My obsevations on the new I-drive in my 2009 e 92 M3

[gadget]

Now that I’ve had enough time to get acquainted with my car, I’d like to post some observations. I’ll try to stick to those that I’ve not seen others mention before.

The voice recognition system works very well. In addition to short commands such as Main Menu, Navigation, Radio etc. you can say thinks like
“Satellite Radio Channel 38” or “Enter Address” which will then ask you to speak the names of the City, Street etc. I was amazed how well it recognized the street names.

You can also tell it to “call John Doe” The cool part is that it works with the contacts on my i-phone contact list, no need to add it to the cars contact list. The only down side it that recognition goes down hill the more complex the name gets.

Another great feature is the hard drive- I already copied multiple CDs and even downloaded a few gigs of songs of the second USB port. ( In addition to the USB in the Armrest for the i-phone, there is a second USB slot in the glove box.)

Another cool feature is the 3D perspective mode in the Nav Map (Full screen) Is shows elevation changes / topography very well. Great when going for drives and you're looking for hills / curvy roads. In night mode it has much cooler colors (blue grays which happen to match my silver leather perfectly.)

The new i-drive controller is very easy to use.

The CD button doesn’t really take you to the CD- but rather to the last screen in the CD/DVD menu. This section includes the i-phone/ second USB port / Hard Drive (called Music collection) So if you are listening to you phone and then go to the map, a tap on the CD key brings you back to the iPhone screen. And rather than use buttons to switch to DVD or the Music collection, you can just say either of those things and it take you there. The same concepts applies to the Radio button which includes satellite and HD radio. The other two buttons Nav and telephone (as well as Menu, back and option) are very handy too.

My overall impressions of the car greatly exceed every expectation I had.


I got the car with every single option except CWP and PDC, (I did get the heated seats- did not want the windshield washers) and also no PDC- don’t need it, little circles look ugly IMHO- wanted to keep the outside as minimalist as possible.
The 19s with SSII look great. I was going to do a photo shoot (amateur) today but raining now so keep posted for pics.


I don’t really see a lag in my MDCT. Perhaps I have a new software version since its an 09.

The engine sound is surreal, and I’ve not even gone past 5.5K rpm.

[Blake]

Originally Posted by gadget

You can also tell it to “call John Doe” the neat thing on this one as that it is going of my i-phone contact list, no need to add it to the cars contact list. The only down side it that recognition goes down hill the more complex the name get.

you can also do that on MY 2008's as well. as for improving recognition, i've learned to adapt the way i say it to how the computer says it. when voice dialing something, try to think how a computer would say it, works every time.

[gadget]

Originally Posted by blakepilot

you can also do that on MY 2008's as well. as for improving recognition, i've learned to adapt the way i say it to how the computer says it. when voice dialing something, try to think how a computer would say it, works every time.

Thanks- I was not aware of how well it worked. My wife has it in her car and it sucks big time. You tell it to "dial number" and it says "now displaying fast food POI'

[Mr.AK]

Everyone i now is from Niger or Afghanistan so i guess the 08 idrive voice command is good for me!

[Deda]

good info,thanks.

[ersin]

Originally Posted by gadget

Thanks- I was not aware of how well it worked. My wife has it in her car and it sucks big time. You tell it to "dial number" and it says "now displaying fast food POI'

It assumes you want to call ahead and order a pizza.

Does anyone know if the new '09 iDrive manual is online anywhere?

[Zirenz2006]

I got to spend some time with the new iDrive at my dealers this past Friday. I always liked the old system and have had it in two cars but the new one is far better in every way IMHO