Am I crazy? I love IDrive!
 

I have read all of the negative reviews from the automotive press for years about how horrible IDrive was. I was kind of concerned when I was buying this car about this issue. This is the primary reason that I waited for the 2010. I agree that the menu button is very helpful but I have never had an easier interface with Sirius and I have had 4 different cars with it. I love the split screen option. Scrolling through the contacts on my phone is also fantastic!

Let me know if this is the honeymoon period or maybe I am just crazy!

Well, you are apparently talking about the new version of iDrive, which most people consider vastly improved over the original. The bad automotive press was mainly on the original version, which I did not like either.


Here's Car and Driver's take on the the new iDrive:

"Furthermore, the 7-series’ most controversial piece of technology, iDrive, with its multifunctional central control knob that has been copied to varying degrees by Mercedes, Audi, and Honda, has been completely revamped and rethought. In fact, continuing to call it iDrive is almost an insult to the new system’s vastly improved menu structure and control strategy. There’s no more convoluted nudging of the iDrive knob in one of eight directions to choose a submenu; now you simply scroll through a straightforward list and click the knob to select it. Nudging the knob to the left always takes you back one menu. Also, there are a number of shortcut buttons around the knob’s periphery to ease the learning process, and the climate controls have been removed from iDrive’s clutches altogether and are now more easily operated by buttons and knobs on the dash.Has all of our complaining finally paid off? We’re cautiously optimistic that BMW understands that complexity does not necessarily equate with sophistication."

While I am sure that the new iDrive is better, I don't have any problems with the current one except for the slow start up times.

+1 Old iDrive isn't that bad. Just slow. But the new one is :thumbup:

The automotive press gets the car for a day, can't be bothered to learn the functions, and just says it's rubbish when it's not.

The old iDrive was fine for me.

Yeah!!! I couldn't agree more
I use the I Drive for 2 years now...
what is there to complain that much
unless you have lots of free time on your hand
its there , it does inform you
and unless you are too impatient to learn or adapt....it will serve you nicely

could it have been done differently, better, in retrospect , YES
like evrything else

No problems with 2009 iDrive, over the years, read negative upon negative review of iDrive. Enough to scare one away, but all in all, I have found the functions within iDrive to be easy to use and intuitive.

In day to day driving, the most I use it for is audio controls, telephone, and once in a while Navigation. Between the programmable steering wheel buttons and iDrive control knob/wheel, I don't have any problems. As far as climate adjustments, I'm not riding down the road trying to change how much air comes out what vent, etc., besides, there are dash buttons for that anyways.

The previous generations iDrive probably does have functions that aren't necessary, or could be easier to access (perhaps addressed in current iDrive, haven't worked with it yet).

Yeah, I've never used the old iDrive. But, the new iDrive is awesome and very easy to use.

They seem to have taken those away on the 2010 model for some reason. A bit disappointed, as it would have been handy.