iDrive

While just about any navigation system on the market will get you where you're going, not all of them are created equally. This is especially true in the world of OEM in-car navigation systems where screen size, interface design, feature sets, and (most importantly) price vary wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some automakers offer cutting-edge GPS navigators with innovative features that you'll wonder how you ever got along without. Others will make you wish you'd skipped the pricey navigation package and just packed a smartphone.

We've taken a look back on the most recent OEM navigation systems to have graced the Car Tech garage and picked out a few manufacturers, in no particular order, that consistently knock it out of the park when it comes offering the best in-dash technology for getting from where you are to wherever you want to be. … Read more

Taking the concept of the mobile office a step further, BMW is including BlackBerry smartphone integration with its vehicles starting in September with its 2011 BMW models.  

Using Bluetooth, many smartphones can already sync contacts, photos, music, and offer voice activated functionality and text-to-voice capability for text messages while driving. However, in addition to the usual smartphone feature list, BMW's ConnectedDrive gives its vehicles the capability to read out loud incoming e-mail messages from compatible BlackBerry smartphones.

Using the iDrive control interface that's on models equipped with Assist, Bluetooth, and onboard navigation, occupants of a BMW can … Read more

At the 2008 Paris Motor Show, we got our first chance to try out the new version of BMW's iDrive in the new version of the 7-series. Unfortunately, the language was set to French so we only had a vague idea of what we were accomplishing by selecting various menu areas. But it was still enlightening to get a feel for the new interface and imagine how it might work in English. From what we could tell, it will be a vast improvement over the current system, and take away our major criticism of BMW's cabin tech.

Click here for photos of BMW's updated 7-series with the new iDrive system.. … Read more

Freshly unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, the BMW's 7 Series luxury sedan gets updates inside and out, with a new exterior aesthetic and an updated iDrive system.

See all coverage of the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

BMW has been telling us that the iDrive interface will be upgraded soon. It's even given us a peak at the next generation of vehicles. It looks like BMW owners will be getting a double dose of new cabin tech as BMW has just announced that the BMW Assist feature will be upgraded with a search feature to be powered by search engine giant Google.

In actuality, the Bavarian automaker has also been teasing us with information about its partnership with Google since the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show, but only recently announced final details of a production implementation.

After … Read more

For years, BMW has heard complaints from automotive editors and enthusiasts about its iDrive control system, the interface for accessing infotainment and car functions in BMW models. But with the introduction of the new 7-series, iDrive gets a radical transformation. We don't have too much to go on, mostly a picture of the new main screen for iDrive, in German, no less, and some details from the news release. The controller for iDrive remains the same, a big knob with joystick functionality. BMW adds to that hardware a set of dedicated buttons for immediate access to the radio, CD, … Read more