Let’s play operation
iDrive therefore | am.
BMW iX M60 Month 4
The story so far
We’ve learned that BMW M’s iX EV SUV is a car, not a Wi-Fi password
★ Power; comfort; a cool cabin - Excessive price and bulk; BMW’s OS8
Logbook
Price £116,000 (£120,000 as tested) Performance 105kWh battery, twin e-motors, 611bhp, 3.8sec 0-62mph, 155mph
E ciency 2.8 miles per kWh (claimed), 2.6 tested, 0g/km CO2 Range 348 (ocial), 250 (tested) Energy cost 13.1p per mile Miles this month 701 Total miles 7512
A friend who’s a very senior executive at a rival car maker recently grilled me on BMW’s latest OS8 operating system once I’d done a few miles in my iX, in which it first appeared. He’d heard both praise and condemnation, and – given the massively increased importance of user interfaces in our perception of our cars and our decisions to purchase – an independent view was important.
Can’t say I’m a fan: the plethora of apps to choose from on the main screen is bewildering. Why can’t we have physical controls for the ventilation, and why is the interface that controls air and seat temperatures wider than the screen, so you have to swipe left or right to see the options at the edges? Why does the HERE mapping get your ETA so wildly wrong so often?
The best things about the system might be the rotary controller that dates back to the very first version of iDrive (and which I seem to recall we hated when it was launched) and the fact that Apple Car Play – someone else’s system – integrates so neatly. Unlike many, I’d rather use my car’s native sat-nav and entertainment systems if I can, but OS8 feels slightly more hindrance than help.