[david986]

I have to say, when I got my 135 I had to special order it to NOT get iDrive (but I did get everything else). I've used the old interface and the new, and while I do see that they've made great strides, both systems are bad - poor hardware and worse software.
As far as the music, I admittedly don't have an apple device but I do connect my Android and listen to my music on there - playlists, shuffle or navigating on the device. Not hard to do at all and can be done without even looking at it.
For the nav, lets face it - you will probably use your phone before you'd use the iDrive. And you have the compass in the mirror which should orient you as long as you have some situational awareness. Not a big loss.
Plus the interior lines are so much better without the screen and control knob. Go for the performance car. Your gut was pushing you to that one for a reason.