oonowindoo

same here, when i tried it with the E60, i thought it was the stupidest thing ever.

But trust me on this. BMW's current idrive/interface/navi is probably 1-2 gen ahead of any japanese brand right now. Especially when it comes to resolution, user friendliness and the depth of the technology. and I am not even talking about the newest Idrive (7 series)

Hard to explain, go try 1 and you will understand.

ttribe

iDrive has gotten much better. The 1st gen I had in my E60 M5 wasn't awful (IMO), but it needed work. The 2nd gen in my 335 is orders of magnitude better than the 1st gen.

Yumcha

^ Cool! Good to know. I will not admit to having tried out the latest iterations of iDrive and so, to hear that it's vastly improved and even better than the Japanese is pretty exciting.

Joneill44

Obviously you arent looking for a new car right now but would you stay with BMW once the timing is right?

Costco

Going with the iDrive talk, I can concur that the current system is great. It is the only nav system I've tried that gave me no desire to open up Waze/Apple maps. Very pleasant to use with other functions too.

ttribe

Probably. Yes. I just like the way they drive...although a few of the loaner cars I've had recently weren't very impressive (base-model X1, for example). I think BMW is doing some pretty stupid stuff right now (brand dilution, too much softening of some of the models, especially the 3-series, etc.), but there's little else that would tempt me in terms of the combination of appearance, lux and performance. That could change. I'm not married to the marque.

oonowindoo

Other than the easier to use (as they should after so many failtures ) then thing that is most impressive to me is the resolution and graphics.

When compared the details to the ones in Lexus and Acura, they just seems "choppy"

oonowindoo

yah i hate a lot if not most of the things BMW is doing now... but when you don't have a lot of choices, you pick the best one that is available.

Your next car should be a 2 series (M235i or M2 specifically) it is the last BMW in their entire line up that still reminds me of what BMW used to be.

oonowindoo

I thought the first gen Idrive was "Scratching your head, WTF" Maybe it was because it was ahead of its time and i had never used something like that before at the time.

The 3rd gen 2012 F30 was much better and the 3.5 from 2014+ has gotten so smooth, i would compare it to Apple in terms of smoothness.

I have yet to try to newest one from the 7 series yet.

ttribe

Those of you who have been following my family's life saga over the past couple of years know that my oldest son has been battling some serious illnesses for nearly three years. I'm pleased to report that, thanks to a new treatment, he has shown a huge amount of improvement in the past few weeks. It's been like night and day for him and for us. We could not be more thrilled. With his improving health, his enthusiasm for life has returned and, with that, a desire to get his driver license (he's 17) and get a car. We found his "dream car" today and brought it home.....



It's a 2001 BMW 325ci convertible; 158k miles. Leather is in pretty good shape. The top is immaculate. There are some scratches and a couple of dings, but nothing major. Picked it up for $4,200.

I haven't seen him this happy in years! He's excited beyond measure.

TLDude876

iTrader: (7)

Glad to hear man. Hopefully you guys are near the end of the tunnel. How are the other kids?

Yumcha

Wow, that's awesome, T...!!

Congrats to your son...and that's a great car for him...! He's gonna love it!...

Yumcha

And I'm sure ttribe Jr. is giddy that his car is faster than his dad's awfully slow 335i.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Such great news T. The car's great but hearing your son's feeling better is so much better!

Joneill44

Great news. Glad things seem to be heading in the right direction

AZuser

Glad that things are looking up.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Dude, that is fucking spectacular news!
Poor kid, his Dad tricked him into being a BWM fan.

just kidding...they are, in fact, the ultimate driving machine!

Majofo

You got him a bmw vert for his first car, where is he supposed to go from there? You're supposed to get him a hoopty!

Majofo

Very glad the new treatment is helping!!

ttribe

Thanks, everyone, for the well wishes. Our oldest son's sudden improvement has provided his mom and I a huge emotional lift; it's been spectacular.

Our other two children continue to make some progress. Our middle son was able to return to school as the school year began last week in our district. Our daughter has been the healthiest of the three. Our oldest had it the worst (three years, now), so seeing such an improvement has been even more fantastic. We still have a long road ahead of us, but there is more hope now than ever before. This little "event" with our oldest getting his first car has been a source of excitement for everyone and a cause for some celebration; something our little family hasn't had in a very long time.

ttribe

Indeed. He's already destroyed me several times now...it's so depressing.

I know! We were looking at a huge range of cars. I was, initially, trying to steer him towards an MR2 or a Miata (my wife wasn't thrilled with such impractical cars...I told her "Now's the time in his life to have an impractical car!"). Then, he was looking at mustangs (fox-body-2-era) and started to fixate on convertibles. Then, in the same price range (<$5k), some e36 and e46 BMW's started showing up and he got really excited. The rest, as they say, is history.

One item of note, we came very close to buying him a 98 e36 M3 convertible...and then, sanity kicked back in.

Yumcha

Seriously and truly great to read this.

myron

iTrader: (4)

Glad he's doing fine and that's a pretty sweet car he's got

00TL-P3.2

T! Glad things are looking positive!

Majofo

That would be awesome.. except first car, more car than you're capable of driving ==

Majofo

Great.. now I'm looking at e46 M3s..

ttribe

My advice - stay away from any e46 with an SMG. The manuals are fun...the SMG's are a nightmare.

Majofo

I didn't even know there was an SMG option.. how about the engine?

ttribe

Pretty solid, AFAIK. Here's a buying guide: 5 Things You Need To Know Before You Buy A BMW E46 M3

Majofo

ah..
The Affordable Supercar: The Ultimate E46 M3 Buyer's Guide

Majofo

Jakes_tl

now ttribe you have to step up and be a real father and do what ever man hates to do, give your son your 335i and you get the beater.

Jakes_tl

I am very glad to hear your son is doing better, that is great news! Very nice to see him want to enjoy life more than he has before.

Majofo

Horree shieettt

DIY: E46 M3 detailed subframe reinforcement, gear fluid changes, and bushing refresh - BMW M3 Forum.com (E30 M3 | E36 M3 | E46 M3 | E92 M3 | F80/X)

ttribe

Wow! That's a helluva DIY post by that guy.

Joneill44

The amount of detail on that DIY is staggering

Legend2TL

My wife's co-worker's husband is a BMW tech with almost 4 decades experience, he agrees the SMG E46 are miserable to drive and work on.

Legend2TL

So glad to hear your son has dramatically improved and congrats on his first bimmer, and your other children are improving.
The two of you can now mod and repair together.

I can relate somewhat with my youngest daughter (who has CRPS and POTS/NMH), there were some very dark times where we didn't know what would happen next.
Took many years but things got better and today she's at RIT as a S/W engineering student.

My heart and sympathy go out to families with children that have chronic illness.

ttribe

Interesting that you mention POTS as he was recently diagnosed with dysautonomia and potentially POTS. The cardiologist believes it may be that the infections he's been battling have caused this; it's not unheard of. He's been giving himself IV's for the past few weeks (he asked for a port to be put in his chest...freaked me out) and they've being doing a world of good.

Legend2TL

Has he had a tilt table test?
My daughter had one to diagnose the POTS/NMH, which she got about 1/2 year after the onset of CRPS.
She takes Atenolol (10mg) daily to keep her blood pressure normal.
Her cardiologist recommends IV's when she gets a cold or flu as she gets a little dizzy and the body can only absorb so much fluid through drinking.