[bandersen]

Been driving a new ID while mine has been in the shop the past 8 days (sunroof leak)…60 miles a day round trip.
Still hate the ‘new’ IDrive after over a week. Crap. Like the old controller, like the old buttons, don’t like a screen full of fingerprints.

But I doubt BMW will go back and add buttons.

[chicagofan00]

I thought I’d miss some of the buttons but have zero complaints with iDrive 8.5 and the less buttons. 🤷🏻‍♂️

BMW seems to be leaning heavily into the less is more camp with regards to the buttons currently and in their upcoming models so I doubt will see a return of much in the next gen X5.

[aaaaaaaaaz]

Btw I see there are aftermarket buttons for Tesla. Not sure if there is anything similar for bimmers

[Cityman]

Not a chance. If anything, they’ll be even fewer buttons. Eventually they’ll just have a big touch screen and voice controls only.

[mnx5er]

With the X3 soon going to the buttonless dark side, I cannot see BMW putting them back since they seem committed to the same interior style in all models.

I really dislike not having some buttons since I like to focus on the road and not poking at a screen trying to hit icons. Just give me heated seats, steering wheel, and climate buttons and I would be happy.

In frozen Minnesota, touch screens are a pain.

I'm not holding my breath that BMW will ever go back.

[FastMarkA]

I don't miss the buttons. I miss the intuitive actions the buttons enabled.

This can be accomplished through a screen interface, it's just that BMW software development is rigid and incompetent.

[aaaaaaaaaz]

Originally Posted by FastMarkA

I don't miss the buttons. I miss the intuitive actions the buttons enabled.

This can be accomplished through a screen interface, it's just that BMW software development is rigid and incompetent.

Compared to other automakers, I actually consider bmw’s touch interface be some of the best in the industry. However, it still have a long way to go.

[six]

Not not only will there be no buttons I’ve read that the forthcoming next gen will remove the iDrive controller too. While I don’t mind the LCI approach as it is now I’d really hate if I didn’t have the controller. I think this will be a red line for me next time around. If all buttons AND the iDrive controller are gone I’m done with BMW and will look elsewhere.

[Heavyd]

Originally Posted by six

Not not only will there be no buttons I’ve read that the forthcoming next gen will remove the iDrive controller too. While I don’t mind the LCI approach as it is now I’d really hate if I didn’t have the controller. I think this will be a red line for me next time around. If all buttons AND the iDrive controller are gone I’m done with BMW and will look elsewhere.

50e is at the dealer for a software update. I got a BMW 2 active tourer for the moment. Besides that is a hideous car it has no idrive controller anymore. This sucks big time.

[Rob_G77]

Originally Posted by FastMarkA

I don't miss the buttons. I miss the intuitive actions the buttons enabled.

This can be accomplished through a screen interface, it's just that BMW software development is rigid and incompetent.

This! The ID8.x interface was, and still is a mess with multiple design oversights leading to more frustration than ease of use.

Rob

[BMPHIL]

Originally Posted by aaaaaaaaaz

No, those are for critical controls such as turning signals (can’t imagine anyone put that on screen) and wipers.

It would be hard to argue AC, music, etc are “critical control” in front of the big G

Anything that can distract the driver can be classed as a "critical control", it's already started:
"A number of car manufacturers currently don’t offer cars with physical controls for frequently-used functions like wipers and indicators. For example, although the Tesla Model 3 currently has a full five-star safety rating, it comes with a ‘stalkless’ design with buttons on the steering wheel for the indicators and wipers. Under the new guidance from Euro NCAP, future cars with this layout may be punished with a lower safety score."

[AP]

Euroncap have stated they want to see physical buttons back on cars for certain important features from 2025 and will mark down a car that doesn’t have them .
So hopefully some progress on this matter which is long overdue in my opinion
Difficult for manufacture to retrofit an existing model but anything new will need to adhere if they want to get a top score going forward

https://afma.org.au/euro-ncap-ancap-...ehicle-safety/

[MADBMWX5MC]

Originally Posted by Kgerry59

I'm not a fan of the LCI look and was glad to get an order in in Feb 2023 for a '23 model.

That was my thought exactly when I decided to hunt for a low mileage one.

[Jcit]

I upgraded to 2024 50e from 2019 45i and I love the clean look of iDrive 8.5 vs 20 buttons I rarely used. I do not miss the physical buttons and almost every function is easy to reach with 1-2 clicks so I find iDrive 8.5 very convenient. The ONLY physical button I really miss is the ability to adjust the ACC distance control from the steering wheel. That feature is buried about 7 layers down in iDrive.

[Keng163]

The tallest midget. Everyone is trying to copy Tesla - there is still a need for a few basic buttons.

[Keng163]

You hit the right button needed. I looked at a new Cayenne and Porsche has added a few buttons on console in front of the cup holders. A nice compromise. Difference between and engineering driven company and a marketing driven company.

[mscot]

Originally Posted by Keng163

You hit the right button needed. I looked at a new Cayenne and Porsche has added a few buttons on console in front of the cup holders. A nice compromise. Difference between and engineering driven company and a marketing driven company.

Enjoy your new Cayenne.

[dwwStL]

I'd put the odds of going back to the previous dash buttons is as close to zero as one can get without actually being zero. The move to all electronics is industry wide and not unique to BMW.

But you asked about "a few" buttons, and that is hard to say depending on what a few buttons are. It's always possible they might decide to add a button or two, but I can't imagine it would be anything significant. as others have noted, I quickly adapted and don't mind the new interface. This is the future in the industry, whether some of us like it or not.

I was going to use the Cybertruck as an example, but decided that would just be trolling.

[mscot]

We should keep in mind that the intelligence of voice recognition is only going to improve. Cars will eventually incorporate machine learning to understand driver preferences in all situations and automatically adapt to it.
It's inevitable and should be appreciated in a luxury vehicle. (As long as it works!)
I can understand the desire to have less (or none) of that in a sports car, especially a track car, but the X5 ain't that.

In the current state, I do wish there were a few HVAC controls that I dont have to navigate to.
An easy solution in the current configuration would be to add HVAC as a widget on the Home Screen. That alone would reduce the need for buttons. Especially if we were allowed to configure which widgets show on the screen rather than selecting from a preset menu of widget combos.

[hotvee]

I don't expect BMW to bring back buttons in the next generation. But anyway there will no longer be a V8 engine (except in the X5M version), so I’m not waiting and not considering it. Although I’m glad that not everyone follows BMW’s approach - for example, G class (which was recently updated) and Cayenne retained physical AC buttons. Even in Audi this is done better in my opinion - a separate screen with one-click access to all functions that you don’t have to reach for (I’m tall and sit quite far from the screen). Right now I’m on vacation and driving a 2024 430 - and once again I’m convinced that I don’t like the iDrive 8 and the new BMW interior in general. This big curved screen is so poorly designed and integrated that it looks like it came from another car.

[WTGBMW]

I don't miss the buttons at all. Almost anything that you want to do can be controlled by voice commands.

[dwwStL]

Originally Posted by WTGBMW

I don't miss the buttons at all. Almost anything that you want to do can be controlled by voice commands.

Which is one of the reasons why manufacturers are moving to all electronic controls.

There is a popular belief that the move to electronic controls is just manufacturing cost savings, but it's much more complicated.