Over at The BMW Blog, blogger “Mike” posted an interesting view of the BMW 3 and 7-Series. In his post, he states that BMW should have implemented the now-infamous iDrive on the 3-Series first instead of the 7. Why? Because younger drivers are “…looking for something new. They are willing and accustomed to learning new technology.”

I can see what he means. Most older drivers not only don’t want to put the time to study new technology but many don’t have the time to do so. It’s not like they have to learn a new skill or technology for work; driving has not changed dramatically over the past hundred years. No, the big difference is that BMW’s iDrive is a paradigm shift in viewing and using a car’s controls. There’s a big difference, for example, in reaching over to turn a knob to change the A/C temperature versus using a knob to navigate several menus to get to the A/C controls then, still using the knob, to change said temperature.

Younger drivers are much more willing–and have the time–to learn such a new way of using controls. Witness computers, DVDs players, or even the simple (hah!) VCR. But younger drivers usually cannot afford the 7-Series where iDrive first reared its ugly head. BMW probably put iDrive on the 7 simply because it was the flagship of the fleet which should be, of course, the most technologically advanced vehicle. That may work in non-intrusive techologies as stability controls but not for something so requiring so much input from the driver.

I’ve read that BMW is going to go through another round simplifying iDrive. That’s fine; iDrive is incredible when it’s fully mastered. I offer, though, another solution: offer two systems, one that’s strictly a navigation system and one’s that the regular system. That way the driver, regardless of age, will have the system that fits them the best and will thank BMW for it.