iDrive or not long term..

[marvenmassey]

Hi folks, for now I am have been lurking b/c I am not buying for a while yet and am weighing my options like most between a 335 or 135. I am leaning towards a 135 though...Having owned a 330 and the Nav dying (fixed under warrenty) I am stumped on what to do on the iDrive. I plan on keeping the car longterm but am very concerned about the iDrive failing outside of the warrenty period. I love the Nav and the bluetooth and how bluetooth shows who is calling and how everything is integrated into the iDrive. It is very cool.

Any suggestions (after market..) or advice on what to do? How does the bluetooth function without iDrive?

Thx!
M.

[adc]

Originally Posted by marvenmassey

Any suggestions (after market..) or advice on what to do? How does the bluetooth function without iDrive?

The BT works perfectly without iDrive - I have it in my 335 now.

If you are truly concerned about the long term reliability of the NAV, don't get it. Especially the new 2009 model with a hard drive (which WILL need replacing at some point, if you look at the MTBF's).

I have a Nuvi 350 which I used in Europe as well as here and it works very well. BMW offers a mounting bracket accessory for Nuvi units, I imagine it would look a lot better than the suction cup on mine.

I am torn whether to order the NAV or not, since I was also thinking of perhaps keeping the car out of warranty. Strictly from a cost & reliability perspective, it doesn't make any sense. For the $2000 NAV asking price, you can replace a Nuvi unit 10 times...

[3toM]

as the last poster said, the bluetooth works fine without idrive. I have it in my 325i. The display on the radio shows your adress book, and shows who you are calling when you make a call. You can still use voice commands to dial the phone.

[subscience]

Here's a link to the Nuvi bracket installation DIY: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11145

It's a very clean install and may be a better fit for you than iDrive.

[marvenmassey]

thx guys, the Nuvi is an option..the integrated system does look so good though..the other side of that though is that Nuvi can moved to another vehicle..

M.

[Boosted_N54]

i have the i dirve and i like it. everything is accurate even traffic information

[PaddlePusher]

MY '08 iDrive sucks. Plain and simple. Not user friendly and too time consuming to program in new address. Voice activation complicated and not intuitive. Sounds like '09 will be much improved but I'd want to see it before buying.

[esses]

Originally Posted by robboblobbo

MY '08 iDrive sucks. Plain and simple. Not user friendly and too time consuming to program in new address. Voice activation complicated and not intuitive. Sounds like '09 will be much improved but I'd want to see it before buying.

My '08 iDrive is great. Voice command does it all, rarely need to open the thing. The '09 looks much improved but I despise the fact that it is always "up." Black LCD screens aren't black, they still emit light, which is annoying at night. Personally, I wouldn't buy the '09 navi simply due to the lack of flip-down.