2008 BMW 135i: Cruise Paddle a Dying Breed?

I much prefer the stalk over steering wheel buttons. You have to look down to find the right button no matter how many times you use them. With a stalk, you know where the control is, simply push up (speed up), down, pull to cancel, resume is usualy the up and set is the down. Cant get simpler.

Subaru is doing the same. The cruise control stalk on my '06 WRX was so far superior (as in being intuitive!)to the steering wheel buttons now being used it's not funny.
'09
On my new WRX, after having it for several months, I still have to look to make sure I'm hitting the right button. It's definitely an inferior setup to what was used before.

The reason for the switch, so I've been told by someone who works for Subaru—and who also hates this new system), is that customers complained in droves about the previous stalk. I just find that hard to believe.

As a counterpoint, I much prefer the controls on the steering wheel. Perhaps, it depends on the implementation? On my vehicles, it's intuitive and I never have to look down. I can also keep my hands in the proper position on the steering wheel, while using the cruise control.

I can't see why someone would complain about either system. Unless you travel cross country a lot, how often do you really use it?

I can't remember the last time I used cruise on either of my cars.

I honestly liked the cruise better on my old Toyotas. The lever was on the right side of the wheel (and, being right handed, I found it easier to use). I must say I do really like the visual feedback on the BMW cruise. It's blinkenlights! However, I rarely use cruise control... :)

My car has an easy-to-use cruise on the steering wheel though I've had it on stalks in the past with no problem. Regarding frequency of usage, I use my cruise EVERY SINGLE TIME I'm driving on a road with a speed limit of 55 or over, which turns out to be nearly every time I drive.

My car (Chevy Malibu) has a really nice arrangement of switches on the steering wheel. Between the left-side spokes, the middle button is off/on (and stays on when you turn it on), the top button sets the speed and increases in 1 MPH increments, while the bottom button decreases the speed. Simple, and I never have to look at the buttons.

My truck (Chevy Colorado) has the old-style GM switch with the control on the turn-signal stalk. It's much more finicky to use, and I greatly prefer the Malibu's controls.

I agree with dilettante about using cruise. If I'm on the highway (every day), my cruise is on. It's the only way I can keep my right foot in check!

To correct my previous error - on the Malibu, the top button resumes a disengaged cruise and increases in 1 MPH increments, while the bottom button sets the speed and decreases in 1 MPH increments.

A well-designed cruise layout on the steering wheel works a lot better than the Edit function on this blog!

so any system not designed by BMW is counterintuitive? News to me. I think any BMW lover could figure out how to use my cruise within 30 seconds.

"so any system not designed by BMW is counterintuitive?"

Eh? Where did you read that?

"Eh? Where did you read that?"

Hang around a bit, you'll figure out what's going on...

I'm with brn on this one--I like the tactile steering wheel buttons. My old Ford Ranger did it great, except for the fact that the buttons weren't illuminated. I don't like fumbling for an extra stalk.

The worst I can recall was the "multifunction" stalk GM used back in the '70s-80s. Cruise, wipers, and turn signals all in one, counterintuitively operated, with labels so tiny nothing was legible at all.

To each our own, I guess.

I thought GM's multifunction stalk with cruise, wipers, washer, and turn signals was excellent for many years, and I never had any trouble selecting the function I wanted. Everything was at one's fingertips.

But once I got used to the cruise controls being on the steering wheel, I came to prefer that. Ford had a particularly easy to use design on some of their '90s cars, such as the MN12 Thunderbird that I had. The buttons were easily identifiable by touch. GM and Ford had the best and smoothest cruise controls for many years, with the 1 MPH incremental adjustment easy to use. So having only 5 MPH adjustments in the cruise control does seem like de-contenting to me.

And GM's intermittent wiper system had the widest range of delay times of any other car that I've owned. I guess that's obsolete now though, since there are now rain sensing wipers.

I like the cruise control system on my 323i. It's just four simple buttons on the steering wheel: an on/off button, a plus/minus rocker, and a resume button. With two quick button presses, you've got your cruise control set, and with one button you can get back up to the cruise control setting you've picked if you've had to brake. Seems pretty easy to me.

i miss the stalk from my eclipse. was so easy to use. the ones on the steering wheel aren't bad but they're just not that intuitive to use.

I've not used the BMW stalk before, but I like the VW one a lot. Its definitely weird at first, but overall I find its very easy to use. I don't mind the buttons on the wheel, and they've never really given me a trouble before, but I like the VW stalk better.

Yeah, the new 7 would be going back to old methods, as my E46 had them on the wheel. I preferred them on the wheel to the constantly grazing my knee stalk in my old E36 M3. I borrowed my friend's E36 M3 for a week recently when I was in between cars and don't know how I lived with that for so long all those years ago. I guess I was more tolerant in my mid-20s.

my cruise control is that good old toyota paddle between the steering wheel spokes. Continues to be and will probably be my favorite of all time. Why not use the paddle? I never liked the button operated cruise, too easy to do the wrong thing with it.

@rsholland

I agree 100%, I love the cruise control stalk on my WRX (okay, 9-2x). It's the perfect setup for in town driving to extra a few extra MPG between lights when the roads aren't busy.

I also love that is has a cancel button. Honda for some reason (at least in the late 90's, I don't know if they've changed their minds since then) doesn't put a cancel button on their cruise control. You either have to turn it off completely with the switch or hit the brake or clutch to do a temporary cancel.

Yeah, I really hate my cruise system (Audi A4). So, first you have to pull it toward you to make sure its on, not a big deal, but unless youre happy with little 1 mph increment increases, it gets annoying. Say you are going 70mph on the freeway and you want to increase to 75 or 80... if you pull up and hold the stalk, the trans will downshift two gears from sixth to fourth, which is not needed. It could simply apply steady throttle until you reach your desired speed. No need to downshift! Why am I taking time to complain about my cruise control that I only use about 5% of the time i'm driving??? Because I don't feel like doing any work today!! That's why!!

I have both BMW systems, steering wheel and stalk. I prefer steering wheel system by far. As a matter of fact, I think it is brilliant.

The stalk cruise control is right below the turn signal and I constantly bump into it when signaling a turn. I really hate it, actually. I think the japanese location at 4 o'clock is much better.

I vote for steering wheel buttons. The ones on my '96 Ford Contour SE that I used to own - that was the only car I've driven that got the cruise control interface right. All the control buttons on the steering wheel, and each button had a dedicated function. The buttons had tactile click feel/feedback, and they had raised bumps for some, and recessed holes for others, so you could feel for which button you wanted, almost like reading brail, and control it without taking your eyes off the road.

I know a lot of cars choose to put the radio controls on the wheel instead, and I never understood that feature. The radio controls don't need to be redundant, and it's easy enough to reach to the center console area to change it. Plus, where I drive, I change the cruise control far more often than I change the radio settings.