BMW Doesn’t Want You To Use The iDrive Knob Anymore

It seems like only yesterday that BMW launched iDrive 8, but iDrive 8.5 and 9 are already on their way. BMW hasn’t gone into much detail about these two next-generation operating systems, but they’ll arrive as soon as this year and feature the promises every manufacturer makes about improved connectivity and flat interface design. However, buried deep in the press release are two paragraphs that suggest BMW is philosophically moving away from a part of its iDrive infotainment system that dates back to the Chris Bangle days – the rotary control knob.

Here’s what BMW had to say.

From Bayrische Motoren Werke:

When the BMW iDrive system was first launched in 2001 with the new BMW 7 Series, its main purpose was to use one display and one interactive element for as many functions as possible in order to cut down on the number of buttons, controls and displays. The BMW iDrive Controller therefore acquired the status of universal control device as we knew it from a computer mouse. Scrolling and clicking on a desktop became turning, pushing and pressing in a car – intuitively and with minimal distraction from the road ahead.

After about 20 years, the digital user experience is dominated by touchpads, touch-sensitive smartphone displays and voice assistants. Swiping, tapping and speaking are the most common methods of interaction. The BMW Curved Display’s touchscreen functionality and dialogue using natural language represent the contemporary form of interaction between human and car.

Translated into normal-person speak, BMW sees the iDrive rotary controller as legacy tech. The new X1 doesn’t have an iDrive knob at all, and BMW’s current iDrive 8 is set up more for touchscreen use than remote use. While iDrive has always been a contentious bit of tech, the move towards touchscreens feels disappointing, especially if you’re used to both methods of control. So how did we get here? Well, let’s take a look back at the history of iDrive — which was in some ways revolutionary — to see how this all came about.

iDrive Was Revolutionary Infotainment Tech

Back around the turn of the millennium, infotainment in cars wasn’t a mainstream thing. Sure, a couple geeks threw CarPCs into their rides, but as far as cabin tech goes, things were largely limited to GPS navigation systems that could display route guidance, pull data from CD changers, tune into the radio, and play cassettes. That’s it. The concept of settings in cars was relatively foreign and although some manufacturers like BMW let you pull up information like fuel economy on navigation displays, these GPS systems had very limited integration with the rest of the car. That all changed with iDrive. Suddenly, E65 BMW 7-Series owners could fine-tune HVAC distribution, call contacts, play DVDs, adjust vehicle settings, and use GPS all from the same screen using a rotary knob. It was intimidating as hell, but amazing tech for 2002.

When I was on the hunt for my 3-Series, one of my main requirements aside from drivetrain and mechanical condition was for it to be a single-hump car. Although the CCC version (a common name for it) of iDrive found in earlier E90 3-Series models was improved on the hardware side over the system found in the 2002 745i, it still had its issues. Not only are components failure-prone, the menu structure is rather clunky and there’s something timeless about not having a color screen in the dashboard. However, BMW learned as it continued to develop iDrive, and the third generation of iDrive (often referred to as CIC) was a marked improvement.

Instead of a four-quadrant main menu, CIC adopted a top-level vertical list that was easy to scroll through and offered many functions at first glance. What’s more, the new QNX-based UI looked so much fresher than on the outgoing model, with just the right amount of skeuomorphism. Suddenly, iDrive became friendly, convenient, and easy to master. What’s more, CIC came with massive hardware upgrades. Maps were now pulled from a hard drive, the screen was heaps crisper with higher resolution, and the controller featured hard shortcut buttons for multimedia functions. It was a thorough revamp that made iDrive a pleasure to use.

Things got even better in 2012, with what BMW officially called Next Big Thing or NBT for short. The fourth generation of iDrive gained a great deal of new hardware and revised software. Everything was faster and crisper, a transition to a red colorway aided night vision, and maps went 3D. The future for iDrive was looking clear and bright until it all turned a little bit murky.

