I love, love, love the BMW M3's screen. It's wide, it refreshes quickly, it's easy to read, and BMW have figured out a way of dealing with polarized sunglasses without needing to cock your head like the RCA dog. What's more is that the screen remains (largely) immune to reflected, direct sunlight so it doesn't wash out. Finally, the method of showing traffic flow on the new iDrive is better than any other in the business. If you ask it show traffic conditions, the map goes all shades of gray except for the color-keyed traffic flow. Cue Guinness commercial with guy belting out, "Brilliant!"
Now, all those attributes would be great if the traffic info (streamed from satellite sources) were up-to-date. Alas, good technology, even tech that's less than a year old, is only as good as the information it digests and displays.
Okay, that was lame, so here are two more shots a few minutes later but up real close... Notice all the red bits on my Blackberry that don't show up on the BMW?
I know, I know. I should be happy, overjoyed even to be driving an M3 home. You'd be justified in saying, "Wah, the real-time traffic in my (borrowed) $67,000 414-hp RWD BMW M-freakin'-3 isn't telling me the whole truth."
To which I would say, "Yeah, the M3 RULES in every other way a car can--I'm extremely fortunate--but I'm just sayin'"
Chief Road Test Editor, Chris Walton @ 13,650 miles
bimmerjay says:
12:01 PM, 12/18/09
1) Yes, the new iDrive rocks. The graphics are gorgeous and I love how the whole huge screen can display the map now (versus the split screen before). The 3D topographic and building functions are cool too. And it's very easy to use, and the voice commands work extremely well.
2) The screen is very high res and the integrated light sensors with active dimming and recessed, shielded design all mean that the screen remains highly visible in virtually all lighting conditions. I have a convertible and even with that kind of direct, unfiltered sunload the screen STILL doesn't wash out.
3) RTT is still a technology in its infancy. One thing to remember is that the color scale of Google Maps traffic vs. iDrive RTT is different - so red on one screen might be yellow on another. They aren't directly comparable. Either way, the frequency of reporting and accuracy of source data are key drivers in providing good information, and that technology is still developing. It's better than it has ever been, but there is certainly still room for improvements.
bimmerjay says:
01:09 PM, 12/18/09
"Now, all those attributes would be great if the traffic info (streamed from satellite sources) were up-to-date."
Just noticed this. In BMWs the traffic info is not streamed via satellite. It is via a terrestrial radio station broadcast by Clear Channel. The car is programmed to know where to get it from anywhere in the U.S. in any city where the data is available. It's free for the life of the vehicle, unlike satellite where you have to subscribe to the service.
cwalton1 says:
01:32 PM, 12/18/09
Thanks, binnerjay, for this..."In BMWs the traffic info is not streamed via satellite. It is via a terrestrial radio station broadcast by Clear Channel."
I learn't sumpin' today.
~Chris
e34bmwlover says:
09:36 AM, 12/20/09
cwalton: +1, I learned "sumpin'" too. Ooh wait, it's rhymes with a dirty word LOL
IMO real time traffic is just one of those useless features that most people can live without. I'm sure it could be useful to people who travel a lot or has a long commute, but I think sometimes you just want to turn all the electronic rubbish off and just relax while ripping few gears.
I'll add real time traffic to all the other features that I can live without. Automatic climate control, automatic wipers, automatic headlamps, satNaV, on board diagnostics, check control system, automatic transmissions and so on. They're nice to have, but their margianal benefits doesn't outweigh lifetime running cost and complexity associated with them.
-That's why I hate hybrids, so screw them, they're owned mostly by people who care about gas prices, not environmental pollutions.
-Diesels-bring more to US. I suspect market and manufacturers come to their senses and bring oil burners to the states, just like what fruit company did with their IPods/ IPhones
-Gas burners- I'm a petrolhead reading insideline, enough said.
bimmerjay says:
10:57 AM, 12/21/09
@e34bmwlover,
"IMO real time traffic is just one of those useless features that most people can live without. I'm sure it could be useful to people who travel a lot or has a long commute, but I think sometimes you just want to turn all the electronic rubbish off and just relax while ripping few gears.
I'll add real time traffic to all the other features that I can live without."
I don't travel a lot in my car but I live in the SF Bay Area, and RTT has saved my butt a LOT of time. The crowning achievement was when it got me to Thanksgiving dinner an hour ahead of people who were following me but stayed on the freeways. Another time it directed me off a freeway that had just been closed due to an accident ahead (right before I even hit the backup). Sure I didn't NEED it, but it was awfully nice not sitting on a closed freeway for 2 hours like those other poor saps.