BMW breaks the mould with iDrive technology

By ALISTAIR SLOANE

BMW calls it iDrive. It doesn't say what "i" stands for, just that iDrive is a new definition of active motoring, offering new freedom and motoring pleasure and giving rein to BMW engineers to integrate future technologies.

It could be intelligent drive, or information drive. Perhaps injection drive.

It could even be a tribute to the German Quandt family - there but for the grace of God go i - the major shareholder who continued to bankroll the carmaker even when the cost of BMW's six-year affair with Rover became apparent and Ford and Volkswagen were lining up to buy it.

Whatever i stands for, it and the car it comes in represent BMW's design philosophy of the future.

The car is the Z9 gran turismo, a convertible variant of the coupe unveiled to much fanfare at last year's Frankfurt motor show.

The carmaker is even more excited about the soft-top.

From the front to the rear, the car's lines and surface create a feeling of excitement and tension. The highly expressive lines, reduced to the bare essentials, exude that characteristic BMW profile. You might say, without exaggeration, that the energy of this car literally flows from front to rear.

Looks aside, the component that tells more about BMW's future direction is the electronic control centre, made up of the controller and control display, the pod in the centre of the car in our picture. Think of the controller as the gearshift and the display as the speedometer. This is a very loose interpretation based on the workings of a Sony PlayStation.

The controller in the Z9 concept car sits at the front of the centre armrest and allows the same intuitive control as a normal gearshift.

All the driver has to do to enter his commands is to press the controller: forward and backward through the gears, to the left and right for other functions and in four diagonal directions for others. To select and operate the menu functions, you turn and press down on the controller.

A variation of the controller is expected to be the operating system in the next-generation BMW 7-Series, due next year.

The controller allows drivers to choose eight functions in much the same way as if they were shifting gears.

Available at the flick of the hand are communication mode, climate control, entertainment and the drive selection with satellite navigation, road and weather information, vehicle functions and a help desk.

All eight functions are displayed in the centre instrument panel within view of driver and passenger.

Of course, the driver can instead use the steering wheel-mounted buttons, with control functions like indicators, wipers, cruise control and the manual/automatic Steptronic transmission.

BMW says 700 different control functions are now conceivable in a car. Any conventional arrangement would clearly lead to an unmanageable inflation of knobs and controllers, it says.

A further point is that modern driver assistance systems, as well as numerous communication and comfort functions and applications have been introduced into the cockpits in recent years.

Now, benefiting from digital electronics and communications technologies, this trend will continue at an ever-faster pace.

Any attempt to operate and control all future options and functions by means of switches, would far exceed the space available around the driver.

The result would be a cockpit overloaded with knobs and instruments, making it impossible for the driver to perform the necessary functions even if the standard of ergonomics was improved.

BMW said it structured the new electronic system around three levels, depending on the frequency and relevance to motoring.

Driving and safety get top priority. Next comes lights and heating, followed by communications and sat-nav.

The Z9 convertible showcases the new technology. It is slightly shorter than last year's coupe but is the same width. Height is 1280mm.

Unlike the coupe, the laminated carbon outer skin of the convertible sits on an extra-strong frame which offers exceptional stiffness for an open-top car.

The Z9 is powered by a 4.4-litre V8, producing 210kW and 440Nm of torque. The car is fitted with extra-large sports brakes and rides on 21-inch rims at the back and 20 at the front.