When
a carmaker's forte is engineering, its fault is apt to be over-engineering.
I
see that in BMW. How else to explain iDrive, that interface
between driver and the cars controls that is ingenious but as
often cursed as acclaimed. For the initiated, this console-located
mouse-like device facilitates access to and control of the sound
system, the navigation system, the heating and cooling and everything
else buttons and dials were once used for (without the dashboard
clutter.)
But for those who lack either the patience or the wit to figure it out iDrive
is a maddeningly complicated and unnecessarily layered process for anyone seeking
to merely turn up the bloody heat or switch radio stations.
Well, actually,
thats unfair. One doesnt need to touch the iDrive knob to for the
simplest levels of temperature control or to get sound from the radio, but if
like to adjust the qualities of that sound then you must take the plunge.
Originally
introduced in the 7 series, iDrive has now migrated to the 5 series. The howl
raised by those resistant to the charms of iDrive (and their name is legion) apparently
led BMW to modify the system somewhat for the 5 series adding an escape hatch
(push the Menu button) when lost in the maze with no way out. Im told that
some of the more esoteric functions are also left out in the 5 series iDrive.
But still there the iDrive knob sits on the console intimidating, delighting,
obscuring, enabling depending on the drivers wont. A device that divides
as well as conquers. Some long-time BMW owners claim that it sent them fleeing
into the arms of Audi, for instance. But will they be missed? BMW rides a wave
of popularity that laps on new shores and washes up new sales records monthly.The 5 series for 2004 has undergone the first total redesign in eight years, the
fifth since the series was inaugurated in 1975. The new one is larger in both
size, technological innovations and price.
As with the iDrive, the 5 series also follows the 7 series in its changed appearance
guided by that controversial designer from Wisconsin, Chris Bangle. The much-discussed
bustle-back treatment is not as pronounced in the 5 as in the 7, but the new 5
is definitely bigger of butt than the old one. Some may like it; some may not.
Those of us who found the previous 5 series pleasing and elegant of line will
find this one more brutish even while accepting it as more modern.
Bangle
is one of the more verbal car designers in the current generation of stylist stars,
using both language and facile body English to explain what he meant in adding
bustles, odd lines slashing backwards (on the Z roadster) and all of his other
signature cues. The cynics say his glibness is how he conned the BMW management
to go along with his contentious makeovers. Management must be truly in his thrall
because he is now in charge of design for all of the cars in the BMW group from
the Mini to Rolls Royce.
But back to over-engineering. It is, oddly, often induced by excellence. Car design,
like a shark, has to keep moving to survive. BMW is recognized for an enviable
level of achievement both in simple purposefulness of appearance and excellence
of performance. BMWs are a general favorite of car writers and driving enthusiasts
representing a benchmark for smart turn-in, precise steering, autobahn brakes
and superior handling.
How would you like to be the engineer or stylist charged with making improvements
in such an icon?
But the change ogre must be fed. Thus the new bulkier appearance. Thus iDrive
and Active Roll Stabilization and Active Steering.
Active Steering is another impressive engineering feat that is new in the 5 series.
It involves a variable steering ratio that is dependent not only on the cars
rate of speed and steering input but on all the cars electronic sensing
devices and control systems. The steering ratios thus constantly change depending
on all this real-time data. The drive might not even be aware of the changes going
on.
What Active Steering does astonishingly well is remove the sturm and drang from
high-speed sudden lane changes (a.k.a. avoidance maneuvers.) It calms the flying
elbows and stays the rising bubble in the throat to a simple veer and steer that
finds the car and heart rate remarkably stable. Smooth, secure and in control.
What Active Steering also does in very slow parking lot maneuvering is make the
car seem purse size and memorably parkable.
So why do I not love Active Steering? Because it also makes fuzzy and vague the
simple matter of driving down a city street between 25 and 40 miles an hour. In
those circumstances, which fill more of most driving days than dodging objects
at speed or parking at a crawl, it makes steering the 5 series like playing cards
with gloves on.Not that everyone reacts so negatively. The BME 5 series indeed was selected by
American Woman Road and Travel as the sedan of the year. Needless to say it did
not get my support.
The 5 series is really an entire car line on its own with the 525i, the 530i and
the 545i (and the M5, the highest performance, best handling dream car of the
series planned for late 2004 arrival.) In the various engine and transmission
choices and assorted packages a 5 series BMW can range from $39,995 to $58,295.
The base engine is the 184-hp inline six. This shows me how some buyers
will settle for very little just to have BMW on the hood. This inline
six is one wimpy engine in a car of this size and is embarrassingly deprived in
launch power. The V8 545i on the other hand develops 325 hp and most certainly
earns a drivers attention and deep respect.
But then again maybe BMW is to be commended for letting those who wish to bask
in the glow of its reputation to have the name if not the game. But still much
more performance is available on the market for much less than $40,000. Stop by
an Acura store and see.At times in driving even the underpowered 525i I again experienced the spell of
the BMW. It is such a pleasure when a road plunges in sinuous sweeps through a
wooded glade. But then I get angry again when confronted with iDrive and the Active
Steering elements that I dislike.
How I wish BMW could make its great engineering feats optional. Give me buttons
and dials and let those who like layered communication with their cars choose
iDrive. Let me have the old BMW steering that didnt save me from my excesses
whether or not I asked it to..
Why, I wonder, does a company that tags its cars The Ultimate Driving Machine
insist on getting in the way of my driving? I like to drive; not be driven
Yes, its amazing to have, for instance, many of the advantages of four-wheel
steering magically duplicated in a two-wheel steering vehicle thanks to Active
Steering. But then I only want four-wheel steering in a truck. Yes, its
helpful in sudden dodging at high speeds, but I dont need to do that on
a regular basis. And the side effects in normal driving are extremely annoying.
Why cant those you feel as I do opt out?
But
then again those BMW engineers have come up with xDrive, a real-time, as-you-need-it
four-wheel drive system for the X5 and X3 that is a dazzler. The sensors involved
in distributing the grip to the wheel that can put it to best use are instantaneous.
No waiting until something slips, even for an eye-blink. The X3 I drove on icy
and other uncertain surfaces drives off as if on bare concrete. Amazing. And useful.
That sort of intervention I can tolerate. And even the stability controls which
are a little more intrusive than I usually like (applying brakes automatically
to a single wheel with the sensors deem it necessary) I can learn to use to my
advantage.
Yes, there are geniuses in Bavaria, many of them at the motor works. I only wish
to cherry-pick their innovations and not have them forced on me. But dont let me keep you from the 5 series; try it, you might be one who
likes it.
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