[530iDriver]

Originally Posted by Wheelwright

Those Android-based car interfaces are good for the unwashed masses buried in their smartphones all day long, and therefore are more applicable to entry-level A to B transportation pods such as VWs, Toyotas etc: However I believe that BMWs should be on a higher level of precise connection and interaction between the driver and the machine. For that you need buttons, rows of them, like in a cabin of F-16. In this way your brain synapses must actually fire when you're trying to interact with the machine, instead of simply going through the motions of menus within menus. Yawn. But with the buttons your brain actually gets engaged and then rewarded by the machine quickly responding, which creates a transcending experience. Add a precise manual transmission and it is heaven, too bad it is all going away, because BMW entirely forgot what it is about.

They didn't forget what BMW is all about.

Rather, they have adjusted and adapted to what the market wants, expects and demands today.

BMW signaled a change of direction 20 years ago with the E65 2002 BMW 7 Series. Look, feel and core mission all took a shift. Some would say for the best, and others would claim for the worst.

That ain't manual transmission, button laden dashboards or exterior/interior design from yesteryear. BMW and most of the car industry have abandoned the concept of a car as a deeply engaging analog transportation device.

In this process some of the hardcore BMW customers or those who preferred the brand and products from 25-30 years ago, will naturally be left out.

For them the markets offers other manufacturers with more restrained, classic and flowing design language. Perhaps some of them would still capture on what is perceived the "Lost core values" from the BMW of old time.