I think Nav vs. No Nav also affects boot time/system speed.

(OK, nevermind, mtech beat me to it!)

A paired phone on Bluetooth also has an impact. I had a 1 Series loaner a week or two ago, and it had the new iDrive, and the speed was absolutely lightning, and much easier to use. Crossing my fingers that an "inexpensive" retrofit is possible.

There are absolutely no excuses for BMW to put such a lousy system in a model 07 car when my boss's 04 vintage Lexus LS450's camera comes on instantly. Now maybe our resident retrofit expert Funf Dreisig will come up with an innovative solution ;)

Yeah. BMW really should have put in a better system. But in their defense, Mercedes ML still uses the old button style system, no new controller like the rest of their model line up.