Then the big changes came…

The next version, iDrive 5, brought a touchscreen and a tile-based main to the table. It was somewhat charmingly 3D, not having succumbed to flat design, but it marked the start of a big change. Granted, iDrive 5 understood its purpose. Every major tile was top-level and there was no need to swipe across multiple home screens. What’s more, submenus were very similar to what you’d see in NBT, with vertical lists that were easy to scroll through for media sources, phone connectivity, and vehicle settings.

If iDrive 5 dipped a toe into tile-style interfaces, iDrive 6 jumped in the pool. Now every category of functionality had a widget and not all of them fit on the same screen. You’d have to scroll across pages like on a phone to see all the various functions. It doesn’t take a genius to think that not having all key functions at one quick glance is a step backward, and iDrive 6 just felt a bit harder to use than iDrive 5. Sure, the new fonts and crisper element design did look more modern than what you’d get on iDrive 5, but usability trumps attractiveness.

Next up, iDrive 7, which was really the start of BMW focusing on touchscreens over rotary control. Not only did it have multiple home screens with tiles spread across all three, the tiles weren’t even laid out in a straight line. As a result, the top menus weren’t intuitive to scroll through, but BMW did make one tiny concession to intuitive use with a little sidebar for key functions. Unfortunately, because it was tiny, it had a steeper learning curve than the main menus in many prior generations of iDrive.

Still, even though iDrive 7 was less intuitive than CIC, NBT, or iDrive 5, it had its perks. Part of the beauty of rotary knob-focused iDrive systems was that they forced BMW to implement hard controls for functions like climate control and heated seats. Models as recently as the 2022 3-Series had a wide array of hard keys, including a handy bank of programmable presets. Unfortunately, iDrive 8 happened.

With the current iDrive 8, most of those key climate functions (including heated seat activation) are now buried in an infotainment submenu that’s sluggish, cumbersome, and difficult to navigate even on flagship models like the X7. What’s more, not all key functions can be found in the sidebar. The virtual icon for car settings has been banished to widgets or the app drawer, and trying to use the touchscreen results in a surprising amount of lag.

The Future

So here we are, iDrive 8.5 and iDrive 9. There’s a full embrace of touchscreens and smartphone aesthetics. Not only is BMW going with a vertical widget stack on the driver’s side of the touchscreen, it’s also throwing small square icons on the home screen, a combination that seems at odds with rotary controller friendliness. On the plus side, BMW claims it’s going back to a “zero-layer approach” which should allow drivers to access all manner of functions from a single home screen. On the minus side, not a single mention of the traditional iDrive controller can be found in the press release when BMW talks about using the new systems.

The iDrive controller as we know it certainly had a rocky start, but it eventually achieved its goal. It was ergonomically brilliant, as its location in the console meant drivers didn’t have to lean forward to prod a screen. It kept grubby fingerprints off a shiny surface, encouraged the use of hard controls, and operated with sublime tactility. Every click, press, and jog had satisfying resistance that felt fitting for a premium vehicle. As much as we’re used to touchscreens on mobile devices, humans like mechanical interfaces. While it’s too soon to say for sure that the iDrive controller is dead, I’ll strangely miss it if it goes. There’s something sad about the prospect of losing a familiar frenemy. Plus, although rotary controls aren’t perfect, BMW’s pivot toward touchscreens looks clunkier than what we’ve seen with knob-focused interfaces. Funny, that.

(Photo credits: BMW)

Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.

• I Bought A High-Mileage Electric Car With A Bad Battery. Here’s Why That Was Actually A Stroke of Genius

• Chris Bangle And His Obsession With Big Automotive Butts Made For BMW’s Best Designs

• Why My Only Car Is A ‘Boring’ High-Mileage BMW 325i

• The Bonkers 2023 BMW 7-Series Is A Luxury Beast With An Absurd 31.3-Inch TV Screen

• The 2022 BMW i4 M50 Is A Faster, Electric M3

Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.