And the voice assistant stumbles over some simple commands unless they’re phrased in a specific way. The loss of physical heating and ventilation controls, including those for the heated seats, is a backwards step. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are supported, as is increasingly normal, but here they’re integrated in the best way we’ve ever seen – with maps viewable on the instrument panel as if they were part of BMW’s own software. You’ll be able to pay for parking or charging directly from the map, and over-the-air updates ensure you’ll always have the latest version. The factory sat-nav will learn your habits, anticipating the destination you’re heading to based on past behaviour – this works surprisingly well. Information is presented via pin-sharp screens, albeit with an excess of polygons. There’s a vertical menu system that makes as much sense on a touchscreen as it does on a scroll wheel. Whether you’re familiar with previous BMW systems or it’s all new to you, you won’t take long to get up to speed, as it’s so intuitively arranged. However you navigate it, OS 8 is easy to find your way around. But it’s our old friend the iDrive scroll wheel that’s the most welcome carry-over from the previous system, great for making adjustments on the move without taking your eyes off the road.
Gesture control remains an option best ignored.
You can go via the touchscreen, which feels the most natural for some interactions. You get to choose from four different ways of controlling various functions.
No full-width hyperscreens here – what you get is a 12.3-inch instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch central infotainment display, seamlessly joined to look like one ultra-wide screen. The first cars to be fitted with it are the electric iX and i4, and the 2-series Active Tourer.Īs flagship infotainment systems go, it’s discreet. Underpinning the latest evolution of iDrive is BMW’s Operating System 8 – a new generation of processors, software, displays and controls.
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