BMW 5 Series

Car: BMW 5 Series
Feature: iDrive

BMW iDrive. I cam almost feel my blood pressure climbing as I write this, a dull throb at my temple as I recall the one and only time I physically assaulted a press car. In the history of car design, I'm not sure if anything quite so half-baked and maddening as iDrive has been foisted on us. Like many of the features listed here, it was developed with logical intentions. By marshalling most of the car's systems with one controller and a series of screen-based menus, the amount of buttons and other clutter on the dashboard could be minimised. All very noble and Bauhaus.

Unfortunately the control system was about as user-friendly as a Pyongyang visa interview. Just trying to change the stereo's bass and treble settings could reduce a grown man to tears. Knock the inverted pie tin controller with your elbow and you could be simultaneously basted by the heated seats and assaulted by Glenn Medeiros on Magic FM at ear-rupturing volume. Burrowing down through menus nested within menus with no map or guarantee that you'd ever get back out was never any fun. I'm not proud of hitting my iDrive system with a ball-pein hammer but as an indicator of user dissatisfaction, I'd say it's unequivocal. A deserved winner.

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