[MJBO]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

They are very flashy looking. You see the youtube videos that show off the vibrant LED screens (they do LCD's much better than BMW) and light show ambient lighting that even changes colors when you change cabin temp and they look like best in class until you actually sit in them and start touching buttons and surfaces. They are using plastics in some places that may not even cut it in a Japanese economy car. I feel you take the good with the bad with these interiors as at night they do look pretty cool and on first glance they look very sharp. Not sure what's going on with that brand right now as they are having a lot of reliability issues.

Having spent at lot of time with the BMW iX this past week, I can only hope the far more visually impressive BMW OS 8 starts to make its way into the rest of the range. It’s stunning (as is a lot of the iX once you get past the divisive styling, I’m increasingly a fan).

[heavyD^2]

Yeah I hear the new ID8 screens are a major improvement. I hear ID8 has more layers and is more complicated vs previous iDrive versions. I don't mind the looks of the iX as it stands out as more futuristic compared to other EV's that were designed to blend in with ICE vehicles.

[MJBO]

The resolution is fantastic, and the interface is colourful but sophisticated. The instruments are also nice and vibrant, compared to the darker and plainer theme on other models.

It makes CarPlay and Android Auto look even more dated than they felt at launch, especially on such an enormous screen.

[snareman]

Originally Posted by MJBO

Having spent at lot of time with the BMW iX this past week, I can only hope the far more visually impressive BMW OS 8 starts to make its way into the rest of the range. It’s stunning (as is a lot of the iX once you get past the divisive styling, I’m increasingly a fan).

What about the deletion of so many physical buttons to put them somewhere on the screen? That seems like a fail.

[mjr24]

I mean all car makers do this now. I at least appreciate that BMW has done different styling across the range whereas the new S580 looks like a C Class and E Class.

What I don't like is BMW starting to make all cars really fast and making the exhausts quiet on M models. I really have no reason to buy another M car after my current one when I can get a M50i variant for $30k less.

[Skiy]

Originally Posted by chris719

I don't see it that way. When you look at the quality of the buttons and plastics in the G series cars, it is a big improvement over most of the F series cars. If anything the 2 series is getting the quality of plastics and buttons that belonged in a 5 series before. Maybe the 7 or 8 deserves something more special, but I think it's designed toward the middle of the product stack and actually elevates the lower models.

The increased volume from component reuse reduces the overall cost and lets them use a higher quality part to begin with.

Well in the new G series the lack of the window trim around the doors makes it feel cheaper to me when i open the door and on the larger cars the sheer amount of textured plastic that feels cheap stick out. be is x7, x5, 8 series, 4 series. For some reason the shape or just the design of it is really in your face. On the e90 for example they all felt premium and solid, on f30s some trim improved but all lower interior plastics became more cheap feeling. On the g series cars its cheapo and in your face. its just noticeable right away. I still like the cars but dont like that. I guess you can always wrap it all in leather or alcantara and its a fairly simple fix to that problem.