Meet the latest generation of iDrive. Every new BMW presented from the end of this year will receive it. BMW calls it a ‘holistic system with modern styling’. But it is much more than just a woolly description. The latest iDrive concept includes something the Germans call ‘BMW Panoramic Vision’. This is actually a head-up display that projects its information on a thin black strip at the bottom of the windshield between the A-pillars. The information is not only visible to the driver, but to all occupants. In fact, this replaces the digital or non-digital instruments behind the steering wheel. The speed, the status of the battery pack and information about the climate control can be read on it. The display in the middle and directly in front of the passenger is adjustable. It doesn’t stop at a head-up display. The latest iDrive also includes what the manufacturer calls the ‘BMW 3D Head-Up Display’. This is a head-up display with 3D effect that appears right in front of the driver’s nose. Here you will find information about the route to be driven, but also about, for example, the autonomous driving mode of the car. This part of the new iDrive system is optional, but Panoramic Drive will soon be standard. BMW In addition, the new iDrive again includes a traditional screen in the center console. It has new menu structures and can be operated via touch, among other things. According to BMW, certain content – such as widgets – can easily be swiped to the Panoramic Vision Head-up display at the bottom of the windshield. Nice and easy. The steering wheel is also new. That is littered with touch-sensitive buttons that provide haptic feedback. Functions related to driving and safety systems can be controlled with buttons on the left side of the steering wheel. The audio system can be operated using buttons on the right of the steering wheel. On the steering column you will find stems that you use to control the lights and windshield wipers, among other things. The latest iDrive system runs on an operating system called BMW Operating System then press a microphone on the steering wheel. As mentioned, BMW Panoramic iDrive will be standard on all new BMWs that will see the light of day from 2025 onwards. The manufacturer explicitly mentions the models of the Neue Klasse, and that is no coincidence. In the Vision Neue Class – the preview of the first electric sedan of that model family – BMW already showed a conceptual version of the new iDrive system.
Source: www.autoweek.nl
