the shortcut as well... never knew it was there.. I too will try it.

Hi Scott. Interesting comments. I'm sure when I left my 4.8is for the E70 (the missus' car) and posted similar observations some people here were surprised to see it rated so well against the 'sport' version.

It really is a very good drive......

Cheers

John