BMW was one of the first major car companies to start sticking big, colour screens into its cars (starting with the always-controversial E65 7 Series of 2001) and since then, its iDrive infotainment system has almost always been one of the best in the business. Now, BMW is launching the eighth generation of iDrive, which is now technically known as BMW Operating System 8, and it will make its debut in the dashboards of the upcoming iX electric SUV, and the i4 electric four-door coupe.
More voice interaction
BMW says that iDrive 8 will be able to: "adjust to the driver's individual needs and routines, as well as the situation at hand" and will be: "a central operating channel of human-machine interaction." Apparently, the big idea for iDrive 8 is to move beyond the traditional twist-and-click rotary controller and move more and more into direct speech control, with you being able to chat to your BMW's dashboard and interact with it using natural language, rather than pre-set commands (right - everyone go and click on the Ozzy Osbourne 7 Series YouTube clip NOW to see where this is going...).
iDrive 8 will use a vast, curving conjoined instrument panel and infotainment screen, and BMW says that it will use "Great Entrance Moments" and a "choreographed routine" to welcome the driver on board each time. Apparently, this brings: "emotionality to the relationship between driver and vehicle." Those entrance moments are enabled by a wide-band radio receiver, which can work out precisely where you are, as long as you have the car's key in your pocket. Once it knows you're near, says BMW, iDrive 8: "Starts to wake up and indicates this with a gradually intensifying, dynamic lighting effect using the exterior lights. A soft, subdued light comes on in the cabin. The vehicle shows the customer the way to the entrance area, which is lit up by a light carpet in the vicinity of the driver's door featuring geometric forms inspired by the elements of the graphical user interface. At the same time, the door handles and boot lid handle are illuminated to make it easier for the customer to take hold of them."
Once you're within a metre-and-a-half, whether you're carrying the car's key or have a digital BMW key on your phone, the car will unlock, and as you open the door there will be an animated greeting played on the big screens.
Needless to say, the system uses over-the-air software updates to keep itself up to date, but it can also dip into the 'cloud' and access info from other BMW vehicles to help it learn better what its driver wants and needs. Not sure about the privacy issues that go with that, but OK...
Minimailist design
According to BMW, iDrive 8 uses: "clear, minimalist design in both the exterior and interior of the car, which is reprised by the pure, reduced design of the digital elements of BMW iDrive." As with the old E30 3 Series, the big curved display is angled slightly towards the driver, but no E30 had a radio as big as this whopper. The instrument panel is a 12.3-inch unit, while the central screen is a massive 14.9 inches across the diagonal.
While you might worry that such a massive set of screens would be needlessly distracting and confusing to use, BMW counters that by claiming that it's using the: "Act, Locate and Inform principle" which: "ensures information is distributed clearly and screen redundancy is avoided." BMW actually claims that a "pre-filtering" system ensures that only the most relevant information is displayed, and displayed in a way that can be easily and quickly absorbed by the driver.
The familiar iDrive controller click-wheel is retained, although it's now made from glass and with a gold bronze bezel, but BMW says that the number of other physical controls has been reduced by half. That kind of reduction in the button-count always makes us worried that the system will be needlessly fiddly and difficult to use, but BMW defends itself from such accusations, saying: "Control clusters for relevant and frequently used basic functions are retained where customers expect to find them."
Personal driving modes
There is, of course, a digital voice assistant in the dash, called the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, and you can, by voice, interact with it, and it will get to learn your daily routine and regular needs and wants. There's also a new BMW ID, in which you can store various personal preferences and easily transfer them from one BMW to another (presumably with an eye on vehicle sharing and leasing options).
There's also a new 'My Modes' setting, which allows you to customise and personalise different operating modes for the car, including Efficient, Sport and Personal Modes. According to BMW: "These parameters include the previous driving experience mode functions, such as drive system and transmission control, steering characteristics and chassis settings. The activated configuration is indicated by variations in the artwork specially developed for My Modes, the style and layout of the displays, and a change in the display colour, which adapts to the experience setting in the same way as the ambient lighting. Switching between My Modes produces acoustic changes, too, including adjustment of the engine or motor sound."
You might remember that a few years back, a group of carmakers, including BMW, got together to spend a massive amount of money buying mapping and navigation company HERE from Nokia. Well, that's going to pay off in iDrive 8, with a new BMW Maps function. Just like Google Maps and Apple Maps, BMW Maps will gradually learn your regular destinations, and will present them to you as options, rather than you having to regularly enter them (although if they're your regular destinations, you probably know how to get there, right?). The system will be able to direct you around traffic hold-ups, and if it's an electric car, will be able to guide you to charging points if you need to top-up the battery.
Sadly, according to BMW: "Control of the air conditioning system will be incorporated into the BMW Curved Display in future, as customers should seldom need to adjust any of the climate control settings" so excuse us while we go bang our heads against the table... BMW says that the changes you make to the climate control will be stored in your BMW ID and your Personal Mode, but that seems to ignore the fact that, just sometimes, you want to crank up the heat. There is a degree of intelligence to the system, though, such as it being able to increase air conditioning output if some of the cabin occupants are sitting in direct sunlight. Voice commands can also be used to communicate various requirements directly. Saying, "My feet are cold," for instance, will result in the temperature in the footwell being increased. (Yeah, but physical controls are still better and simpler and less distracting.)
We'll start to see iDrive 8 rolling out later this year.