Auto Car Magazine: New BMW X5 in Depth

Saturday, January 5, 2008

New BMW X5 in Depth

Page 1: Short Version (I)
Page 2: Short Version (II)
Page 3: The Concept
Page 4: Driving Dynamics
Page 5: All Wheel Drive
Page 6: Power Units
Page 7: Automatic Transmission
Page 8: Exterior
Page 9: Interior
Page 10: Body & Safety
Page 11: The iDrive Control System
Page 12: Features and Equipment (I)
Page 13: Features and Equipment (II)
Page 14: Production
Page 15: Specifications

The iDrive Control System

Favourite functions activated at the touch of a button.
Touch-sensitive, freely programmable buttons.
Anti-dazzle and absolutely brilliant: the new Control Display.

The iDrive control system now featured as standard in the new BMW X5 offers a significant improvement of both comfort and safety. Now optimised to an even higher standard, BMW iDrive facilitates the control and operation of various functions such as Air Conditioning, Navigation, Entertainment, and Communication and excels in particular through its intuitive control.

To make the settings desired, all the driver has to do is operate the iDrive Controller on the centre console, the optimum ergonomic position and touch feedback provided by the Controller enabling the driver to mastermind all the functions required without even looking down, especially since the functions and settings chosen are presented in high resolution and colour on the central Control Display.

Introducing the new iDrive system, BMW offers a supreme standard of convenience in use and ergonomics, perfectly combining simple handling with all-round functionality. And through the clear arrangement of various functions, iDrive is an important companion for the driver.

An innovation featured for the first time with iDrive on the new BMW X5 is the introduction of eight freely programmable favourite buttons beneath the CD drive unit, helping to make operation of the system even faster and easier. With these buttons, the driver is able to save functions frequently used – such as his favourite radio station, telephone numbers often dialled or frequent navigation destinations – simply by setting the appropriate buttons in advance. This also allows direct selection and retrieval of entertainment sources such as radio stations or CDs, enabling the driver to skip several steps in the operation process and access the function desired even more quickly.

Simply control for extra comfort.

The new favourite buttons allow individual settings according to the driver’s and passengers’ personal wishes, thus providing rapid access to favourite functions while driving. Operation of the favourite buttons is very easy: All the user has to do to save a certain function is press the button somewhat longer than usual, then briefly pressing the button once again to retrieve the function desired. A further advantage is that the buttons are touch sensitive, meaning that the user merely has to touch a button in order to see in the preview which setting he is retrieving before the function as such is activated.

Considering the growing number of functions in a modern car, BMW iDrive avoids the need for an exaggerated number of switches and buttons, while nevertheless maintaining access the conventional way to functions used particularly often. Separate buttons and controls outside of the iDrive control unit are therefore still provided for the interior temperature, rear window heating, or volume control on the audio system, just as air distribution may now also be adjusted directly by a button on the air conditioning unit.
And the eight freely programmable favourite buttons now allow the driver to select further functions for direct access according to his own preferences.

Control Display optimised to an even higher standard.

The outstanding ergonomic qualities of BMW iDrive are further enhanced by the new 6.5-inch colour display specially developed for the new BMW X5. Compared with the former model, the ultra-modern monitor in the new BMW X5 is positioned higher up in the middle of the dashboard on the same level as the speedometer and rev counter, ensuring even better and clearer visibility. The big advantage is that the driver, when looking at the Display, automatically keeps his eyes on the road and the traffic around him, with any distraction being reduced to a minimum.

Graphic presentation on the Display has also been improved to an even higher standard, the colours and typography of the Display being perfectly matched to all kinds of surrounding conditions for optimum readability and contrasts.

The surface of this ultra-modern Display comes in transflective technology reflecting the incoming daylight which makes presentation on a conventional display hard to read. This passive reflection on the Control Display taking the daylight effect into account even serves to make the general quality of presentation more brilliant and distinct. And in poor light or in the dark, background illumination from inside also ensures very good clarity and readability.

Yet a further improvement on the new Control Display is a separate heating function quickly warming up the entire unit to its optimum operating temperature in extremely cold weather.

Maximum resolution is 640 x 240 pixels, colour resolution is 16bit. And as an option the Control Display is also available in 8.8-inch format in conjunction with the BMW Professional navigation system or with a TV receiver.

BMW iDrive – s story of success.

Following its introduction five years ago, the innovative BMW iDrive control concept has become an outstanding feature in automotive technology, paving the way for an entirely new generation of control systems now also used by other manufacturers in their vehicles. But to this day BMW iDrive remains the only control concept offering a perfect balance of easy operation and superior function.

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