[hinckley]

I took a new M340 for a day-long test drive and came to appreciate the Live Cockpit Pro, but it's personal, and it's for this car's application.

I think that iDrive is the best UI in the car business (by far) but for some reason, BMW keeps missing the mark on the digital dash side. Audi's and Merc's applications are far superior. I just don't understand why BMW is providing almost none of the display flexibility that is the whole rationale for this technology. With that said, it works for me in this car . . .

My soon-to-be-ordered X4 will be the first AT car that I've owned in almost 40 years (you do the math). In any of my other (MT) cars, the counter-rotating tach placed way over to the side would have been a non-starter. But in an AT car, it's a form and function thing. That tach has less function, so I can handle a lesser form.

My personal preference is three displays - HUD for speed, side display for Nav (I don't want a moving map down in my line-of-site), and dash for audio details. Live Cockpit Pro allows me to have that, so it's fine with me. But as I say, that's a very personal preference.

Aside from that, sinbad did a good job outlining the iDrive 7 enhancements. One thing he didn't mention is the enhanced screen resolution that comes with 7. That's a huge improvement imo.